It is that time of year. Imbolc. The mid-point between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox of the Old Celtic Wheel of the Year. It’s at this time that eggs are starting to be laid. Eggs of all kinds. Wombs are full. Nature is preparing for birth.
Years ago, in Mississippi, I cooked and prepared my first goose egg from a local farmer that ran a U-pick blueberry patch. It’s yolk was huge and firm.
This year, in the territory of my new home and dwellings of central, coastal California, I noticed that the farmer I normally go to for pastured chicken and pork, and duck and chicken eggs…had turkey and goose eggs. I had to get some.
A friend had just shared this spiced pumpkin marrow custard recipe with me, and I knew that’s where I wanted to use the goose eggs. I adjusted the recipe in a few ways. Well, obviously, I used 2 goose eggs instead of 6 chicken eggs. I cheated and used organic pumpkin puree from the can (instead of cooking a pie pumpkin). I cut the maple syrup down to 1/4 cup and it was still plenty sweet. I cut the spices in half as I didn’t want it to be too strong for my 3 year old.
It turned out delicious! I’ll definitely save this recipe and use it again. Previously, I had only baked marrow…but boiling the marrow for this recipe was much easier and appropriate for blending (well, and used way less energy).
If you want to explore the wonder of eggs for this time of year, check out my post, The Potency of the Egg. I talk about the nutrition in eggs as well as the Ukrainian tradition of pysanka.
My husband is Ukrainian, actually…and found the remnants of the cracked goose eggs in the compost bin. He exclaimed, “what are these things made of!?” Basically, he was impressed with how hard the shells were. Then, he reminisced on how the loveliest, costliest, and most beautiful pysanka eggs were decorated goose eggs. He thought that that made sense given how hard the egg shells were.
I’m sure pysanka have much deeper roots than just a beautiful egg. I’m sure preparing the eggs, painting them, and having these eggs in your home (and gifting them to others) was also about fertility, luck, prosperity, and wellness.
Lindsay Kolasa 