According to memory, the chicken egg has about 80 calories and 6 grams of protein with the right proportions of amino acids to be efficiently used by your body. A duck egg has 15 grams!

Now, my stories often begin and end right in my own kitchen. And, this one would have too, I had plenty of ingredients to work with right here. A dozen, actually. But, when I started writing about a simple egg, I got so inspired, that I ventured out to do more research.

The egg, in its purest form, is most often thought of for breakfast. An obvious place to research breakfast around here, is Ike’s Quarter Cafe.

Ike’s serves eggs. In fact, they even have pictures of eggs on the wall. So many different ways to prepare an egg, all artistically portrayed. Boiled, poached, baked, scrambled, fried, over easy, over hard … you could try one for every breakfast of the week.

If you find yourself out-on-the-town, in search of a good egg – be sure to ask your server if the house serves local, farm fresh eggs. There’s really no excuse not to. Sometimes, restaurants will offer a local egg as a substitution to the regular menu – for an “additional” price.

The price is worth it folks. A local egg is more likely to be a fresh egg. Have you ever cracked open a fresh egg? The yolk is big and round and orange as the sun. The whites are firm and don’t run all over the place. Poached eggs – my favorites – are making a comeback on menus in the best restaurants – why? Because, a fresh egg, plopped into a pot of hot water, becomes a perfect poached egg. A stale, well-traveled egg, becomes egg-drop soup.

But, I’m talking right through breakfast, and eggs know no limits. If you missed your chance for breakfast, you might find one during brunch. I found eggs on the menu for New Year’s Day brunch at Summer Thyme’s Bakery & Deli. These were no plain eggs. They were dressed up for the holiday. Eggs Benedict with golden homemade Hollandaise sauce – tempting with a local zest of Meyer lemons … accompanied by a Jazz Trio – a mouth watering, toe tapping welcome for a new year.

Now, don’t worry, oh cholesterol watchers and calorie counters – this isn’t all happening in one day-full of egg eating. My research has been extensive, but I’ve time-lapsed it into a dawn to dusk summary – an ode to the egg.

For lunch, I’ll eat light. Egg salad – on crisp lettuce, with crunchy celery. It’s always made right at Flour Garden Bakery, never fails. Or, a little protein pick-me-up, during the afternoon … deviled eggs, with paprika and a tiny bit of cayenne. ( I’m not going to tell you where I get those … but, I’ll give you a hint. While you’re there you can fill your tank and pick up a lucky ticket to the next Mega Millions draw. Ah, not always locally raised, but a yummy egg nonetheless. )

You might think the day would be complete, but, oh no. Dinner time is when eggs can really surprise you. To prove this theory, I return to the comfort of my own kitchen, to whip up some good homemade comfort food. My favorite dinner, as a youngster, because it looked so pretty – steamed, chopped, fresh spinach leaves nestled under piles of chopped hard boiled egg whites, resting in warm, peppered white sauce with (lots of) sprinkles of grated egg yolk on top. Serve all of this over steamy, warm buttermilk biscuits. Ohh, that’s good. We used to call this “eggs goldenrod”, because the glowing yellow egg yolk topping was the color of the flowers that made my Dad sneeze. I thought my Mom invented it – but I ran across it recently, on a website about recipes of “deep southern” origin … Spinach Madeline, they called it, and served it in a silver dish.

You all know about eggs and dessert. I’ve mentioned this before. Eggs transform when they meet with sugar. Eggs become meringues, and puddings and custard pies. My fascination with eggs, and the myriad ways they can satisfy the appetite, was ultimately rewarded when I was invited to share an evening with good friends, good food, and the absolute creme of eggnog recipes. In keeping with the respect that every good egg deserves, this is not your everyday, crack an egg into a glass of milk, type of eggnog. This is dessert. To prepare it requires patience, and real, ground nutmeg. Egg yolks go one way, egg whites end up going another. Gently stirring, lightly sugaring, firmly beating. Add a touch of good brandy … or maybe just a little more. Constantly stirring over medium heat … it’s cooked for Heaven’s sake! Mix in frothy egg whites. Wow. Now, that will just top off the evening.

Like I said, the egg. It’s so perfect.