Chicken and Egg

Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes

by Janice Cole

4/5 stars

Reviewer: Nichole

If chickens could write a book for us about how to better appreciate them and what they have to offer, it wouldn’t differ much from the book Ms. Cole has written.  The only exception would probably be that they wouldn’t have so many chicken recipes included.

Put together almost like a calendar, this is a charming collection of interesting recipes which aims to guide the reader toward using seasonal foods, and the eclectic variety presented have only two aspects in common -- chicken and/or eggs.  Like most cookbooks, there is ample explanation about terminology, techniques, equipment, etc., and where there are pictures they are inspiringly beautiful.  There is bound to be something for everyone, but I was particularly drawn to mouth-watering things like Bittersweet Fudge Pound Cake, Rosemary Chicken Burgers with Fried Onions, and Bacon and Egg Breakfast Tarts, which look like delectable breakfast pizzas.  No more bland scrambled eggs or baked chicken for readers of this book.  The author is not only a writer and chicken lover, but a recipe developer, and since she lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same general climate as our own.

What makes this book special is the enchanting mixture of personal stories that Ms. Cole includes about why raising chickens is a fulfilling experience for her.  If you haven’t looked at chickens as both a pet and a provider for your family, then this book could be enlightening.  Reaching the memoriam in the end and finding out one of her hens died tugged hard at my heartstrings.  It’s not all for chicken-raisers, either.  You will learn all sorts of interesting things about chickens and eggs, such as the color of the inside of a chicken’s ears will reveal what color egg that hen will lay.  The trick is to find the chicken’s ears!

With ever-increasing interest in knowing where your food comes from, eating organic and local, Chicken and Egg provides us a great background in raising our own chickens, harvesting our own eggs, and eating the bounty that chickens provide.  I dare you to read this while you’re hungry.