Happy Easter PEEPS!

'Tis the season for PEEPS -- you know, those cute little sugar-laden marshmallow chicks and bunnies in our Easter baskets? Starting tomorrow, PEEPS will go on sale at ridiculously low prices. Forget Black Friday; this will be Yellow (and Pink and Lavender and Blue and White) Marshmallow Monday.

So, I'm curious...What's the story behind this spring treat anyway? Leave it to me to do some research to find out... I had no clue how much information was out there until I started digging. I don't even really like the taste of PEEPS much, but after looking through an assortment of Web sites, I'm inspired to buy them in massive quantities so I can eat them, squish them, put them in the microwave, use them for art and perform science experiments on them!

I learned a plethora of information on the PEEPS Web site. Here's some points I found of interest:

• Peeps were born in Bethlehem Pennsylvania in 1953.(How ironic it's "Bethlehem" considering the Lenten season and religious origins.)
• The amount of PEEPS chicks and bunnies consumed at Easter could more than circle Earth’s circumference.
• The number of PEEPS chicks, bunnies and other shapes made each day could make a path from the factory door in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to the state of Maryland.
• It would take approximately 172 MILLION PEEPS bunnies end-to-end to circle the moon.
• Over 70 million PEEPS chicks lined up beak-to-tail are needed to reach from New York City to Los Angeles.
• If you had 8,000 PEEPS bunnies, and you stood them in a straight vertical line, you could reach the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago.
• In the early 1950’s, it took 27 HOURS to make one PEEPS chick. Today it takes six minutes!
• PEEPS chicks and bunnies come in 5 colors. Yellow chicks are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.
• Each PEEPS chick has 32 calories and 0 grams of fat.
  

What is really amazing are the contests dedicated to preserving the little marshmallow critters -- from the Washington Post to the Baltimore Sun, media get downright PEEPalicious this time a year. My local fave is the Ann Arbor News' annual diorama contest. Check it out and prepare to be amazed!

And while you're at it, don't forget about YouTube. Just type in PEEPS and prepare for video splendor -- there are countless parody vids showcasing the little chicks (Star Wars Revenge of the Peeps, Peeps Jaws and don't miss my fave -- "Office Peeps" -- a. mockumentary on the 90's classic "Office Space.")

Hope you had a wonderful Easter, PEEPle! I'm PEEPin' out for tonight.