You can't eat just one Peep

This is from a cute article on Marshmallow Peeps, to get you into the Easter spirit…

I've had a lifelong fascination for Peeps. So, with Easter approaching and me in need of a Peeps fix, I decided to go Googling to get some important questions answered. You can never have enough data about Peeps. But if you're an addict, too, keep in mind the Peeps Web site hasn't been updated since 2003, or, in my case, a few thousand Peeps ago.

Just Born Quality Confections in Bethlehem, Pa. has been the primary Peeps manufacturer since 1953, when it acquired Rodda Candy. It's motto: "Peeps ... Always in Season." Rodda may have produced the marshmallow confection as early as the 1920s.

Chicks were the original shapes, Bunnies later. But Easter no longer corners the Peeps market. There are Spooky Cats for Halloween, Snowmen for the winter holidays. Colors? Besides yellow and white, blue and violet, we have red, white and blue Peeps for the Fourth of July, cocoa-flavored Bats for Halloween.

Peepaholics know there's no such thing as a stale Peep. Some like them hard and crunchy. The 12-page Google report calls this "an acquired taste."

If you eat only a Peep or two, you've found a new low-calorie dessert -- each Peep is 32 calories. But it's pretty hard to resist finishing a whole pack once it's opened. And I can knock off 50 Peeps without making, well, a peep. That's 1,520 calories. The Peep-sheet points out, however, that five handsful of M & Ms equates to 50 Peeps. So I'd rather have Peeps, thank you (Good news: There are small amounts of fat in Peeps)

Q. What happens if you decide you want a warm Peep on a cold night and stick one in the microwave?

A. You don't want to know.

The Web site also reports there is a Peeps Fan Club with two levels of membership: $9.95 for basic, $13.95 for premium. You get one pack of Peeps with both. The different is you get a Peep cap if you go premium.

Just Born's Bethlehem factory had an electrical fire in 1999, damaging large quantities of Peeps that were then sold as an animal feed ingredient. But a few weeks after the fire, production resumed and there were no shortages during the 2000 Peep Season.

I'm well stocked for Easter 2008 in Mantua.

But I've got the same problem all Peeps-lovers share.

I can't eat just one.

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Now you can do more than just eat peeps, you can BE one! AnniesCostumes.com has Peep costumes for kids and Peep costumes for adults.