Give a cluck

When did chickens become a symbol of anarchy? It’s a Sacramento phenomenon. Residents all over the city have been harboring illegal fowl in defiance of the current city ordinance banning the cluckers.

Soon, though, the city council will—hopefully—vote to allow small backyard flocks. It won’t be in time for your Easter egg prep, but for that, you can seek out fresh eggs at the Davis Farmers Market. Vega Farms, McDonald Orchards and Green Donner Farm are a few of the happy hen-erders who supply the market. You can usually buy local eggs at some of the Sacramento farmers markets as well.

To color your eggs, you can use natural dyes from vegetables for surprising hues. I’ve always liked using red onion skin, which I adhere to the eggs with a bit of oil before hard-boiling them. It makes a reddish mottled effect on the eggs.

Beet juice will produce shocking pink, carrot tops will make yellow and red cabbage leaves will produce blue. It’s like a fun little science experiment, without the weird chemicals.