The Lord has risen, you know how I know? There was a bunny cake.

Okay, so the SnackManiac is very sleepy, due in large part to the snack binge that took place to celebrate the rolling back of the rock. But I did want to whet your beak for the the Easter recap that will be coming in the next day.

TRUST ME, it is worth the wait, but here is a teaser:

PLEASE NOTE THE TAIL, HOW CUTE!!

Jew-friendly snacks

While feasting on Cadbury mini-eggs, SnackManiac began to think about what a challenging time Passover is for Kosher-snackers. In addition to the trials of bitter herbs and gefilte fish, Passover observances prohibit snacking on anything that is leavened, which includes bread, cake and cookies, as well as anything that ferments, like BEER. (An informed Jewish source advised that your best option is to hop on the liq-train during Passover. That's the kind of ingenuity that the SnackManiac likes to hear about!)

The good news is that the Children of Israel have come up with some special snacks for Passover that I was excited to report on. Check out these chocolate-covered Matzo/Matzoh/Matzah/Matza crackers. What a way to juice up a flour and water toast!! Taste-testers described the Tam Tam as having "all the crunchiness of a cookie wafer while retaining the true matzah qualities."

Attention Jewish readers: Please use the comments section to let SnackManiac know about other Passover snacks worthy of investigation. My search for the macaroon continues...

Easter eats

So it looks like the Easter Bunny came early to my office, check out this adorable SEASONAL cookie! By way of a full description, it is a cookie that has been rolled in coconut, squashed in the middle to create a NEST and filled with easter M&Ms. It was crafted by one of my industrious co-workers and delivered, presumably, by the Easter bunny.

It was quite the treat and whet my appetite for more snacks enjoyed in honor of the resurrected Jesus.

For those of you who don't buy the resurrected Jesus bit, don't fret, a unleavened post is in the works.

belated observance of snack holiday

A savvy New York tipster sent along this special report analyzing the making of a perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the kind you make yourself, not the kind made for lazy people by robots.)

The scientific analysis by the team at Serious Eats is quite comprehensive and was conducted in honor of a SNACK RELATED HOLIDAY that I am ashamed to have overlooked; yesterday was National PBJ Day!! (That sammie with a face was created by them, appropriated by SnackManiac.)

It is hard to tell what the origins of PBJ Day are, but I am suspicious of a link on Serious Eats that goes to an About.com page entitled HOMESCHOOLING. I suppose if I was trapped in the house with some kids all day, I would start making up holidays about lunch too.

Be sure to check out the report on Serious Eats, there is some in-depth reporting on peanut butter and some highly amusing graphics about the peanut butter to jelly ratio.

My snack can beat up your snack

Not being a regular reader of "The Lean Plate Club" column in the Washington Post, it took me a few days to uncover this recent column about snacks.

Citing the Snack Food Association (!!!,) Sally Squires writes that Americans spent $24 billion on snacks in 2005 and favor savory snacks over sweets. Beating her "healthy living" drum Sally starts jabbering about the introduction of whole grain snacks into the marketplace. The reporting is a bit of a snooze, "have a glass of soy milk instead of Doritos!" Right. But then it gets good when she conducts an informal taste test in the newsroom of some snack-ternatives.

The shocking results?

"The least favorite was Dr. Kracker's Muesli Kribbons Made with Spelt."

That's the funniest snack I have ever heard of.

It's never too early for snacking

We celebrated Sarah's birthday yesterday with a brunch feast, including a great new breakfast snack, the sausage and cheese pinwheel. It had all the hallmarks of a great snack, crispy, greasy and cheesy. My photography does not do this snack JUSTICE. The first one was so good I ate about 6 more to ensure it was not a fluke. This snack embodies an important axiom of high snackage: [MEAT + CHEESE] wrapped in BUTTERY PUFF PASTRY always = SUPERB snacking.

The sausage pinwheel was just the beginning of the festivities which also included several varieties of egg bake, bagels and lox and fruit salad., all washed down with fancy mimosas with mango sorbet.

G and I brought some contraband donuts from Hellers that weighed approximately 2 pounds per donut. (A hearty snack indeed.) I was so excited about eating them, I failed to capture them on film.

Inspired by yesterday's morning snack bash, I started today off strong with two Easter Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on the way to the bus...

Catholics against chocolate

While SnackManiac never intended to get in the business of commenting on religious or political debates, it seems that snacks have been flying in the face of spirituality lately and it would be irresponsible of me not to offer my professional assessment.

Today's tale of snack related outrage takes place in New York City, home to many great snacks. And apparently home to many great freaks who have way too much time on their hands to make things out of chocolate or complain about things other people made out of chocolate.

A hotel in midtown was set to display a life sized Jesus made of of MILK CHOCOLATE starting on Monday to coincide with Holy Week. All you need to know is that the exhibit is called "My Sweet Jesus" (HILARIOUS) and the Jesus is fully nude (which is apparently the offensive part. at least he's not wearing a bowtie.) Rather than ignoring the deified dessert, the Catholic League expressed their outrage, catapulting the story to top national news (be sure to watch the video report on msnbc.com, although remember, the Jesus is NAKED and therefore may not be suitable for all audiences.)

My favorite part of the story is thinking about the PR person at the Catholic League using the phrase "naked chocolate Jesus" in a press release.

Also, no one seems to have asked the important question: IS HE HOLLOW?