This jam in midwinter tastes as fresh as the berries tasted the previous summer. The secret is to make small batches and to not overcook. The jam tends to be thinner (excellent for pancakes or ice-cream topping!) and less gummy than store-bought, but the fresh flavor cannot be beat. If you prefer thicker jam, you might experiment with adding some pectin.

1 lb. fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or other berries
2 cups sugar

Wash and clean berries, and place whole (do not crush!) into medium sized saucepan with 1 cup of sugar. Warm over low heat while stirring gently and occasionally until the sugar melts and forms a syrup. Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil until foam appears on the top. Skim the foam, add the second cup of sugar, and boil just until jam forms a sheet on the end of your spoon. (Do not overcook — if you do, the jam will slowly transform itself into something that tastes no different from store-bought!) Pour into sterilized jars (leave enough headroom for ice expansion), seal jars with sterilized jar lids, cool, and store in the freezer.

Brown eggs taste no different from white eggs. Rhode Island Red hens give you brown eggs … the older the hen, the darker the egg.

Creamed or plain chipped beef;
Crumbled, crisp bacon bits;
Strips of thinly sliced ham or bologna (fried);
Fried minced onions, scallions, green peppers, pimentos;
Creamed or sauteed mushrooms;
Minced leftover vegetables (especially spinach) or meat in a thick cream sauce;
Freshly grated Gruyere, Swiss, Parmesan, Romano, or cheddar cheese;
Chopped fresh herbs: chives, parsley, chervil, tarragon, or thyme;
Flaked cooked fish (minus skin and bones), leftover or canned;
Minced lobster, crab, or shrimp;
Chopped canned anchovies …

Really, though, the possibilities are endless, provided its cut up very fine and, aside from the fresh herbs, precooked.

What’s inside your favorite omelet?

The New York Times has a pretty good article about the information you’ll find on an egg carton … what’s required, what the government allows them to claim, and what’s just creative story-telling.

“For eggs from chickens that live in the sort of utopia conveyed by the images on most egg cartons, look for “animal welfare approved.” Available in limited markets, it is a new label by the Animal Welfare Institute that is given only to independent family farmers. Flocks can have no more than 500 birds, and chickens over 4 weeks old must be able to spend all their time outside on pesticide-free pasture with a variety of vegetation. They must have access to dust baths and cannot have their beaks trimmed (a practice on crowded egg farms) or be fed animal byproducts.”