Sky-high egg prices and using egg substitutes

Last time you were at the grocery store, did you do a double-take when you checked the price of eggs? Wait till you hear what Californians are paying for eggs this week.

Our local Walmart has a relatively good regular price on large eggs in my area -- this week, eggs are about $5.50 a dozen for Great Value brand (cheapest brand). The LA Times reported yesterday that eggs are now bumping up against $9.00 per dozen on average in California. That's on average. So, in some places, eggs are even more expensive! Are we going to reach $1 per egg at some point?

I have about 18 fresh eggs and about 2 dozen frozen eggs remaining. Obviously, I'm doing what I can to use fewer eggs right now. My plan is to buy as few cartons of eggs at these higher prices between now and spring (when prices usually drop just before Easter).

This morning I was baking a loaf of banana bread. I had enough bananas to make a batch and a half. 

My mother's 1970's recipe calls for 1 egg. As I was making a 1 1/2 batch, I would've needed 1 1/2 eggs. I decided to use just one egg and add a half-egg equivalent in baking powder for the leavening.

I looked up possible substitutes in this post from 2022 on choosing which egg substitute to use. I ended up using the extra baking powder plus an extra splash of soy milk. The batter itself tasted good, so I was pretty sure the bread would turn out well.

It rose as I would expect for a 1 1/2 batch in a single loaf pan.

The texture looked great upon slicing into the loaf, dense but still plenty of tiny air bubbles throughout. 

The proof is really in the pudding, as they say. It tasted great and was plenty moist, no hint of a lacking 1/2 egg.

I'd call this egg substitution a success.

What are egg prices like in your area? How expensive is too expensive for eggs in your mind? Do you ever make substitutions for eggs in baking?

If you need some help deciding on an egg substitute, see this post: Egg Substitutes: Choosing Which to Use.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Gifts that I received for Christmas -- avocado oil

Here's another one of those odd-sounding gifts, avocado oil. And yes, I asked for this. 

I've wanted to try avocado oil for a while, but it's just so expensive. So, I put it on my wish list this year. Often, I am able to try something relatively costly by requesting a small amount as a gift for a special occasion.

I received two bottles of avocado oil for Christmas from my son and daughter-in-law.

The smaller bottle (on the right) is organic cold pressed, extra virgin avocado oil (EVAO). It's flavor is subtly avocado-y with a tiny bit of fruity, yet overall mild. Online descriptions have included "grassy" and "buttery" in the flavor profile. It doesn't taste "grassy" at all to me.

Avocado oil is thick like olive oil and has a green-yellow color.

The larger bottle is not organic or EVAO, but is glyphosate-free. The label in this bottle indicates that the flavor is mild and could be used in baking as well as cooking.

Avocado oil has a high smoke point, so it's suitable for sautéing. So far, I've just used it in vinaigrette-style salad dressings.

I like to diversify the fats that I consume. I include meat fat, butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, and now avocado oil. Different fats have different benefits. Avocado oil is high in monounsaturated fats, which may lower LDL cholesterol. A large study indicated that people with diets high in monounsaturated fats had a lower likelihood of death from heart disease and cancer. Nutrients in avocado oil may also boost immune function and decrease inflammatory response.

Anyway, you can perhaps understand why I wanted to try this oil.

Have you tried avocado oil? What did you think?