Even the Smithsonian Loves Eggs

.../appreciates them.  Perhaps the people of the Smithsonian aren't as...."obsessed" as I am, but that's all just semantics.  Right?  Right.

ANYWAY.

For those that somehow don't know what it is (or perhaps just haven't been to the States), the Smithsonian Institute was created by a British scientist named James Smithsonian.  In his will, Mr. Smithsonian asked that his entire estate go to Washington DC in the United States to create a scientific institution (if his nephew died...who obviously did).  No idea why, especially since Mr. Smithsonian had never even been to the US, but I digress...

Today, the Smithsonian Institute consists of 18 museums, 9 research centres, 120 affiliates worldwide.  Pretty impressive.  If you ever have a chance to go to a Smithsonian museum, I highly recommend it.  Little no fact as well, the Smithsonian released some AMAZING music compilations a decade or so ago (unfortunately discontinued).  If you ever happen upon one, buy it...totally worth it.


So, here are two articles from one of my all-time favourite establishments:

from the Smithsonian article How the Chicken Conquered the World

1. How the Chicken Conquered the World.  An anthropological/historical account of how chickens/eggs literally saved Western civilization from starvation, and in some cases, Damnation.  Did you know that the ancient Egyptians were the first to develop artificial incubation?  YOU DO NOW!  And knowledge is power.

I want this picture mounted on my wall. 

2. How Do You Cook the Perfect Egg?  A mix of science and culinary arts.  As famous chef, Jacques Pepin says: the true test of a chef is how they cook their eggs.  Honestly though, it all comes down to personal preference.  Some people like runny yolk, some like well-done.  Some love sunny-side up eggs (yours truly), others really love scrambled (me too!).  Still, a fascinating and very short article worth a quick read.

Ok.  bed.  

Shaped Eggs

Do you ever get tired of the same old egg-shaped hardboiled egg?  Do you ever find yourself eating a hardboiled egg, thinking, "This is so dull!  I need more excitement in my eggs" ? Well now, you can have that excitement!  


EGG SHAPES. 


There are basically two ways off approaching this: cheating or effort.  


Cheating is quite simple - you get an egg mold online or from an asian food store.  You boil an egg.  While it's still warm, you peel and rinse the egg, then place it into the egg mold.  Press the egg mold closed.  Open the egg mold.  Tear off the excess egg bits that make the shape look sad, and voilà!  Egg mold. 

Pictures from CoffeeandVanilla.com

Effort requires a bit more...effort.  Here is a step-by-step guide from bento guru Anna the Red.  It doesn't appear too difficult, but it does require a bit more work than opening an old and squishing it shut.  Add two more pencils, and you can make flower/star eggs using the same procedure.  

Also from Anna the Red is how to make cube, sphere, and pyramid shaped-eggs.  

Nifty!  You'll never again have to settle for dull egg-shaped eggs ever again.