Here at the home roost, it’s all about eggs, eggs, and more eggs. One of the main reasons we wanted to live in a rural community was the opportunity to have a big garden and keep livestock, so as one of our first forays into country life we brought home some chicks. One year later, I have officially become a crazy chicken lady. I can’t begin to describe how sweet these little creatures are! It may be because I raised them like human babies, but they are so affectionate and the whole flock runs to the side of their run to greet us every time we walk outside or drive into the driveway. Two of the nine are lap chickens and love to hop up and get petted. All of them love to interact with me when I get down on my hands and knees and talk to them, both in English and in my attempt at chicken speak. (Yes, the neighbors probably think I am crazy.) And every time they see me, I swear they’re peeping “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom!”
Our blue Americauna hen, Pebbles, was so persistently broody (i.e., trying to hatch eggs that weren’t fertilized, because we have no rooster) that we decided to let her adopt two new chicks. She was delighted with this and has been a wonderful mother. Here she is teaching baby Onyx how to eat some parsley.
Our girls are so sweet that I would keep them even if they were just pets, but let me tell you, there is really nothing better than their farm-fresh eggs. I think that truly fresh eggs are so flavorful that you don’t even need to add too much to make a really good scramble. We often like to add a lot of vegetables, but this Spring I’ve been loving this simple combo of goat cheese and herbs.
Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Thyme (serves 1):
2 large eggs
3 T goat cheese
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
1 T chopped fresh chives
Chop your herbs, heat a little oil in a pan, and cook the eggs, goat cheese, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, scrambling with a spatula. Sprinkle with chives and serve.
I like to have this scramble with cinnamon raisin toast and garnish the plate with fresh thyme flowers if I happen to have any in my garden. I always make sure to save the herb stems and extra leaves to feed to my chickens later. They love them, adorable little composting machines that they are. And as far as I’m concerned, the happier the chickens, the better the eggs. ❤
The Artful Roost 