Watercade promotional material advertised an event at Memorial Park on Sunday simply as “Sparboe egg on a stick.”
While familiar with the terms “egg” and “stick,” some people weren’t sure what it meant to have an egg “on” a stick.
“I was thinking it was a kid’s game, or something like that,” Amy Onell of Litchfield said.
Nate Lembcke of St. Cloud was also curious. He surmised, “We assumed they had to be hard boiled.”
Lembcke’s assumption was correct. Sparboe Farms, grand marshal of this year’s Watercade parade, ordered 1,200 hard-boiled eggs to give away before the start of this year’s Little Crow Ski Team performance on Lake Ripley.
The sticks, which were inserted length-wise into the eggs, turned out to be edible — pretzels. For the gluten intolerant, Popsicle sticks were available.
The stick served as a handle to grasp the egg with one hand, while using the other to sprinkle on some salt or pepper.
Some people sprinkled nothing at all. “I just ate it straight up,” declared Hanna Schmidt, 12, of New London.
According to Sparboe representative Sara Elenkiwich, “egg on a stick” is a common treat in some states, including Iowa. She acknowledged few people heard of the concept, prior to Sunday’s event, around here. “We found people were confused with what eggs on a stick are,” she said.
But the treat did get high marks from many people who tried it. “They’re good. It’s not that messy,” Andy Twardy of Litchfield said. “It’s a nice change of pace from all that fried stuff.”
Copyright 2014 Litchfield Independent Review/Crow River Media/Media News Group.