get home mgt, bigger bazooms, work at home, WITH PEEPS

[Guest guest]

Sorry, brave souls, I could not resist:

you know ceep rhymes with peep, right?

but, I don't eat peeps. Naasssssssssty!

Peep CultureA marshmallow melting pot of chicks, bunnies, eggs, and jelly

beans

Remember the days when Peeps were just yellow marshmallow chicks fused

together in a row? These days, Just Born, Inc. (the producer of all things

Peep) is broadening its confectionery horizons and selling new products,

including Marshmallow Peeps Eggs (in Vanilla and Strawberry flavors) and

Peeps Marshmallow Jelly Beans. How do these newer offspring measure up to

their beloved older siblings, the chicks and bunnies? As serious journalists,

we felt it our duty to investigate (okay, taste-test) the entire Easter

lineup to find out.

CAN A CANDY BE TOO HIGH-CONCEPT?The jelly beans are aesthetically appealing

and match the Peeps in springtime pastels: pink (strawberry), blue

(blueberry), lavender (raspberry), yellow (lemon), and white (plain

marshmallow). Alas, they don't taste nearly as great as they look. Most

tasters (the Epicurious editors and other hungry people who walked past my

desk) found the marshmallow-fruit combo overwhelmingly sweet. Comparisons

were made to Pledge wood cleaner, bad bubble gum, and lavender soap. Only the

white jelly bean escaped criticism; its straightforward marshmallow flavor

was deemed familiar and more subtle.

FOR WHEN A REGULAR PEEP ISN'T SWEET ENOUGHThe Marshmallow Peeps Eggs, which

are sprinkled with edible glitter and have a vanilla creme filling, fared

better with the serious sweet tooths on the staff: Imagine eating spun sugar

wrapped around Twinkie filling. Unlike the chicks, the eggs don't improve

with age. After sitting out for a weekend, the creme hardened up (becoming

almost impossible to chew) and the glitter started to flake off.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW (EVEN SOMETHING ELECTRIC BLUE)Call us

conventional, but we're still devoted to the original yellow, pink, and

lavender chicks (though we have found room in our Easter baskets for Peep

bunnies. Even the avant-garde electric blue ones). And judging from our forum

postings and the plethora of Peep-centric Web sites out there, we're not the

only fans of the old-school Peep. For instance:

1. Ardent Peep fans stash their goods to munch on year-round (stale is

better, anyway), although now they can get specialty Peeps around Halloween,

Christmas, and Valentine's Day. The chicks' extended shelf life (I think it's

eternity, or something close to that) makes them ideal for a quick

post-Easter sugar rush.

2. Those with relatively uncluttered schedules are studying the effects of

hot tubs, smoking, alcohol, and other stimuli on these resilient candy

creatures.

3. The more artistically inclined like to glue Peeps to kitchen windows and

clothing, and use them to spruce up the Easter table.

4. And then there are those who've made Peeps into cultural icons,

displaying their photographs in an online gallery and crafting an ode for the

neglected Unpurchased Peep.

But as we watch our Peep friends and fun multiply, the decades-old debate —

how best to eat a Peep — continues. Some swear by biting off the tail, others

let them melt in their mouth. One thing, however, is certain: Easter wouldn't

be Easter without them.

— This was written by Lexi Dwyer ©2003

[Guest guest]

Sorry, brave souls, I could not resist:

you know ceep rhymes with peep, right?

but, I don't eat peeps. Naasssssssssty!

Peep CultureA marshmallow melting pot of chicks, bunnies, eggs, and jelly

beans

Remember the days when Peeps were just yellow marshmallow chicks fused

together in a row? These days, Just Born, Inc. (the producer of all things

Peep) is broadening its confectionery horizons and selling new products,

including Marshmallow Peeps Eggs (in Vanilla and Strawberry flavors) and

Peeps Marshmallow Jelly Beans. How do these newer offspring measure up to

their beloved older siblings, the chicks and bunnies? As serious journalists,

we felt it our duty to investigate (okay, taste-test) the entire Easter

lineup to find out.

CAN A CANDY BE TOO HIGH-CONCEPT?The jelly beans are aesthetically appealing

and match the Peeps in springtime pastels: pink (strawberry), blue

(blueberry), lavender (raspberry), yellow (lemon), and white (plain

marshmallow). Alas, they don't taste nearly as great as they look. Most

tasters (the Epicurious editors and other hungry people who walked past my

desk) found the marshmallow-fruit combo overwhelmingly sweet. Comparisons

were made to Pledge wood cleaner, bad bubble gum, and lavender soap. Only the

white jelly bean escaped criticism; its straightforward marshmallow flavor

was deemed familiar and more subtle.

FOR WHEN A REGULAR PEEP ISN'T SWEET ENOUGHThe Marshmallow Peeps Eggs, which

are sprinkled with edible glitter and have a vanilla creme filling, fared

better with the serious sweet tooths on the staff: Imagine eating spun sugar

wrapped around Twinkie filling. Unlike the chicks, the eggs don't improve

with age. After sitting out for a weekend, the creme hardened up (becoming

almost impossible to chew) and the glitter started to flake off.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW (EVEN SOMETHING ELECTRIC BLUE)Call us

conventional, but we're still devoted to the original yellow, pink, and

lavender chicks (though we have found room in our Easter baskets for Peep

bunnies. Even the avant-garde electric blue ones). And judging from our forum

postings and the plethora of Peep-centric Web sites out there, we're not the

only fans of the old-school Peep. For instance:

1. Ardent Peep fans stash their goods to munch on year-round (stale is

better, anyway), although now they can get specialty Peeps around Halloween,

Christmas, and Valentine's Day. The chicks' extended shelf life (I think it's

eternity, or something close to that) makes them ideal for a quick

post-Easter sugar rush.

2. Those with relatively uncluttered schedules are studying the effects of

hot tubs, smoking, alcohol, and other stimuli on these resilient candy

creatures.

3. The more artistically inclined like to glue Peeps to kitchen windows and

clothing, and use them to spruce up the Easter table.

4. And then there are those who've made Peeps into cultural icons,

displaying their photographs in an online gallery and crafting an ode for the

neglected Unpurchased Peep.

But as we watch our Peep friends and fun multiply, the decades-old debate —

how best to eat a Peep — continues. Some swear by biting off the tail, others

let them melt in their mouth. One thing, however, is certain: Easter wouldn't

be Easter without them.

— This was written by Lexi Dwyer ©2003