Every Easter I put together seven Easter baskets, six for the kids and one for the hubby, and I can never remember who likes Peeps and who doesn’t. You either love them or hate them, and our family is pretty evenly divided. So I just give everyone Peeps. But it works out, because the ones who love the Peeps eat them up and the ones who don’t do weird things with them, like have a jousting match.
What’s a Peeps jousting match? You stick a toothpick in the front of each of two Peeps, as if they are holding little swords. Then you put them on a microwave-safe plate, about an inch apart with the swords facing in. Turn on the microwave. The Peeps puff up and the jousting match begins. Whichever Peep impales the other first wins.
I thought my kids were kind of deranged for doing this, but then I watched, and it was highly entertaining. Maybe because I’m one of the Peeps haters. I mean, they’re cute and all, but pretty darn yucky.
When I was a kid and got Peeps in my Easter basket (Peeps have been around over 50 years!) I used to stretch them to see how skinny I could make them, or poke them full of bits of string licorice to make a porcupine Peep.
Recently, I’ve been known to decorate the top of a cake or cupcakes with Peeps because that always draws ooohs and ahhhhs. Did I mention how cute they are?
In case you are interested in more activities with Peeps (and who wouldn’t be?) there are over 200 unofficial Peeps web sites with recipes, crafts, activities, facts, and all things Peeps related. There is even a web site devoted to the science of Peeps. Click here to see it.
The official Peeps web site, click here, is full of fun facts, such as:
The amount of Peeps chicks and bunnies eaten at Easter could more than circle the Earth’s circumference.
In the early 1950s, it took 27 hours to make one Peeps chick. Today, it takes six minutes.
There are also recipes, games, fan club and a message board. If you love Peeps, there’s more than enough to keep you satiated until next Easter.