How does a duck know what direction south is? And how to tell his wife from all the other ducks?*

We interrupt this story of grief and loss (and coffee drinking and international adoption) to talk about...agriculture and baking.

You're glued to the screen, aren't you?

There are occasionally some distinct advantages to being married to a guy who teaches teenagers whose parents are farmers.

For example, downstairs in my freezer there is 1/4 of what used to be a very happy cow. Well, I suppose, since it was a boy, it's the remains of what used to be a very happy steer? A very happy bull?

I'm pretty sure it was a steer. It was one of Husband's student's 4-H projects. It had a name and grazed openly and generally led a the blissful life of a cow (er, steer) that wanders around a open pasture. It wasn't locked in a barn with a thousand other cows being administered massive doses of antibiotics and goodness only knows what else.

And it was reasonably priced, all things considered. (Of course, buying part of a carefully raised 4-H steer does require that one has room to store a side of beef. And probably, if everyone decided they wanted a side of beef from a happy 4-H project, there wouldn't be enough to go around.) But, from my perspective, it's tasty, convenient, and I feel much better about it than I do buying meat from the supermarket.

We also have a line on some happy chickens and some happy pork. (Well, I suppose the pork won't be happy. The pig it used to be? It was happy.)

But, actually, this post isn't about community supported agriculture or happy cows.

This post is about ducks.

Duck eggs, in particular.

Recently, we obtained a dozen duck eggs from one of Husband's students.

I was dubious at first.

I wasn't sure what to do with them, and so I googled, "cooking with duck eggs".

And the Internet responded with enthusiasm - BAKE WITH THEM!!!

And while I will be the first to concede that the Internet isn't always right, today I am here to tell you - baking with duck eggs is the bomb.

In the past 24 hours, I've made muffins, cookies, and french toast. The french toast, in particular, was amazing. The muffins and cookies have a really rich taste and the muffins rose really well. (I understand this is because duck eggs are higher in both fat and protein.)

I was so impressed that I asked Husband to get MORE duck eggs from his student.

And then I made the mistake of googling, "buying duck eggs" - and, apparently, duck eggs can be crazy expensive.

So, while I would not say that it would be worth paying $50 for 18 eggs...I would say that, should anyone ever offer you duck eggs at roughly the same cost as chicken eggs? But them. And bake something delicious.

One caveat - the shell of a duck egg is much harder than the shell of a chicken egg - break them into a separate bowl rather than breaking them over the rest of your ingredients, or you will find yourself with a lot of shell in your muffin mix.

Bon Appetit.

LM


* Crash Test Dummies, How Does a Duck Know?