When I was in college, I lived with a large group of people. Among them, there was a girl who had a bag of Marshmallow Peeps around Easter. Someone found the box sitting open and unwrapped in a cupboard, and they asked her about it. Aren't these going to go bad?

"I'm 'staling' them," she replied with a smile.

She wasn't the first person to have this revelation. I remember discovering at a very young age how much more satisfying it is to eat stale Peeps marshmallows. And I've met several people since who use them that way. You leave them open and exposed to the air for a few days, and then you've got good, tough Peeps to eat. Kind of like beef jerky, only sweeter.

Now I wonder: why haven't they tried selling Peeps marshmallows that come 'pre-staled', packaged and ready to eat for your convenience?

[update] My mom suggested this be called "Peep Jerky". (Now that's good branding.)