danish = better?

10 danish organic eggs... but there's only 2 left inside the carton. (;

i never liked eggs.

they looked perfect and strange to me; how could they be so symmetrical and smooth? yet the goop took on curious shapes when cooked outside the shell. and how wonderful the bright, runny yolk looked! i wanted to use it as paint.* but eating them resulted in stomach problems for me that i won't elaborate on. the taste and even the smell of eggs became associated with the sick feeling i'd get. which sucks since koreans put egg on top of pretty much anything! fried on top of bibimbap, stirred into soups raw, folded into kimbap, whites and yolks julienned on top of duk guk... the list goes on! it's very rude to pick out only the things you like from a communal plate, so inevitably i would get a sizable morsel of egg and be forced to eat around it.

now i know better, but when i got into baking i didn't understand the impact of eggs. i just didn't want to handle them in any way! ironically this was the time that i was on my crazy diet and therefore many (mostly unwise) ingredient swaps were made in attempts to create a delicious yet low-fat/low-cal/high fiber treat. flaxseed meal heated with water does not equal the eggs in moist muffins. vegan baking intrigues me. how are you able to get a fluffy cake with no eggs or milk? because my tweaked treats were usually unsurprisingly uninteresting. and more often than not, flat.

eggs and real butter will make your baked goods taste better. psst, use lurpak! it's available in the states because it's so good, as some popular blogs have demonstrated. luckily eggs never harmed me in the form of baked goods, although custards had me feeling slightly uneasy at times.

organic, unhomogenized skim milk

there was rarely a drop of regular milk at my parents' house.

my dane really likes coffee and that has inevitably rubbed off on me. nowadays i prefer it black or with a dollop of heated milk, rather than the super-sweet vietnamese coffees of orange county with condensed stuff at the bottom (though i wouldn't turn one down today). so i've been having at least 4 ounces of milk every day. it's well-known that most asians are lactose intolerant and my dad and i fit the bill. dad solves this problem with lactaid but it makes me gag, not sure why. so when grocery shopping, my mom appeased both of us by getting the aforementioned fake milk for him and kirkland organic soy milk for the kids. i loved that soy like a sister. thank GOD for costco! 12 cartons of vanilla flavour for $14? you just know some farmer is probably getting shafted by prices like that.

one sunday, the dane was having a hard-boiled egg for breakfast. i'm pretty sure it was since almost all grocery stores are closed on that day, except on the first sunday of the month. i decided it was worth a shot since i've somewhat overcome the lactose hurdle and we had no other options in the fridge besides herring with no rye bread. the only reason i took a chance instead of skipping breakfast was because i didn't have to go anywhere that day and the apartment was mostly empty. so if i had a bad reaction, no one else would have to witness it. surprise! the egg had no ill effect. being cheap and healthy, you can imagine what i've been having one of almost every morning here. (:

so... wtf? how is it that after years of minimal consumption, milk and eggs have suddenly become a daily routine for me? was it slowly increased intake or the high quality of danish dairy?

state-controlled organic: just look for the red Ø!

blame it on old danish viking magic. and also on my fiance, for making me try old things again.

*i have never used egg tempera paint before. not sure why!