by Debra Cornelius

Created on: March 28, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

There is an ongoing debate in my house about the proper way to eat a marshmallow peep!

Ever since finding that first yellow peep in my Easter basket, I have had only one way to eat those cute spongy marshmallow chicks and that is to quickly bite their little head off ( so they can't watch me eating them of course) then pull the body apart using both hands. Pull slowly to see how far it stretches before tearing. The fresher the peep the further they stretch! Once the body is torn in two, pop each piece in your mouth one at a time, roll it around in your mouth sucking all the sugar off before swallowing the marshmallow fluff that is left.

I always assumed this was our traditional way to eat these little yellow chicks. That is, until we moved in with my 94 year old grandmother. She loves these little yellow peeps so well, she stock piles them immediately after Easter when they are on 'markdown sale' and stores them in her freezer. Imagine my shock, when I cheerfully handed her the first fresh package of peeps this season and she said, "Oh good! I'll put them in the freezer so I can eat them tonight." What?

THEN she tells me that the 'best' way to eat a peep is rock hard! Seems for years she would actually hide them from the rest of the family and leave them open to get hard. ( and stale, in my opinion) When ants discovered her aging chicks before they had gotten hard enough to satisfy her, she began freezing them. So the debate continues.....

I enjoy my peeps as fresh as I can get them, to which Grandma says,"Ugh, how can you eat those when they are squishy like that?" Then she gets these rock hard little peeps from the freezer and with a 'crunch' bites into it. In turn I say."Ewww you ruin a good peep freezing them like that!"

But, then I noticed something. She bites their head off first too. So it must be that fresh or frozen, our traditional way to eat a peep is HEAD FIRST!

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