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Adios Twinkie


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Ive always thought these issues can be settled with 1) a twinkie 2) a sno-ball 3) a % of profits for the whole gang. no profit, you still got that Sno-ball. all employees, inc. management.

NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/us/back-when-a-ring-ding-tasted-guiltily-like-america.html?ref=todayspaper

" After opening the tinfoil or cellophane wrapping with curatorial care, so as not to disturb the faux-chocolate frosting, you would have gently removed the puck-shaped treat and taken a bite deep enough to reveal crème — not cream, but crème — so precious that a cow’s participation was incidental to its making. "

"You did not care that this processed food product in your trembling hand was an industrial step or two removed from becoming the heel of a shoe. You already knew that not everything is good for you, and this was never truer than with a Twinkie, a Sno Ball, or a Ring Ding — the Ding Dong equivalent in the Northeast. "

Edited by rotuts (log)
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Many news reports of Twinkie shortages on supermarket shelves, even being offered on eBay.

It's interesting that this one Hostess product, compared to other iconic products such as Wonder Bread, is getting all the attention.


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It's interesting that this one Hostess product, compared to other iconic products such as Wonder Bread, is getting all the attention.

I think Wonder Bread should be "laid to rest."

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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It's interesting that this one Hostess product, compared to other iconic products such as Wonder Bread, is getting all the attention.

I think Wonder Bread should be "laid to rest."

When I was a kid, I loved Twinkies. We had Wonder bread in the house too. I used to pull off the crusts, compress the bread into a doughy ball, and use it like putty to make little objects. Sort of like paper mache. Never could eat it, though.


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"Laid to rest" was perhaps a poor choice of words. My thoughts were that if Twinkies were to fall by the wayside people's health wouldn't suffer for it. But I'm for the existence of the business. Not my place to say they shouldn't be selling Twinkies. :wink:

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"Laid to rest" was perhaps a poor choice of words. My thoughts were that if Twinkies were to fall by the wayside people's health wouldn't suffer for it. But I'm for the existence of the business. Not my place to say they shouldn't be selling Twinkies. :wink:

Except that, people being people, folks all over the world like an occasional treat, even (and maybe especially) when it consists of stuff that health professionals might say isn't good for them. (Eskimo Ice Cream anyone? Basically whale blubber or other animal fat whipped with sugar and berries.)

If Twinkies actually do cease to be available in the marketplace, something else just as "bad" will undoubtedly come along to replace them. And, frankly, in my opinion, the only problem with this is that there are far too many folks that don't understand the meaning of the word "occasional" in the phrase "occasional treat."

I don't think there's anything wrong with having Twinkies (or Ding Dongs or Snowballs or whatever) for dessert. It's when high-fat, high-sugar, empty-calorie food becomes your primary diet that you find yourself in trouble.

ETA - Although, as Annabelle so brilliantly points out in the post below, even if you do "find yourself in trouble," you should have the right to make that personal choice. And not the government.

Edited by Jaymes (log)

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Do the math, my friend: 92% of your salary and a job versus 0% of your salary and no job.

Evidently an 8% cut in pay in order to keep ones job in a down economy is too much to ask. Hostess has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since January. They have no liquid assets and have seen their profits decline by 30% in the last 10 years. Their back is against the wall and a refusal to show an elasticity about wages has just cost these workers their jobs and the jobs of many others.

Plutocrats? Really, son. It's math and math is a harsh mistress.

Do you know any of the math calculating the top executive compensation? Or how many grossly overpaid CEOs they went through in the past ten years? How they almost doubled their salaries (in the middle of a losing streak) before this happened?

Or the concessions bakers had already made because the company promised to use to modernize facilities and turn the company around- none of which actually happened?

Seems you've only familiar with half of the equation. And not the half where management sucked the business dry, instead of making any attempt at a turnaround.

Edited by butterscotch (log)
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I think Hostess Twinkie was at one time a division of International Telephone & Telegraph.

dcarch

By the time ITT acquired Continental Baking (Hostess) the former had become the pluperfect example of a conglomerate owning a wide variety of unrelated businesses. Telephony was by thus time a small, tho still important, part of the multinational put together by Harold Geneen. Sheraton Ed another of its properties.

Bob Libkind aka "rlibkind"

Robert's Market Report

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Sadly, all local Walmarts are now bereft of any Twinkies. (I know, I checked today). And I thought the 60's were a rough time of cultural change.....

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And to bring this back around to food and cooking. Here is a recipe for home made Twinkies, for those of you that can't live without them. These might actually resemble something organic, unlike the original product on which they were based. Apparently, core samples of landfills have revealed perfectly intact Twinkies. I guess you can't biodegrade if you were never made with organic ingredients or were so filled with transfats, stabilizers and junk that you are essentially plastic. :blink:

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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Yeah, but the spoilage date is so far off into the future that it's negligible. I'll continue to maintain that they're perfect jungle food. Even Army Ants won't touch a Twinkie.

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 3 years later...

Resurrecting this old discussion to mention that Hostess survived after being bought out. 

I am only mentioning this to post about the "revival" of their Suzy Q's. They should have let them die a dignified death. Instead, they're passing off a terrible version of Suzy Q's as the real thing. >:(

Here's a picture of the original Suzy Q's compared to a picture of the new box of the revived Suzy Q's:

 

OriginalSuzyQs.jpg

NewSuzyQs.jpg

 

The original Suzy Q's were a denser cake with rounded corners. You could squish the cake top and bottom together and the filling would ooze out which could then be licked.

The new Suzy Q's, as you can see from the picture on the box, are just slices of some sort of chocolate cake with filling between them. Someone in the company thought a reinvention was due because it's obvious they are baking giant sheet cakes and then just cutting them to size and slapping the filling between the slices. It looks like a cost-savings move and it's pretty bad. And there's nowhere near that much filling (as pictured on the box cover) in the new Suzy Q's. Whatta con job.

The cake isn't dense. It's really kind of dry. It is a huge disappointment for anyone looking for a nostalgic kick from these snack cakes. They're nothing like the original version and Hostess should be ashamed that their logo is on the box.

I can't recommend these at all. :(

Edited by Toliver (log)
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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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