Spring Chocolate

This may be the most anticipated spring in many years. We are all so sick of snow and cold and dreariness. Seeing the budding trees is definitely bringing joy to my heart! And speaking of bringing joy to my heart, look at these adorable babies:

Yes, chocolate covered Peeps!

How cute is that little guy? You can see his little Peep eyeball. And look at his little wing and his tail. Awwwww!!!

Not that that will stop me from hacking him open like all my other chocolate victims. I mean, volunteers. There's the trademark Peep yellow!!

And if milk chocolate Peeps weren't enough, there are also dark chocolate Peeps!

Now I know what most of you are thinking - "I hate Peeps, I don't care if they cover them in chocolate, blah, blah, blah."

I say, "Dear Reader - have you learned NOTHING from this blog?" You must try the thing you think you will not like. You must keep an open mind. You must boldly go where no chocolate lover has gone before! You must have adventures!

These are GOOD! I know, you think because I got to tour the Peeps factory that I am biased. And I will admit that I do love Just Born and think Peeps are hilarious. But I will not lie for anybody. (Maybe if they had let me drive the Peepmobile, but they didn't.)

I do like the dark chocolate Peep much better than the milk chocolate Peep. I think the dark chocolate does a better job of offsetting the sweetness of the marshmallow. Also - the sugar dusting on the regular Peeps is gone, so this is just smooth chocolate and fresh marshmallow. No weird sugar grains.

I have to tell you, I was prepared for these to be terrible. I thought they would be covered with bad, cracking Russell Stoverish chocolate. Instead they are heartbreakingly cute and the marshmallow to chocolate ratio is perfect. You owe it to yourself to at least try one. Hey - if nothing else, he can sit on your desk and be your chocolate mascot. Who could have a bad day with their little chocolate buddy beside them?

Imagine taking him to a meeting and just sitting him right there on the conference table. How great would that be?

Clearly I have spring fever.

I have also decided to make spring resolutions:

1.) Have more chocolate adventures!! I hope you noticed my new Countdown to Candy Expo in the right hand corner of the blog. The name is now the Sweets and Snacks Expo, but I like Candy Expo better so I'm sticking with it. I'm also going to the Fancy Food Show in New York this summer.

The recession is still impacting my business, but I'll be darned if I'll stop having adventures. And if I don't plan them and put them on my calendar - they will never happen. What adventures will you have this spring and summer?

2.) Complete the projects I've been delaying. These are not exciting, but the longer I delay, the more they bug and worry me. One was re-tiling the bathroom. The vinyl flooring in there looked like Hell and every time I went in there it would bug me. I finally went to Lowe's picked out the tile and got it done. Now when I go in there, I admire it. It makes me feel good everyday instead of bad. It was worth the money. The next project? Switching my books from Microsoft Money to Quicken. Money has been discontinued and I figure converting sooner is better than later. As you all know, swithcing software is rarely fun and/or easy.

Neither of these is glory projects. But the sense of accomplishment and the reduction of worry is huge. What projects can you finally knock out this spring?

3.) Savor the season. I'm so glad to see the spring this year - the blue skies, the warmer temps, the trees and flowers coming to life. We take so much beauty and wonder for granted - I think the seasons have to change to keep us appreciating the beauty of the world. Just like the candies have to change to keep us appreciating the deliciousness of the flavors! We live in a world so full of riches - how lucky are we? For God's sake, we have TWO types of chocolate covered Peeps! Life is grand!

Celebrate the spring - try a chocolate covered Peep!!