Sunday, April 04, 1999
People who need Peeps: It's scary
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Happy news this Easter morning: Peeps aren't going to kill us. Might pull our fillings out, make us drool yellow and get gritty junk all over shirts, but they are not fatal.
That from University of Delaware dietitian and Peeps addict Marianne Carter, who says that “while Peeps don't contribute much nutritional value, they can certainly fit into a healthy diet, as a treat.”
The problem, she says, is people who pig out big time: It “displaces foods that do provide needed nutrients. Everything in moderation.”
Moderation indeed. According to Just Born, the Bethlehem, Pa., firm that hatches 2 million Peeps a day, the average U.S. male eats a lifetime total of 919 Peeps; the average female eats 623.
Anyway, this being the season to deck fake grass with plenty o' Peeps, we hit the streets during lunch hour for an unscientific survey — one on Fountain Square, the second at the Hamilton County Courthouse. We stopped 100 people and found:
• A shocking surprise: not everyone loves Peeps. Only 56 out of the 100 said they eat them.
Pati Gilliece, co-owner of Northern Kentucky's Chez Nora, for example, won't eat them (“Well no, are you crazy?”) but she will serve a Peeps cocktail (after 1 p.m.) at the bar's Easter Brunch: “A Peep Peppermint Patty — hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and a Peep on top.”
Matthew Cresci, bartender at the new and very hot Palomino, won't eat them either. But he serves a Peepalini: Start with a giant brandy snifter. Add one scoop of Graeter's white chocolate ice cream, a shot and a quarter of Absolut Currant and a shot of Chambord; blend until smooth. It's a purple drink that he garnishes with a pink Peep and five raspberries.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen is one who eats them. Although sworn to uphold the law, he admits, “I'm such a huge fan I steal, uh, liberate them from my kids' Easter baskets. Whites are my favorites. And I eat them slowly. Lick the sugar off first. You don't need me to get any more graphic than that.”
• Of those 56 who eat Peeps, 31 like 'em stale. Consensus is that the Peeps should be exposed to air for a minimum of a week to achieve the proper crunchiness.
• More than half, 28, said they bite the heads off first.
• Only two admitted to being so desperate for a quick fix that they have microwaved Peeps for “instant staleness.” Both were sorry: Downtown shopper Mary Jane Brandt “let it get too hard. I pulled a crown off.” Her adult son Mitch had trouble, too: “I don't know what I did, but it exploded. I was cleaning Peep clumps out of there for weeks. Right after that, mom moved to Naples (Fla.); I think it was my fault.”
• Only one, the above-said Brandt, has logged on to any of the unofficial Peep Web sites. “It was pretty sick, even for me. There are people who put them on pizza. ... and there are all these Martha Stewart people who make wreaths and decorate hats with Peeps. Way too much time on their hands, don't you think?”
Maybe, but Jan Melvin, co-owner of Cincinnati's Heritage restaurant and a crafts teacher there, creates Peep-inspired crafts all the time:
“I use them in table decorations. I use them with place cards, because you just make a little slit and slip in the card. They're good for centerpieces, too, with silk flowers.
“One year, I took at 10-by-12-inch rectangular pan, filled it with dirt and planted pansies in advance. As they're coming up, you station Peeps around the stems. Makes a very nice centerpiece.”
Semi-edible, too.
This Easter season, Americans will chomp 600 million Peeps. Which is OK, cause they're only 35 calories each with no grams of fat.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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