Egg Battle: Stewart’s vs. HWFC
This is bad science. My trial has an n of one. But the truth of the matter is that there are only so many eggs that I can possibly eat in a day.
A while back I talked about the benefits of Stewart’s eggs. Incredibly, our local convenience store has such a short supply chain that the eggs in their dairy case arrive just three days after being laid. Why is this important? Because people insist that the best poached eggs come from those that were most recently laid.
But there are other things important about eggs too, like the living conditions of the chickens and what they are given to eat. Last week I was at the brand new Honest Weight Food Co-op for their grand opening, and this market has a head-spinning selection of eggs that are more sustainably raised.
While I prefer to eat eggs that come from happy chickens, I also want them to poach up beautifully. And I had concerns that a smaller producer at the HWFC couldn’t possibly get its eggs to market as quickly as Stewart’s.
So I decided to have the eggs battle it out. I even took pictures. And this is what I found.
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In Praise of Shitty Generic Asian Food
Moving is hell. I’m starting to remember that. It’s been five years since our last move, and the first move with two children underfoot. Do you have any idea how much garbage kids collect? And each broken toy, each half used strip of stickers, every scrap of mangled paper is as precious to them as the well loved stuffed animal they’ve slept with every day of their lives.
All the same, we are doing triage on all of the junk drawers, closets, and toy bins. Real trash is being thrown away, usable items are getting donated, precious things are being labeled for storage, and essential items will be moved to New Jersey.
Miraculously we are getting through this without a lot of tears. But it’s stressful for everyone, and it takes a ton of time.
So there hasn’t been a lot of cooking going on around these parts. Not only are we leaning more heavily on convenience foods, but we’re eating out a lot more too. Really, given the constraints of bedtime, we’re mostly picking up restaurant food and bringing it in. Mealeo has proved to be very convenient.
In a fit of exhaustion, last Friday I hit a new low.
Photo Friday Four
The FLB in general isn’t a clearinghouse for my photography. It used to be that I’d take my pictures of food and post them on Yelp where they might actually be helpful to someone.
And maybe these pictures should go up on Yelp too.
I’ve just been behind on a lot of things. Last night I was catching up on some old email and found a note that had languished for ten days. And it was from someone who I really like and don’t want to piss off.
Oddly, there weren’t a lot of extraneous pictures over the last two months. Most of the food shots have found a home on All Over Albany or Chefs Consortium. Still, sometimes less is more. Plus these three items were all really striking, and quite enjoyable. Let’s start with dessert first.
Spritz
Material possessions don’t do a lot for me anymore. Once upon a time I always wanted a bigger television, higher fidelity speakers, a newer video game system, better clothes, and a whole host of other things.
There’s not much I want anymore. Well, besides a starter electric guitar, but I’m going to hold off on that purchase until New Jersey.
That makes getting a gift for me notoriously difficult. But not too long ago DocSconz wrote a tweet that came across my radar. And all of a sudden there was something I wanted. Really, it was something that I just had to have. It’s silly. But it just arrived yesterday, and I’m a bit over the moon.
Would you believe it if I told you it was perfume? But it’s not just any perfume. It’s made by Mandy Aftel in California. And while I may end up wearing some myself, its intent is to season my food and drinks.
Cars
If you don’t have young kids who are currently in love with Hoffman’s Playland, you don’t quite understand the heartbreak of the news that this might be the local amusement park’s last summer.
Young Master Fussy can’t remember much from before moving to the Capital Region, so some of his earliest memories find him clutching a ticket in his little hand to ride the caterpillar train and riding around in circles to his heart’s delight. And since those earliest of days he’s never quite achieved the impossible height required to get on the antique bumper cars. Maybe now he never will.
The amazing thing is that such a place as Hoffman’s Playland even existed when we moved here in 2007. Similar parks had closed all around the country decades earlier. They were doomed by the rising value of real estate and the rising cost of insurance. But few people actually wanted to live up here in the Capital Region, so land was relatively cheap.
Without a doubt, a region that has resisted change for so long is changing. And it’s not just the bumper cars.
Convenience Foods Confession
So much for the plan. This season I had to give up the CSA since we were moving away. My intention had been to start doing some more shopping at farmers markets or to start subscribing to Field Goods or some other kind of weekly local produce delivery program.
It was a good plan.
But I’m a creature of habit. This blog is a perfect proof text. I write it every day. That’s why it endures. If I started to skip a day here and there, before you know it I’d stop writing altogether. The AOA pieces work the same way. They get written every other week and are leapfrogged with the stories I write for the Chefs Consortium. Let me tell you, squeezing additional work between those two deadlines is tricky.
Tricky, but not impossible. There have been a few side projects I’ve written and one that I’m working on now. Should they ever come to fruition, I’ll be sure to let you know.
I digress.
So here I am, too busy traveling on the weekends to go to the farmers market, too stuck in a rut to overcome the barrier of ordering local produce online, and too occupied managing details of the pre-move chores to focus on cooking the kinds of dinners I made last June. That means I’m relying on convenience foods more than usual. Now I share my shame.
Solo Sup
It’s hard to put on the brakes. I found it relatively easy to eat healthful foods when I eliminated all of the fun stuff from my diet. When fried foods, fatty meats, and ice cream are never an option, the weight seems to fly right off.
Now I’m feeling a little bit chunky. It’s not a good feeling.
But that didn’t stop me from eating deep fried whole belly clams in Rhode Island on Saturday. Twice. Nor did I think twice about having the extra thick bacon AND a side of housemade corned beef hash at Kitchen in Providence. Then today if all goes well I be eating some falafel during the day and a whole lot of Chinese food tonight.
It doesn’t help that I’m trying to eat through my pantry before the move and my favorite use of the roasted pumpkin seed oil is as an ice cream topping.
This past weekend was a weekend of eating with my family. Yesterday I took my stepfather out for brunch and had a Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray with dinner in honor of my dad. But at breakfast the conversation touched on the notion of eating alone. And while it’s not for everyone, I want to tell you why I love it.
Revisiting the FLB 4.0
Here’s something to ponder. Yesterday I read two different news stories. One was from Ad Age and the other was from the Times Union.
Ad Age said that Albany, NY was the second best market in the United States for newspaper readership. 49% of adults report reading a print newspaper daily. It goes on to say that the top newspaper, the TU, reaches 17% of adults every day. As the top paper in a newspaper friendly market, one might imagine its readers to be informed by the stories printed on its pages.
Maybe you will recall a certain starred review for a new chain restaurant in the region. It ran in print. It ran online. And Cheryl Clark’s blistering review gave the place a dismal one and a half stars. You can compare that with the glowing three and a half star review she gave the Charles F. Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar based largely on their well curated selection of cheeses from The Cheese Traveler.
I guess the readers of the Times Union think Cheryl is full of shit. Because the other story I read was the Times Union’s 2013 Best of the Capital Region readers’ choice winners. And you’ll never believe who beat out the Charles F. Lucas Confectionery for Best New Restaurant.
BONUS: Quick Mid-Week Giveaway
So the first ever All Good Bakers dinner is totally sold out. I’m going to be at the second seating, but the first seating at 6 o’clock is going to be the historic one. Farmer Jon who grew a bunch of the produce on the menu will be there. As will Burnt My Fingers.
As fate would have it his dining companion has backed out. Instead of letting a seat go empty Britin from All Good Bakers thought it would be a good idea to give it away to another FLB reader. Graciously Burnt My Fingers agreed to dine with a mystery companion.
And that mystery companion could be you. If you act quickly.
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