Cadbury Creme Peeps

Reuters: Cadbury Chocolates has teamed with Peeps, the marshmallow confectionery company best known for its Easter chick and bunny treats, to make a chocolate covered Peep which has a runny creme "egg" center.

The British chocolatier, which outraged U.S. fans from coast to coast,, was recently bought out by Kraft from Hershey's, which promptly changed the recipe to one of a less "desired" consistency...removing the fat content, and all the flavour.  The U.S. public was "not amused" by this and the ban of importing the British version was met with harsh disapproval.

But now it all seems that this is water under the bridge, or across the pond, as the case may be, and the British Cadbury company has, for a limited time only, been allowed to sell the prohibited pieces which have been fetching a cost-prohibitive amount as soon as they hit the shelves.

"We've not seen anything like this." Terrence Howard of Cadbury U.K. has stated, "It's like someone invented a Cadbury 'Cabbage Patch Elmo' . I've seen the 6-packs of them being sold at online auction sites for well over £ 25 each (that's $37.00 in U.S. dollars) and the demand just keeps increasing." 

So, check your Easter baskets, as the bunny which hid those eggs, might have laid some golden ones inside instead.

Nymph-O-Matic?

All across the world there are versions of this question ringing out: "What's for dinner?"

Now, I know some of you out there are good cooks, some might even be Julia Child-like...but there are some of you who think cooking involves a can of "Cream of Mushroom" soup, rice which never comes in contact with others of their species (how do they make rice that does that anyway - I think NASA had something to do with it), and a block of Velveeta.

While I'm not picking on you, I'm just amazed that someone can slap together a dinner, from start to finish, in the time it takes for me to wash my vegetables. Seriously, that's not fair...and that's as far away from being a gourmand than those rice grains are away...from each other.

Yes, I know...those "Iron Chef" people can make a dozen delectable dishes in the time it takes me to return from a commercial break, but I never see them wash their vegetables, either...so I'm discounting them. Plus being "quick like a bunny" never helped any rabbit in any cook's kitchen.

But, those of you who feel the calling to harken back to the bygone days of tomato aspics expertly molded into regal Crimean lion poses -- and little racks of lamb with the tiny white chef's hat lovingly placed upon each little lamb-bone...I bring to you a gem of a recipe I recently unearthed in my vintage 1941 "The Escoffier Cook Book"...

So the next time you scoff because that burrito in the microwave is taking longer than 1:21 to cook or that you can't believe the skyrocketing price of a dented can of Le Sueur baby peas...just be glad that you'll probably never cause a grand societal faux pas embarrassing yourself by mistakenly stirring your iced tea with your marrow spoon.

Now...about that dinner...

(Click on the photos to enlarge them if you cannot read the full text.)