Twinkies

11/17/2012

Twinkies

Those little cream-filled yellow cakes with a shelf life of 100 years, give or take a 100, may soon vanish from grocery store shelves entirely.  Generations of children, including yours truly, grew up eating Hostess' goodies, though I preferred Ding Dongs to Twinkies.

Hostess has asked for permission to close and sell it's assets including the non-healthy, sugar filled goodies.  The company started business in 1930 and now not only fights labor costs, but competition as well.  People are trying to eat healthier and those little yummy snacks can add pounds if they are a regular part of your diet.  If another company doesn't buy the rights to the little cakes, buyers may have to resort to hoarding or eventually turn to Ebay which sells everything.

I haven't eaten a Ding Dong in years but I used to love unwrapping the aluminum cover knowing that chocolate goodness was waiting inside.  As for Sno-balls, you either loved them or hated them.  The cake was okay but the gooey mound of marshmallow and coconut on top didn't do much for me. 

Did you ever notice that with the exception of Ding Dongs the little cakes were sold in packages of two.  I'm sure the intention was one for you and one for me.  In reality it was two for me and none for you.  Also, when packing lunch boxes it was easier to give a child the entire package rather than open it up, and pack only one.

There is a wonderful store called Vermont  Country Store and you can buy some products of your youth, particularly candy.  To mention just a few, they sell: Walnettos, Chuckles and Jelly Nougats (Mom really liked these).  You can buy some of the retro candy at places like Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel but as a rule not in your local grocery store.

I assume that most of us adults have moved away from Hostess' goodies by now and replaced them with slightly healthier options.  The stores are filled with bars chock full of fiber and protein which are breakfast and/or snacks to go.. And whoever came up with the 100 calorie bag of food is a genius.  I love that somebody took the guesswork out of snacking for me.  I can grab cookies, yogurt pretzels, etc. and not have to worry about portion size and calories.  If you consume the whole bag, and who doesn't, you just ate 100 calories.  Might not be quite as satisfying as eating an entire cake - but it's something and it's really convenient.  At Costco you can buy in the freezer section Chocolate Zucchini muffins.  You keep them frozen, zap them for 35 seconds and the result is a warm, gooey center chocolate muffin.  Add a glass of milk or coffee and it's heaven.  At 120 calories a muffin I'm not suggesting that they are a replacement for a real chocolate cake or muffin - but again they are convenient, pre-portioned and quite good.

I don't think my mother ever read a label on food ever.  I, on the other hand, don't buy anything, without reading the label.  When I see something that has a high calorie or sugar count, I know I have a decision to make.  I should only consume so many calories in a day and it's up to me to decide how to "spend" them.  I could have one super high calorie dessert or perhaps several smaller, lower calorie ones.  I generally lean toward less calories but every now and then only something with 500 plus calories will do!  

While I appreciate that Twinkies et al may soon be just a memory - I'm going to pass on buying some just for old times sake.

P