ohmygod it's SPRING!!!!!

To celebrate, here's something that reminds me of Spring - quiche. 

I don't know about you, but I LOVE quiche.  So good, so fluffy, so light.

From Saveur Magazine (<3), Asparagus, Morel and Ramp Quiche.  The recipe calls for a brown rice crust (maybe a boo moment), but you can definitely substitute for regular pie crust.  

Asparagus, Morel and Ramp Quiche with Brown Rice Crust

(makes 6 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup gruyere (grated)
1 egg
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup gruyere (grated)
1/2 pound morel mushrooms
1/2 pound asparagus (cut into 1-inch long pieces and steamed)
3 ramps (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Mix the rice, cheese and egg in a bowl.
2. Press the rice mixture into a pie plate, about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Bake in a preheated 450F oven until the edges and bottom just start turning golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Mix the eggs, milk, cheese, mushrooms, asparagus and ramps in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust.
6. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until golden brown and set in the center, about 30-35 minutes.

au naturel ROY G BIV

No, I'm not talking about dying eggs different colors.  We're talking naturally occurring color variation.

So, why do we have brown, white, speckled, blue, etc colored eggs?

According to the Royal Alberta Museum,

- essentially there are three main pigment colors (similar to what makes blood red).  One ranges from yellow to reds to browns, the other two blues and greens.  Different amounts of each pigmentation creates variation in violets and other colors.

- the colors come from the cells in the oviduct walls, as the eggs pass through.

- timing also impacts the markings on an egg: if an egg is not moving, then you get the spots.  if an egg is moving while pigment is being applied, you see the streaking effects. 

Genetics also play an amazing role in egg pigmentation: robins lay blue eggs, but sometimes they might have little spots.  Cuckoo birds are actually able to mimic eggs of other birds so they are cared for.  A-may-zing!

Eggs: Good or Evil?

Are eggs good for you, or are they delectable time bombs of the heart?  If you look online, it's incredibly difficult to find unbiased information on anything, and unfortunately eggs and health is another topic that is ridden with an agenda.  sigh. 

SO dear reader, I decided to try to find at least a semblance of something as non-biased as possible.  What did I find, you may ask?  Two articles.  

1. The first is from my hometown hero, The Mayo Clinic.  Mayo Clinic - famous for the typical health stuff, like cancer, unusual diseases, face-eating tumors....just a few things here and there.  Anyway, according to cardiologist, Dr. Thomas Behrenbeck:

"Chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, and a diet high in cholesterol can contribute to high blood cholesterol levels. However, how much the cholesterol in your diet can increase your blood cholesterol varies from person to person."

Essentially, a normal, healthy person should consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day.  One chicken egg yolk  has about 213 mg. If you have issues with cholesterol, just consume the white, since it has none. 

awesome drawing by Little Black Design

2. HOWEVER, enter article #2 from livestrong.com and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  You know, the guy that is famous for riding bikes really well, dating Sheryl Crow, and having testicular cancer and bringing global awareness to it via cheap yellow bracelets.  Anyway, according to them:

 "Nutritionists now recognize three different kinds of cholesterol. One of these, HDL cholesterol, is actually good for circulatory health. Hard-boiled eggs long were on the "bad food" list because of their cholesterol count, but it turns out that some of the fats in hard-boiled eggs are actually heart healthy."

Some aspects of eggs are good, some not so good. While eggs themselves have cholesterol, it does not necessarily become bad cholesterol in our blood once ingested, but actually helps promote good cholesterol via good unsaturated fats.

However, the article also says that it's not "the best" source of good heart health (obviously, it still has some bad saturated fats and contains about 71% of our daily cholesterol intake).  

The real answer, just like EVERYTHING, is to just exercise moderation.  

50 Yuan, egg-style

homestudio created this amazing replica of a Chinese 50 yuan out of 530,901 eggs....holy shit. 

 

Deviled Eggs equal love

Oh deviled eggs, how I love thee. 

I found this simple, traditional, and delicious sounding recipe from Pinch My Salt.  If the picture is any way to gauge (aside from the recipe itself sounding great), I'd say this is a safe bet. 

I have made something similar to this recipe, but mine were nowhere near as intense and amazing sounding.  Star anise??  Chinese five spice??  Sriracha?? Holy yum.  Mine had wasabi and soy sauce, how lame.  You can find the recipe here at They Call Me Amber.  

Enjoy!

What Do Bunnies and Eggs have to do with Crosses and Zombies?

 

I grew up celebrating the commercial aspect of Easter: baskets, candy, chocolate-shaped bunnies, egg dying, and egg hunts.  I also grew up going to an Episcopal school and was taught the Christian story behind Easter.  I never really questioned the existence of the Easter Bunny at the mall to the torture, death, and zombifying of the Biblical version of Easter until recently.   

Here's what I found (taken from Discovery News writer, Lauren Effron) : 

"According to University of Florida's Center for Children's Literature and Culture, the origin of the celebration -- and the Easter bunny -- can be traced back to 13th century, pre-Christian Germany, when people worshiped several gods and goddesses. The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal’s high reproduction rate.

Spring also symbolized new life and rebirth; eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility. According to History.com, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection. However, this association came much later when Roman Catholicism became the dominant religion in Germany in the 15th century and merged with already ingrained pagan beliefs.

The first Easter bunny legend was documented in the 1500s. By 1680, the first story about a rabbit laying eggs and hiding them in a garden was published. These legends were brought to the United States in the 1700s when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country, according to the Center for Children's Literature and Culture. 

The tradition of making nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs in soon followed. Eventually, nests became decorated baskets and colorful eggs were swapped for candy, treats and other small gifts."

 
And now you know!  (And knowing is half of the battle.)

Evolution: egg to live birth in lizards

Oh evolution, oh science, how I love thee. 

Please Creationists/Intelligent Design "scientists", please explain this: how a reptile, something that has always been an egg layer (due to the lack of an internal placenta - thus the use of yolk and egg), is now giving live births?  

Check out this incredibly fascinating article from National Geographic about how the yellow-bellied three-toed skink is moving away from eggs to live births?  

See those weird light colored shapes inside its body?  Yeah, those are its "eggs".  Amazing stuff.  BLESSED BE SCIENCE!