A Spring “Shout Out” to Julia Child & My Peeps

Chuckle #401 | April 7th, 2010
 scroll down to leave a comment

Spring has sprung. How do I know? By blooming daffodils, the pungent smell of my neighbor’s manure-laced mulch, and by the PEEPS. Spring is officially “in the house” only when CVS is resplendent with sugar coated marshmallow chicks and bunnies.

The great thing about Peeps is that they aren’t extruded just for Easter any more. Holiday themed Peeps are now available for Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas. Yippee.

The Peep company, aka Just Born Confections of Bethlehem PA (famed for Steel and Peeps) is no Proctor and Gamble. It took management nearly 80 years to figure out that PEEPS could be a year round phenomenon, thereby raising profitability 800%. Kudos. As far as I’m concerned, nothing says I love you (or “you’re too fat for chocolate”) like a pink, heart shaped Peep. Except for maybe those inedible “conversation” hearts that actually say “I ♥ U”.

If you have to ask, “What’s a Peep?” you were probably born to Birkenstock cavorting parents who put real chickens in your Easter Basket (or you don’t do Easter at all.) If Peeps were indeed the forbidden fruit of your childhood, you now have a chance to express some free will. And though I do not appreciate this analogy, like the snake in the Garden of Eden, I will teach you how to enjoy this classic confection.

Most people simply pop a Peep into their mouth, chew, and repeat until nauseated. Studies have shown that the average human stomach can tolerate about three Peeps. (Animal testing is inconclusive because rats refuse to eat them.) But why limit yourself to three when Peeps have only 32 empty calories and zero percent fat? Compared to Girl Scout cookies they’re practically a health food.

My very favorite way to eat a Peep is toasted over an open fire. Any person with basic eye-hand coordination can toast a marshmallow, but it takes the culinary skills of Julia Child to perfectly caramelize the sugar on a Peep into “Peep Brule”. At my house this is called “nirvana on a stick”.

And don’t bother to mourn the Peeps that inevitably drop into the fire. A burning marshmallow bunny has no more feeling than a regular old amorphous marshmallow. (As long as you don’t give them names.)

For parents who are into “teachable moments”, toasting Peeps is a highly recommended activity. The process of turning sugar into caramel makes for an excellent early childhood science experiment. Learning not to touch 350 degree sugar is a life lesson. Providing first aid for the inevitable third degree burns is a life skill. “Peep Toasting” has so many teachable moments that it might someday qualify for college credit.

And since you’ve persevered this far, I now feel compelled to thrill you with some Peep trivia. The rumor that there are Giant Bunny Peeps is true, but sadly my CVS does not carry them. For what its worth, there is a Peep Fan Club. Do NOT put Peeps in the microwave. Because I said so. And finally, they are called Peeps because they are shaped like newly hatched chicks, which are commonly called “Peeps”. You may also call your very best friends Peeps.

Personally, and linguistically speaking, this makes “Peep” the most apropos of names for a very special spring candy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Get your Weekly Chuckle via email at http://www.laughoutloudmom.com/
Copyright LOLmom.com, 2008-2010, Greenwich CT