Adios Twinkie

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Radtek: Jaymes is often kidding, and definitely is in this case.

After all, Twinkies are the perfect jungle food: they never rot, and the bugs won't eat them....

[rotuts]

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 November 17, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[radtek]

I know that was a dig at the NYC soda ban. At least I think. My apologies if I come across too strong. After all I'm here for the food!

[LindaK]

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.

[Jaymes]

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."

[LindaK]

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.

[radtek]

"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.

[Jaymes]

"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.

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 November 17, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

[annabelle]

People's health is also their own business.

[gfweb]

This is a type of food in my opinion that should be laid to rest anyway.

Right. Somebody oughta pass a law.

Bloomberg!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[butterscotch]

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 November 17, 2012 by butterscotch (log)

[annabelle]

I'd answer your questions in full, but this is a blog about food.

[rlibkind]

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.

[David Ross]

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.....

[KatieLoeb]

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.

[annabelle]

C'mon, Katie. Eating chemicals helps you build up a resistance.

[rotuts]

stabilizers.

[radtek]

BTW they Baker's union has agreed to talks so everything is postponed until next week. The light at the end of the tunnel may still be a train...

[annabelle]

Time will tell. My money is still on Bimbo. They already own Sara Lee, Thomas' English Muffins and another big whose name escapes me. And they have a ton of cash to spend plus $3B in profits.

[Charlotte1988]

I'm still not really sure what a Twinkie is, but every time I hear the word it reminds me of the Simpsons episode where a guy leaves the Kwik E Mart in disgust and throws a Twinkie on the floor and Apu says 'stupid man, you can't even hurt a Twinkie' or something to that effect

[Panaderia Canadiense]

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.

[Darienne]

This came to my inbox today. Some of you might be interested. http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3456528dadb5a20fba1f09213&id=3d8fb0bf93&e=f8a9c9cfb4

[IndyRob]

Well, who woulda' thunk that little Debbie kid would be such a brazen opportunist...http://www.littledebbie.com/

[ChrisOC]

I don't miss the twinkies, but I do miss the Beefsteak Rye!

[Toliver]

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:

 

 

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 July 21, 2016 by Toliver (log)