One of my hens laid a freakishly large egg. Here it is in an egg carton next to an unusually small egg and a normal-sized one:
It’s so big the carton lid wouldn’t close. But in case that doesn’t give you an idea of the scale, here it is on a standard-sized potholder:
It was a double-yoked egg. I cooked it for my husband a short while ago, and he reported that it was delicious.
I didn’t have breakfast because I’m off the the Gasparilla Pirate Fest soon. It’s a big, drunken melee involving local grandees dressed up like Long John Silver and thousands of amateur skippers who will hilariously knock their boats into other vessels, seawalls, etc., in a pointless quest for a $0.10 string of beads. What are y’all up to today?
HinTN
Sounds like Mardi Gras. Will Tomlinson be there?
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Moving heavy furniture with a friend today because he’s 60 and has a small car. My truck and assistance will get it done.
Mrs inD. is having a visit with the tooth doctor. Just as well I’m gone when she gets back from that.
ThresherK
Just a late thanx to Bill Hicks and Rosalita about the difference between calicos and torties from that recent cat thread. Now if science can only tell us why “Everybody knows torties are crazy!”
arguingwithsignposts
@RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: kudos to you. a friend with a truck is a friend indeed.
JPL
Betty, How can you attend an event that doesn’t allow weapons. Your freedoms are being taken away by the pirates.
c u n d gulag
I’ll be making pea soup from some frozen ham left-overs from Christmas.
I seperate the bone(s) from the meat, and simmer those for hours and hours with bay leaves, garlic, and dry herbs.
Then I sautee up some carrots and celery together, and then put in some onions in for a couple of minutes, to soften them.
I throw the ham in with the bones, and skim off the fat.
Then, take out the bones, add in the packages of split peas, add in the sauteed veggies, and let it simmer for a few hours.
Add diced potato’s at the end, cook for another 45 minutes, throw in some frozen pea’s, cook for a few minutes.
And serve!
Other than that, I’ll watch some cooking shows on PBS, while I read blogs, and add my stupid word-turds to the comments section.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Seamus watch, 20130125 edition: Gail Collins writes a column referring to driving and doesn’t mention a dog on the roof. Has she given up on Mitt’s poor mutt?
Keith G
That reminds me of the egg laid by Harry Reid yesterday. Do you have a chicken named Harriot?
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
@arguingwithsignposts:
Thx. It’s a colossal pair of speakers. I sold them to him so I feel somewhat responsible to help him pass them on to a new owner. Plus this guy is an ace PC tech. Always stay on the right side of one of those.
MattF
My only specific plan for the weekend is to wash some of the encrusted salt off my car at some point. Unless, possibly, I think of something else to do, like take a nap.
arguingwithsignposts
@MattF: Woah, woah, woah! Don’t overextend yourself there, man.
mai naem
This is a serious question – are chicken eggs fertilized or not fertilized?
Also, I understand Snowbilly Snookie of Upper Wasilla is not longer with Faux. So, what’s up next for her? A Playboy spread? You gotta do something to come up with that meth money. I am being somewhat snarky here, but the last pics of Princess Sara kind of look like she might be doing meth or vicodin or something. She has that look about her.
David in NY
Served an egg of that shape and almost that big (it fit in the carton) to guests last week-end. Nice to get the farm-fresh eggs from down the road (though expensive).
@c u n d gulag: The two of us can’t eat a ham (definition of “eternity”: two people and a ham). And I don’t really miss it except for the pea soup. Which I love with a real ham bone.
mai naem
Also too, I there’s that recess appointment deal. Who took it to court? Also, does this mean that Obama can’t make any more recess appointments. Why didn’t whoever took Obama to court didn’t take Bush to court? And, finally, does this affect the egg that Reid laid yesterday?
scav
presumably you awoke to the extra-large sqwacking of one of your feathered alarm clocks.
owowow
Donut
Mrs. Donut was hoping to finally obtain her anniversary gift today by going to see Morrissey, but the damned and cursed Chicago show has been cancelled for a a second time. Instead we are still dumping off the small people with their grandparents and will get in a movie and a meal alone together. We were hyped for a little bit of slightly booze-tinged, grown-up rock-n-roll activity. Not today.
We saw “the Hobbit” a few weeks ago on our most recent kid furlough. Trying to decide if we are going to see “Lincoln,” “Django Unchained,” or “Les Miz.” Anyone got opinions on the best option among those three?
c u n d gulag
@David in NY:
Yeah, our leftover ham was from a family get-together with about a dozen people.
I don’t normally buy a whole ham, because you’re right, it’s takes forever to eat it.
Usually, when I’m in the mood for pea soup, like in cold weather like this, I get a ham steak or two (with the bone) at the store, dice it, and make soup out of it – and freeze half of it for the next cold spell.
I also make 5-bean soup with left-over ham.
Btw – smoked turkey works great in both split pea, and bean soup.
danielx
@mai naem:
Who could tell? She’s always looked that way to me.
As to today, I wish I was going to the Gasparilla Pirate Fest, since there’s snow on the ground and it’s 19 degrees outside. However, I will be testing out the new stove…
WereBear
@ThresherK: Torties are almost always female. Since they have sole care of kittens, they can have differing traits, simply because of that.
There are also further refinements:
The difference between queen and princess
I think torties have a lot of what every female cat has… only turned up to eleven.
greennotGreen
@WereBear: Aren’t torties always female? It’s a lethal gene in males, if I remember correctly.
WereBear
Are you in the mood for historic melodrama, rowdy envelope pushing, or a depressing musical?
(Nothing wrong with any of those… just going by reviews.)
David in NY
@c u n d gulag: Never thought of smoked turkey, but I use ham hocks which are good, but not as nicely flavored as a real ham.
JPL
Another day, another petition. Today it is illegal to unlock cellphones. Roaming charges can be quite expensive anyway and this will allow fees to skyrocket. Here’s the whitehouse petition.
petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7
WereBear
There are extremely rare male torties, but you are right; they usually die in utero.
I was just being properly pedantic.
Culture of Truth
Definitely Lincoln.
Bear in mind I haven’t seen any of them so I can be objective.
Linda Featheringill
@mai naem:
Betty doesn’t have a rooster on the premises, apparently. So the eggs are not fertilized.
In chickens, the male is not necessary for egg production. He is necessary for chick production.
Gin & Tonic
Walking the dog when it’s 9 degrees out is not fun for me or the dog.
I’m going to braise some red cabbage and roast a piece of pork most of the day, and tonight maybe go see Lincoln, the movie.
Amir Khalid
@Donut:
The other two haven’t come to Malaysia yet, but Les Miz opened here on Christmas Day. Bring tissues if you go to that one. It’s awesome; I saw it on Boxing Day, and now I’m fighting the temptation to see it an eighth time.
jayboat
Hey Betty, I may see you today.
You’ll be one of a few hunnert thousand in picture. 8-]
Our performance boat club out of Ft Myers is in Sarasota for the weekend. Our group of 130 on 32 boats is meeting up with a similar group of like-minded locals for a lunch run in a little while.
We’ll be avoiding the zoo, but wherever you are it’s a beautiful day to be on the water in Florida.
Don’t forget the sunblock.
scav
@Amir Khalid: If it’s any comfort, I had the same reaction to Henry V of all things. Pretty sure I managed to make it Henry VI before it left the theaters, always with the internal chortles of o branagh at the fire-lit horse and cape scenes.
Marshall
When I was a kid, my Uncle had a chicken-egg farm. As the double yolks had no market value, they were separated out, and used by my Aunt, so I had double yolks over easy every time I stayed there.
The no yolk eggs were perceived as having no value at all, and so us kids had egg-fights with them.
Suffern ACE
Would double yolk eggs develop into identical or fraternal twins?
JGabriel
Betty Cracker @ Top:
I can’t believe I first read that as strippers. It’s not even noon yet.
.
Amir Khalid
@scav:
Will Shakespeare wrote some of the greatest screenplays ever. I remember that the local video bootleggers called that one “Henry Vee”.
At the cineplex, I always pronounce Les Misérables correctly. The kids at the box office don’t usually understand me at first. They always pronounce it “less miserables” themselves.
Punchy
@RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: Reminds me of college. I was the only one of the 5 or so buddies who owned a truck, and by the late 90’s I moved more furniture in Iowa City than Mayflower. I was like the Pied Piper of sleeper sofas and futons…..
Jeffro
Very cool article here…note the part about how people tend to listen to the music they loved in their teens for the rest of of their lives:
nymag.com/news/features/high-school-2013-1/
quannlace
Ummm, the Dogpatch ham.
I think I’l make some black bean soup. (Ypu’re right, definitely soup weather.) Simple recipe, simply cook your beans (or open a can) add half a jar of salsa. Offer shredded cheese and chopped scallions as toppings.
Betty Cracker
@JGabriel: Amateur strippers will be well represented too.
muddy
When my son was little, I used to buy the jumbo eggs, as they had a higher incidence of double yolks. I would check the cartons for the slightly elongated waists. There was even some swapping out of eggs from different cartons if the percentage was not high enough.
When I’d hand him an egg to break, he almost always got the “lucky” one. Poor Mom just had singlets. He was always really joyful about it, of course I did not tell him it was a setup. I should ask him if he remembers this, and if he ever figured it out.
ranchandsyrup
Moar snowboarding. Beaver Creek today.
bemused
Last night’s open thread, Flesh Wound, got very interesting with the comments on rightwing family/friends going off the deep end. I’ve noticed the same thing happening here, at least going by the rightwing letter writers to local papers recently.They’ve always been nutty Foxbots but now they are writing even longer rambling rants that I can only describe as speaking in tongues…scrambled goop containing every wingnut meme, conspiracy theory and Fox bullshit out there.
ThresherK
@WereBear: “Turned up to eleven” is an apt phrase. Sometimes the coat may be “dilute”, but the personality never is. And good link to WayOfCats.
We had our tortie littermates for a few years before we even heard “Torties are crazy”. After that I made sure to know what people say about them before bringing home a calico, and I think I’m prepared.
Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo)
@greennotGreen:
No. Male torties have XXY in which one X is inactivated. It’s the cat analogue to Kleinfelter’s syndrome. (HT to wikipedia)
Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo)
@Donut:
Lincoln has the best rating on rotten tomatoes.
Silver linings Playbook has an even better rating (97% IIRC)
MattF
@bemused: Interesting thread. Back in the ’60’s my Uncle ‘X’ did a public rant in a restaurant about ‘those people’, and I never spoke to him again. Sometimes you just have to draw that line.
ETA: What he actually said was much worse and explicit, but I don’t want to trip the moderation filter.
JoyfulA
@RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: Sounds like my husband’s colossal set of speakers, which he got “cheap” because the previous owner had to raise cash for a colossal diamond for his girlfriend (sounds like a marriage made in hell to me).
bemused
@MattF:
The rightwing letter writers were a bit sparse after the election. I think they were totally stunned. They truly believed and stated that the majority of americans have the same views they do. Now the gun issue has revived them out of their shock and they are even more enraged and deranged.
c u n d gulag
@quannlace:
NICE!
And easy, too.
J R in W Va
Won’t someone think of the poor hen? Shouldn’t she have an epidural? What about aftercare!
All the eggs we’ve collected for years, I never saw a double yolked egg like that, but I do bet it was good, ’cause it was fresh!
I like Talk like a Pirate Day – do people do that for Gasparilla Pirate Fest?
“AArrrrgh, me hearties, let us pillage th’ bar for beverages and wimmin! Avast! Turn to on hauling that line an’ make us fast to th’ pier for th’ party! Where’s th’ RUM?!?!
Where’s th’ Wimmin?!?!”
WaterGirl
@muddy: Everybody should have a mom like that.
handsmile
Sorry to weigh in heavily on what seems to be a pretty easy-going thread, but wanted to alert those interested that “Up with Chris Hayes” this morning featured topics that have generated a great deal of attention here of late: traumatic brain injuries in the NFL and the Aaron Swartz case. A further attraction would be that Ta-Nehisi Coates, a favored pundit hereabouts, was a guest for these segments.
To anyone who has been following the Swartz case, this program was “must-see” television. Other guests included Harvard Law Professor and Creative Commons co-founder Larry Lessig, Cardozo Law School professor and former Obama Special Assistant for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Susan Crawford, and Swartz’s partner Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. Remarks by Lessig and Crawford in particular went a long way to dismantling the facile comments by some commenters on this blog on the facts of the case and Swartz’s alleged criminality.
tv.msnbc.com/shows/up-with-chris-hayes/
(Video clips of this morning’s segments may be found by scrolling down the right-hand column of this home page.)
J R in W Va
@Donut:
Lincoln is the only one of those we’ve seen, and it was about an 8, maybe a 7… there was a lot of dialogue. The Lincoln makeup was pretty good, he has a long face to help.
The wife said she’s gonna see it again w/o me, as I don’t like them a second time usually.
SiubhanDuinne
@JGabriel:
Well, it IS Tampa.
Roger Moore
@mai naem:
They may or may not be. Hens will continue to lay even without a rooster around to fertilize them, which is what makes massive egg farms practical. But you can eat fertilized eggs and some markets sell them. As long as you collect the egg promptly after it’s laid and store it under conditions that kill the zygote, it’s pretty much indistinguishable from a non-fertilized egg.
Roger Moore
@Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo):
Or they may be genetic mosaics from two zygotes merging in utero, which happens on very rare occasions. The key point, though, is that the hair pigment gene in cats is on the X chromosome, so you can only have both black and red pigment in cats that have two different X genes. Biologists who study X chromosome silencing love tricolor cats because they’re a striking visual example of a phenomenon that is normally invisible.
Donut
@Amir Khalid:
Yeah, I have never seen any production of Les Miz all the way through. I wanna see it in the theatre because we currently don’t have a stereo connected to our DVD/satellite.
@J R in W Va:
I’m a recovered history major; did my undergrad work on post-civil war American cultural history. I think I will dig it, but wondering do I need to see it on a big screen or wait to watch at home.
@Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo):
Mrs. D is not a huge rom-com fan and neither am I. This one will probably wait for home viewing.
Thanks all for sharing your recs.
Barry
@c u n d gulag: Excuse me…
I came across this exchange in the Boo-Whoville post of 12/24/12:
Talk about shock of recognition…
That evens up the score for the tengwar writing on the wall that I left him in Nuernberg… yes, 40 years ago.
If Joel doesn’t read this himself, maybe you could tell him that you *did* run into Barry, who thanks him for the Merrie Christmas and wishes him a Happy New Year.
WaterGirl
@handsmile: Holy shit, that’s definitely one to watch! I recorded Chris on Tivo, as usual, but now I will scurry to watch it much earlier than I might have.
Two stories that most of the media doesn’t want to touch. Thanks for the tip!
I love UP with Chris Hayes.
RedKitten
No major plans for me. Have been housebound for much of the week due to it being too cold to haul SamKitten and AlexKitten outside. A trip to the grocery store is about it for the agenda, although The Stonecutter HAS indicated that he’s more than happy to hang out with both kidlets later so that I can nap.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: So when I get an egg at the store and there’s a little dark-reddish-blackish dot on the yolk, that means it’s fertilized, right?
I’m never quite sure what that is or if the egg is okay, so sometimes I throw it out.
Is that a little chicken embryo?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Will you stop by the Tampa twin’s house? She of the Twins, the Biographer, and the General(s). I understand she’s a big fan of Gasparilla Fest parties.
muddy
@WaterGirl: Thank you so much, that’s about the nicest thing you could say to me!
ETA: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2179862/Chef-cracks-open-19-double-yolk-eggs-row–odds-1-000-time.html
NotMax
Remember seeing one of my grandfathers, hunched over while sitting on a 3-legged stool in the dim, damp basement underneath his little neighborhood grocery, candling eggs one at a time to find any with double yolks.
Those sold for a penny more.
Eggs came to him in large baskets. No cartons. He did this every time there was a new delivery of eggs.
And, BTW, this wasn’t in Dogpatch. His grocery was in NYC.
burnspbesq
We are all Hatters today.
Norwich City 0-1 Luton Town
Gotta love the FA Cup.
Yutsano
@RedKitten:
D’awww. You should keep him. :)
different-church-lady
You won’t find this so amusing when a juvenile chicken-alien comes bursting through your husband’s stomach and flies off into the house to hide and mature.
Anon nyc strand customer (this time)
@scav: my favorite movie- am I a nerd?
Yes.
JaneE
@WereBear: The black/red color gene is carried on the X chromosome. Females have two copies, which can be different = tortie. Males get one copy, and are either red or black. A male tortie has a chromosomal anomaly.
Kdizzle
You have the same potholders as my mother.
I don’t understand the aesthetic appeal of roosters, but to each his or her own.
Fwiffo
My mom had a friend with chickens that laid green eggs, that were magnificently non-uniform in size. One was as long as the one you have pictured, but was also much wider around, and bulbous. It was basically a 60 watt light-bulb and surely killed the hen. It was also a triple-yolker.
Michael
Saw your giant egg. Checked our coop and lo and behold!
c u n d gulag
@Barry:
Sorry, I missed your comment yesterday – I was running errands and cooking.
Well, a belated Merrie Christmas to you! ;-)