Eggs cooked in urine a delicacy in China

Chicken eggs that are cooked in the urine of young boys is a popular street food in China’s Dongyang City. 

Believers in this delicacy are certain the eggs are good for clearing spring drowsiness and summer heat.

We suppose it's "want not, waste not."

Yes, the recipe is written on the egg

If you are interested in a little egg fun, how about an omelet recipe printed right on the egg shell?

The artist Dnewman came up with a brilliant use for the Egg-Bot, a 3D printer that can "draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit."



So, for $195 you can have all the fun of printing your very own egg recipes, on the shell.
Here's the LINK

How long will eggs last?

How long will fresh chicken eggs keep in the refrigerator?

This is a question we are often asked, so let's discuss it.

If it's something we've learned this past year, it's the importance of using good quality fresh eggs.

Eggs from local farms, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's sell fresh eggs that are high in quality, and the cost may be around the same as the lower quality eggs found elsewhere.

Fresh eggs can remain edible for more than a month, but freshness (egg yolk that sits firm and high, and a healthy looking egg white) will be noticeably less after two weeks.

If eggs start out as Grade AA, they remain AA for only two weeks if properly refrigerated. After that, they'll be Grade A for another 2 weeks.

Here is a way to test the freshness: 

Get a bowl of cold water.

Put the whole egg in the water. If it sinks, it's fresh; if it floats to the top, it is old. It will kind of lay almost on its side. You can see the age of it by how much it floats.

However, by putting the eggs in water, you wash away the bloom from the egg, a protective layering that prevents bacteria from entering the egg. 

Farmers have 30 days from the day an egg is laid to get it to stores. Then, the stores have another 30 days to sell the eggs. The USDA recommends a maximum of 5 weeks in your refrigerator before you discard your eggs.

What does this all boil down to?

On April 1, you could be eating an egg that was laid on Christmas.

Most farmers ship their eggs to stores within a week, and both the "pack date" and "sell by" date are stamped onto the carton. The numbers run from 1-365, depending on the day of the year. Lastly, there is a big difference in taste between farm fresh eggs and week-old eggs. If you want the freshest eggs,  buy from a local farmer.

There is an expiration date on the carton, but if you have doubts, put the egg in water. If it floats, do not use it.

Artist jailed for frying eggs on Kiev eternal flame

In the Ukraine we find a young artist was jailed for what some call a performance, but was actually frying eggs over an open flame.

But the open flame happen to be the eternal flame honoring fallen soldiers and commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

The video of the cookout shows Sin'kova apparently explaining her performance to nearby police officers, who do nothing to stop her.

But now more than three months after the "performance", Anna Sin'kova has been arrested and charged with "desecrating a grave". She faces up to five years in prison. On April 11, the Kiev court of appeals refused to release her on bail.

Anna Sin’kova, 20, is a leader of the Ukrainian art group “Brotherhood of Saint Luke”. She sent this written comment from jail through her lawyer:

"I do not regret my performance for a single second, even after being interrogated for four hours without my lawyer, and despite the pressure I have been subjected to while in jail. The accusations against me are absurd and ridiculous.

The media distorted the original message behind my performance.

They say I desecrated a grave, but it’s quite the opposite. The eternal flame is not a grave, it’s a propaganda memorial for a totalitarian communist regime [the former USSR]. It is the biggest desecration of the memory of the victims of a terrible war, many of whom, including my grand-grandfather, were dedicated orthodox Christians. The cult of “The Great Victory”, invented by the Kremlin [Sin'kova believes that the Russian government uses Soviet-era wartime symbols to project national greatness], has nothing to do with the real veterans and victims of the war. That's why I made this performance. If it was a desecration, it was a desecration of a Soviet propaganda object, not soldiers' graves.

Like a spy from a Hollywood movie, I was arrested as I exited a supermarket by men in black balaclavas. I was interrogated without my lawyer by three plainclothes policemen, who threatened me and told me I was a traitor. I have been kept in a cell with 20 other people, and was denied medical care when I came down with a very high fever.

My lawyers are preparing an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights. I hope for a favorable decision.

When I am set free I will continue to fight for this just cause. The authorities want to scare us patriots, or put us in jail. But we're not going to stand aside watching as Ukrainian sovereignty is sold to the Kremlin in return for natural gas and favours for local oligarchs.”

Egg shell carving in China

Amazing patterns of artwork on eggshell, the origins of egg shell carving dates back to the 14th century and the Ming Dynasty in China.
In ancient China it was common to give red eggs as a gift at important and festive celebrations.

The mastery of egg shell art begins with the removal of egg whites and yoke, then the disinfection processes needs to be completed before the carving.
A small hole is made at one end of the egg, then using carving tools: a burin, shovel knife, pencil, eraser, knife, whetstone and nicking tool, the carving begins.

What Do Mice, Maggots, Manure & Eggs Have in Common ?

Officials are sharing details of their discovery at the two egg farms in the middle of the salmonella recall.

They say the farms failed to “fully implement” measures to prevent contamination, but that doesn't even begin to explain the problem.

At the Wright County Egg farm, which produces eggs, officials noted:

- Manure pits 4 to 8 feet high, the weight of which had pushed open doors allowing wild animals like rodents in to the egg-laying area.

- Live and dead flies “too numerous to count” in the egg-laying houses.

- Live and dead maggots “too numerous to count” in the manure pits.

- A door blocked by “excessive manure.”

- Employees failing to change protective clothing when moving from chicken house to chicken house.

- Non-chicken feathers in the hen houses. Wild birds flying and nesting in the chicken houses.

- Unbaited and unsealed holes appearing to be rodent burrows.

- Exterior structure damage, allowing animals’ access to the hen houses.

- Chickens that had escaped their cages, climbing up the manure piles to re-enter the hen houses and have contact with the egg-laying birds.

- A dark liquid, which appeared to be manure, seeping through the concrete foundation to the outside of the hen houses.

- A board on the ground, under which eight frogs were living.

At the Hillandale operations, investigators noted:

- Unsealed rodent holes

- Live rodents

- Gaps in the structure allowing live rodents and others to enter and exit the hen houses.

- Liquid manure streaming out of manure pits and in some cases onto the main floor.

- Standing water adjacent to the manure pits.

Darrell Trample, a poultry specialist at the Iowa State University, said last week that rodents and the bacteria they spread likely would be at the cause of any salmonella outbreak.

(FDA) inspectors have once again found infected chicken feed. This contaminated feed is now being linked to the ongoing salmonella outbreak.

U.S. regulators would only say that they will consider the set of circumstances at the massive egg production operations and determine what action will be taken next.

Candidate Brenna Findley, Republican candidate for Iowa attorney general criticized the Democratic incumbent on Monday for accepting a $10,000 campaign contribution in 2005 from the family at the heart of a national egg recall.

After the criticism, Attorney General Tom Miller agreed to return the money.

Peter DeCoster, the son of Wright County Egg owner Austin "Jack" DeCoster, made the $10,000 donation to Miller on Dec. 28, 2005. The donation came after a 2000 agreement between the state and Jack DeCoster, in which he agreed to be labeled a "habitual offender," a designation intended to prevent him from opening any new farms for about four years. He earlier had been repeatedly fined for environmental violations, many of them involving hog waste.

Wright County Egg now is at the center of a recall of more than 550 million eggs that could contain salmonella. Some of the eggs were produced by another company, Hillandale Farms, that received feed from one of DeCoster's businesses.

"It is shocking that Miller would accept $10,000 from the DeCosters," Findley said. "Iowans deserve an open and transparent political process, free of backscratching and special deals."

A call to DeCoster wasn't returned.

Miller said he would return the money, but he defended his record of enforcing environmental laws against the DeCoster operations.

"In this state, no one was stronger on DeCoster than our office," Miller said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "We were the ones on the front lines prosecuting him."

Miller said his office effectively prosecuted DeCoster, making him the first and only person to be deemed a "habitual violator" in Iowa.

"We had a huge battle with Jack DeCoster in the '90s over the pollution issue at the hog lots," Miller said. "We got enough violations prosecuted that he saw it would be inevitable that we would get habitual violators status, so he agreed to that."

After that action in 2000, Miller said DeCoster complied with environmental rules and he saw no reason why he shouldn't accept the contribution. He conceded, though, that the egg recall changed everything.

"Had I known that they would have these problems five years later, I would not have accepted that contribution," he said. "I'm going to return the contribution."

EGGS - We're from the government and we're here to help

The old joke goes something like this: "We're from the government and we're here to help."

The problem is, nobody's laughing.

Two federal agencies are downplaying not noticing anything with regards to the massive egg recall that so far has hit 22 states and pulled back the curtain on government officials.

So far there has been 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning and 500 million eggs have been recalled from two Iowa egg distributors.

One supplier linked to the cases has a history of violations dating back to 1994 -- but the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it never had an inspector dedicated to food safety at the farms.

According to an FDA, the FDA has traditionally been responsible for monitoring egg safety after the eggs are processed and the USDA is responsible for egg safety at the processing facilities.

Translated, this means they have done nothing to assure safety.

A USDA official, said that USDA agencies have had no involvement in food safety regulations over shell eggs. There job was to inspect them for thickness and cracks and other quality assurance factors in order to give them a USDA seal of approval. That approval however, does not certify that an egg is salmonella-free.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said  that the new rules that went into effect last month giving the FDA authority to test eggs for salmonella "very likely" would have enabled the FDA to find  the problem before the outbreak.

She said the FDA will conduct "hundreds" of inspections in the months ahead under its new authority.

President Clinton promised during a 1999 speech that there would be "extensive tests" at egg farms and said there would be an elimination of egg-based salmonella cases by 2010.

That never happen.

There are those who believe the FDA probably had some authority to inspect egg farms but just didn't do it.

The truth is, food safety has not been a major concern here.

We have this company repeatedly violating laws and no one was doing much about it.

We told you the egg counting will continue.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday more egg recalls most likely will be necessary in the face of salmonella outbreaks. The new recalls, if they are issued, would be the largest egg recall in recent history, more than half a billion eggs.

Egg Supplier has a history of violations

So far we have two Iowa farms that have recalled more than half a billion eggs.
Both farms have a relationship with the same suppliers of chickens and feed.

Both of these farms have businessman Austin "Jack" DeCoster in common, and he has been cited for numerous health, safety and employment violations over the years. DeCoster owns Wright County Egg, the first farm that recalled 380 million eggs.
That's when there were more than 1,000 reported cases of salmonella poisoning.

Another of Jacks companies, Quality Egg, supplies young chickens and feed to both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, that's the second farm that recalled another 170 million eggs the following week.
People keep asking, "what happened?"
The cause of the outbreaks is still unknown, and the Food and Drug Administration investigators are still  at the farms trying to figure it out.

Here's a look at DeCoster and his food and farm operations:

— In 1997, DeCoster Egg Farms agreed to pay $2 million in fines to settle citations brought in 1996 for health and safety violations at DeCoster's farm in Turner, Maine. The conditions were "as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop." With unguarded machinery, electrical hazards, exposure to harmful bacteria and other unsanitary conditions.

— In 2000, Iowa designated DeCoster a "habitual violator" of environmental regulations for problems that included hog manure runoff into waterways. As a habitual violator he was subject to increased penalties and prohibited him from building new farms.

We're not saying DeCoster's company is responsible for the current salmonella outbreak, but having said that,  DeCoster's Wright County Egg is already facing at least two lawsuits related to the egg recall. One is from food distributor Dutch Farms, which says the company used unauthorized cartons to package and sell eggs under its brand without its knowledge.

The other is from a person who said they became ill after eating tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis.

So yes, he's innocent until proven guilty, but, The CDC said investigations by 10 states since April have identified 26 cases where more than one person became ill. Preliminary information showed that DeCoster  was the supplier in at least 15 of those.

288 Million Eggs Recalled

We posted a USA Today story this morning on Facebook, now here's the video.

Chicken or the Egg? They've cracked the mystery

British scientists have done it, they've cracked the mystery.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
After all this time the mystery may have been solved after discovering that the formation of eggs is possible only because of a protein found in chicken's ovaries.
This means eggs have to be formed in chickens first.
(but where did the first chicken come from?)
The protein -- called ovocledidin-17 (OC-17) -- speeds up the development of the shell. The findings were laid out in the paper "Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein."
Dr Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University's Department of Engineering Materials, said "it had long been suspected that the egg came first, but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first."
(but where did the first chicken come from?)

Figure Eight Shaped Egg

China has been in our food news quite a bit lately, and here we are again.
Let's turn our attention to a soft-shelled egg laid by a hen in China in the shape of a figure eight.
It happened on a chicken farm in Sijiazhuang, northern China’s Hebei Province.
The story begins when one night, Mrs. Dong heard some strange noises coming from her hen house.
“I had never heard anything like it before. When I approached, she stopped making the noise but as soon as I left, she started again.
The next morning, I was so surprised to find the weird-shaped egg in the hen’s cage,” she said.

Mrs. Dong (please keep the jokes to a minimum) is saving the egg in a special box and has refused to eat or sell it.
It may well end up as precious as a family heirloom, passed from one generation of chicken farmers to another.
“It’s very rare to see such an egg… This is the result of a lack of calcium in the hen’s diet which has prevented it from creating a hard shell,” states Professor Wu Yuefeng of Hebei University’s Life Science department.

Top Secret Weight Loss Foods

For those of you who want to eat better for the next few months, here are our 8 top secret foods for weight loss,
it's painless, try it and watch as the pounds melt away.


FULL FAT CHEESE
That's right, full fat cheese, it's an excellent source of casein protein-- one of the best muscle-building nutrients you can eat. What's more, Danish researchers found that even when men ate 10 ounces of full-fat cheese daily for 3 weeks, their LDL ("bad") cholesterol didn't change.


PORK CHOPS
Repeat after us, I LOVE PORK.
When it comes to per gram of protein, pork chops contain almost five times the selenium--an essential mineral that's linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer--of beef, and twice that of chicken. And Purdue researchers found that a 6-ounce serving daily helped people preserve their muscle while losing weight.

ICE COFFEE
Coffee reduces your appetite, increases your metabolism, and gives you a nice dose of antioxidants.
The average metabolic rate of people who drink caffeinated coffee is 16 percent higher than that of those who drink decaf.
Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system by increasing your heart rate and breathing.
Really, could there be a more perfect beverage?

GRAPEFRUIT
Scientists discovered that people who ate half a grapefruit three times a day lost 4 pounds in 12 weeks, even though they ate a normal diet the rest of the time.

APPLES
An apple a day may also keep the weight away.
Researchers discovered that people who ate a large apple 15 minutes before lunch took in almost 200 fewer calories during a meal compared to those who didn’t eat that apple beforehand.

EGGS
Forget the breakfast bars and cold cereal, eating eggs and bacon in the morning can help you control your appetite during the day. Protein at breakfast leaves you feeling full longer.


BEANS
Researchers found that people who consumed beans were 23 percent less likely to have large waists than those who said they never ate them. Bean eaters seem to have lower blood-pressure issues.
Beans are rich in potassium, which helps fight hypertension. Try for half a cup of cooked beans 3 or 4 days a week.

SALMON
The omega-3 fatty acids found in Salmon help you feel full longer. Eating foods high in omega-3s increased blood levels of leptin, a hormone that promotes feeling full. If you wont eat fish take a fish-oil capsule every day - one that has 500 milligrams of the omega-3s DHA and EPA.

You may stay on this top secret weight loss plan even longer than a few months, who knows, you may even enjoy it.

The Holy Egg

Honestly, it must be that time of year.
We really aren't looking for these stories, it's like, they are falling out of the sky or something.
Pam and Tracy Norrell, a Fort Worth-area couple said one of their hens laid an egg with a cross on the end of it. And of course, they said they believe it's a sign of encouragement during the holiday season.
Tracy Norrell said he was gathering up eggs when one he picked up seemed to be unusual, not smooth like other eggs. The holy egg has what appears to be a cross on it.
The Norrells said eating the egg is not an option.
Even though they say they won't eat it, we wonder what would happen if they ate it with the Virgin Mary pancakes?
Take a look:


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