Peeps Rule!

Easter wasn't the biggest holiday when I was raising my son, Ken, but we always did the Easter basket thing. We had the mandatory chocolate bunnies, jelly beans (I like Starburst brand the best), and Ken's favorite creme eggs. Ya gotta have marshmallow peeps at Easter time, and they became a particular curiosity to Ken and me.

Peeps are now made year round, you've got the peeps chicks, the peeps bunnies, creamy Easter eggs, Halloween ghosts and cats, Christmas trees and snowmen and for Valentines Day, peeps hearts. It's become a tradition to leave peeps at Ken's grave in Arlington when I visit. When I was in Virginia in February, I left some Valentines peeps for Ken along with some tulips and I went on my way. A couple of hours later, I received a phone call from one of Ken's friends who had missed me by about an hour. She saw the peeps so she knew I had been there. We had a nice conversation catching up after her deployment to Kuwait. I like it when people visit Ken's grave.

Peeps have been around since 1953 and are the favorite Easter candy, it says so on their official marshamallowpeeps.com. There are over 200 unofficial peeps websites. As a peep aficionado, I care about the health and welfare of peeps. One of my favorites is Peepresearch.com, with over a million visitors since 1998. The research includes experiments to test the reactions of peeps to cold, heat, solubility testing and low pressure environments. One of the most under-represented areas of study worldwide, issues of Peep well-being are only now making their way into the mainstream consciousness. This student group did a risk analysis on the effects of smoking and drinking and investigated whether these same health risks apply to Peeps. Their conclusion on this experiment? The synergistic effect of smoking and alcohol in Peeps produces a rapidly exothermic oxidation reaction, leading to a chemical and morphological divergence from the wild-type Peep phenotypes. And they give a strong recommendation to JustBorn Corporation that they supervise young Peeps and educate them of the risks associated with smoking and alcohol. Good advice for all of us!