Peeps Sundae at Friendly's!

Check it out, peeps: Friendly's has a new sundae that features a chocolate-dipped Peep. Love it!

More Easter Sweetness

Marshmallow seems to be a big thing this Easter. I had high hopes for these 3 Musketeers Marshmallow squares. I was fantasizing that they'd be soft and slightly gooey, like marshmallow tends to be. Sadly, they were not. The insides were just like a regular 3 Musketeers-- that kind of whipped, slightly nougatey/fudgey texture-- and had that strange 3 Musketeers throat burn. The marshmallow part was, I guess, the flavor, but I'm thinking that if you gave one of these to someone without telling them what it was, they'd say it was a plain ol' Musketeers bar.I have the chocolate-covered Peeps Peepsters on my list for this week. They're on sale at CVS, if I can ever get over there.In the meantime, Mr. Lindt Easter Bunny is anxiously awaiting spring. It's taken all my will power this week not to chomp off his ears. Hopefully my strength will hold out until Easter, although I wouldn't bet on it.

Good mailboxes make good neighbors

Who has the best neighbors? I do! I do! Big Tony and the Necco Door Neighbor clan asked if I could bring in their mail last week while they went off on a jaunt. At first I thought it was just a ruse, that they were just trying to show off their new mega-awesome, kick-butt mailbox they had installed after this winter of discontent (in which the town snow plow sheared away everyone's mailboxes). But they really did go away, as evidenced by this:the motherlode of Cape Cod chocolatey goodness.
When the doorbell rang last night, I thought it was yet another pizza being delivered (mistakenly) to the House of Yum (123 Chocolate Hill Road) instead of the House of People Who Eat Pizza Nearly Every Night (123 Chocolate Road). But to my happy surprise (and clearly, someone else's), it was the Necco Door Neighbor bearing a bag o' candy.

I love, love, love the big egg with the vignettes of the bunnies busily toiling away at the Easter eggs. The Sugar Baby and I have been playing "Easter egg hunt" all day with the little foil eggs inside.
The chocolate-dipped Peeps are great; kind of gives you an excuse to eat the whole darn row at once. (Not that I'd ever do that, of course.)
And look at that deviled egg from Chatham Candy Manor. Is that not the cutest thing ever? I LOVE this.
Last but not least, we have about 20 pounds of Bailey's Irish Creme fudge from the Provincetown Fudge Factory. (Insert your own joke here.)
So what's the lesson we learn here? It's two-fold. First, when you move, make sure you get cool neighbors. And second, when they ask you to take in their mail, say, hell yeah I will! (Even if you do kind of feel jealous of their fancy mailbox with the slide-out tray.)

Easter Sugar Crash 2010

Well my goodness gracious, I'm wiped out. These candy holidays can really take a toll on a person. So much build-up to the big day and then CRASH! Too. Much. Candy. Must. Have. Salad.
In any case, let's tie up a few loose Easter ends.When life (or the mailman) gives you a See's Easter candy catalog, you make puppets. That's what we've been doing for weeks. Cutting and taping pictures of chocolates onto popsicle sticks. The Sugar Baby asked me to draw sad faces on them. (I'll be accepting donations for his future therapy via PayPal.) He currently has them all nestled inside his lunchbox and he sleeps with them. Trader Joe's offered milk chocolate peanut butter eggs this year. What can I say? They were good, but nothing can ever compare to a Reese's egg with its perfect balance of sweet and salty. Really, there's no reason for any company to ever make a chocolate peanut butter candy because Reese's will always win out.
The Sugar Baby got these adorable bottles of bubbles in his Easter basket. They look like Peeps and the bubbles smell like them, too. Fun!

So Yumsters, what was in your Easter baskets? Do tell!

For the Hostest with the Mostest

If I was of the age where my friends were getting married, I'd be totally rocking this as my go-to gift. Who wouldn't want a Lenox Peeps Salt and Pepper set? If they come out with flatware, I'm signing up.

Chocolate Covered Peeps

I went to Walgreen's last week in a driving rain storm to buy some pain patches for my back because, you know, I'm old. The only saving grace of this trip was that I knew I'd get to check out the Easter candy.
I think Easter offers the most variety of any of the candy holidays: Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's. I love seeing all the different bunny- and egg-shaped candies and of course, marshmallow is majorly predominant. I loves me some good marshmallow. So I was thrilled to buy a dark chocolate covered Peep. (They also come in milk chocolate.)
It sure is a pretty thing, all shiny and dark. I wasn't sure what to expect on the inside, but it turned out to be bright yellow (like a Peep) only without the sparkly sugar coating. Unfortunately, I thought these had just a slightly medicinal taste to them and the chocolate was pretty grainy. The fact that the majority of the Peep has sat on my desk uneaten for about five days says something. It says, if you want a Peep, buy a box of Peeps. If you want chocolate-covered marshmallow, go for the Russell Stover.
In other Peep news, I went to the mall today and now that the Sugar Baby is old enough to notice such things, I realized that there are candy machines and claw game machines everywhere. He found one particularly enticing: a machine full of big, clear bouncy balls with Peeps in the center. They were pretty cool, I must admit. I was almost tempted to give him the 50 cents to try it. But then I thought better of it. No need to start that bad habit yet.

P is for Peeps

I was scouring the house the other day looking for some candy to paint, when I remembered the Peeps I had stashed in the freezer. Woo hoo!
And this just in from Alexandra: a Peeps store ("Peeps & Co.") will be opening this fall in Maryland.

Hippity, Hoppity

Gadzoinks! I just looked at the calendar and Easter is early this year. Ash Wednesday is right around the corner, so you'd better start gorging on chocolate soon before the 40 days of sugar deprivation.

I was looking around to see what's new this year and came across these Peeps Tulips. Very cute, no? I wonder if the Easter Bunny will be stopping at my house this year? Just my luck, he'll probably bring the Sugar Baby a basket full of fruit.

And You Thought Diamonds Were a Girl's Best Friend?

Today's gift idea comes to you from a website called Glitter Lime and it's a very exciting candy product-- jewelry made from REAL candy! They have Conversation Heart rings, candy corn pins, all sorts of stuff! Apparently they're coated in some sort of super space age high tech glossy stuff so they won't disintegrate, but they do recommend keeping your jewelry away from water. Also, there was a warning that the color on the Peeps may fade over time. I love these!

Update on the Jar O' Candy and Why My Sister Sucks

My sister Betsy reported back to me on the contents of the Friday candy jars she used to get from our grandparents, but she was too afraid to post on this blog. So you'll have to trust me when I relay her answer. Apparently there were rootbeer barrels and Tootsie Rolls, and she isn't sure, but thinks there might've been Bit O' Honeys and Mary Janes which, she said, she would've passed off to my mother.
She also said that Bazooka is her secret weapon. She chews it before going into meetings.
Now, because she totally sucks and won't post on this blog, I've decided I'm going to slowly give away all her candy secrets until she finally gets the nerve to stop by and say hello. Without further ado, SECRET NUMBER ONE:
She saves her Easter Peeps until they get stale; then she eats them.
Stay tuned for more secrets. Maybe I'll even turn it into a trivia contest!