Eggs: The Incredible, Edible Quiz

I suppose the second thing you thought when you read that title up there is how could anybody create a quiz just about eggs, right? The first, of course, is why would anybody create a quiz about eggs?

But not so fast, Bub. When you think about it, not that I would expect you to, there aren’t many foods that are quite as versatile as the egg. I tried to come up with another one and chicken popped into my head. How ironic, a mother and child reunion of sorts.

We love eggs! Not only as a food, but as a decoration as well. In fact they’ve been a symbol of spring, fertility and rebirth long before the Easter bunny started making deliveries. Do you know how many eggs are eaten each day? Me neither. But perhaps after I write, and you read, the quiz below we’ll both know the amount. How eggs-citing!

1. In what year was the egg carton invented?

a. about 1600

b. 1864

c. 1911

d. 1945

2. In regards to eggs, what is true about France, Costa Rica and Brazil?

a. Eggs are outrageously expensive.

b. Eggs are seldom eaten for breakfast.

c. Brown eggs are preferred over white.

d. More quail eggs are eaten than chicken eggs.

3. About when were chickens first domesticated for their eggs?

a. 7500 BCE

b. 2000 BCE

c. 500 CE

d. 1200 CE

4. How many omelets did Omelet King Howard Helmer make in thirty minutes?

a. 57

b. 111

c. 427

d. over 1,000

5. What can you do to tell if an egg is hard-boiled?

a. Spin it.

b. Hold it up to a light.

c. Sprinkle it with water.

d. Throw it at that yappy dog next door.

6. On average, about how many eggs does each person on Earth eat per year?

a. 20

b. 88

c. 173

d. Over 200

7. In Cool Hand Luke, how many eggs did Paul Newman’s character eat in an hour?

a. 12

b. 24

c. 50

d. 144

8. As a hen gets older, what will the eggs she lays do?

a. Get larger.

b. Get smaller.

c. Stay the same size.

d. Get darker

9. On average, how often will a hen lay an egg?

a. Every 12 hours

b. Every 25 hours

c. Every other day

d. Every third day

10. What is Harriet the Hen famous for?

a. Laying the largest egg on record

b. Laying the most eggs in a year

c. Being the oldest egg-laying chicken

d. Laying three eggs in fifteen minutes

ANSWERS

1. To solve a dispute about broken eggs, Joseph Coyle invented the egg carton in 1911. Early cartons were made of paper.

2. While white eggs are preferred in most regions of the United States, this may vary in different parts of the world, where BROWN EGGS ARE PREFERRED OVER WHITE.

3. People probably first domesticated jungle fowl around 7500 BCE in Southeast Asia and India. Chickens didn’t arrive in Egypt for another six thousand years, and in Greece about 700 years after that!

4. Howard Helmer holds the Guinness World Record for making 427 omelets in thirty minutes. He also holds the record for making the fastest omelet, which took him a mere 42 seconds.

5. Take an egg and SPIN IT. If it is uncooked the liquids inside with make it wobble. If it is hard-boiled it will spin steadily. And I would never throw an egg at that yappy dog next door. As far as you know.

6. About 1.2 trillion eggs are produced for consumption each year. On average each person will eat about 173 eggs over the course of a year. Frankly, I don’t think I come close to that number. Unless, of course, you count chocolate eggs—then I’m way over!

7. Luke ate 50 eggs in an hour. He would probably be considered something of a slacker, however, by world record holder Sonya Thomas, who ate 65 hard-boiled eggs…in 6 minutes and 40 seconds! (She could have eaten more, but they ran out of eggs.)

8. As a hen gets older, the size of the eggs she lays will GET LARGER. Wow, it’s a good thing this doesn’t carry over to humans. Imagine being a fifty year old woman giving birth to a thirty pound kid!

9. A hen will lay an egg about EVERY 25 HOURS. This means if you had your breakfast egg at 8:00 this morning, you’ll be having it tomorrow at 9:00. (And it will be a “lunch egg” by the end of the week!)

10. In 2010 Harriet the Hen, of Essex, England, set a world record by laying an egg that measured 9.1 inches in diameter and weighed about a third of a pound. The egg was four and a half inches long, a full half inch longer than the previous record holder. Ouch!