What About The Twinkie?
November 19, 2012 Friends, we are gathered here today to remember an American icon: the Hostess Twinkie.
We thought he'd live forever. Heck, some of us even based our post-apocalyptic plans on it.
And so we frittered away our time with ol' Twinkie, piling him up willy-nillie,
stacking him like LEGOs:
and even deep-frying him:
;)
(which I hear is delicious.)
But Twinkie also inspired the arts, creating a real buzz around town:
;)
...and fostering some truly Despicable adorableness:
;)
By Lynda of And Dipped In Chocolate
(We can only hope these were banana cream filled. "BANANA!")
Twinkie also played an integral part in many of our generation's weddings, joining forces with his fellow snack cakes to form a veritable pillar of class, convenience, and consternation:
Adding to the tragedy, Twinkies' fellow Hostess compatriots also share in his demise. Or, to put it more plainly: ding dong, the Ding Dong's dead.
Still, it's good to remember during this time of mourning that Twinkies brought people together.
And they had beef fat in them.
But mostly the people thing.
Dearest Twinkie, you were filled with cream, but we are filled with sadness.
Your spongy exterior may have been reinforced with bovine blubber,
but ours will crumble under the weight of our heavy, heavy loss.
Yea, though we walk through the aisle at Wal-Mart
with no Hostess boxes in sight,
we shall fear no hunger...
...for Little Debbie Swiss Rolls are still with us.
(Awww yeeeeeeah.)
Thanks to Mags, Lilla, & Annie S. for making me seriously crave some snack cakes right about now.
UPDATE: SuBee's comment today is too hysterical not to share:
"And the prophet said, cast ye your countenance toward the Walmart, and follow thy heart to the junk food aisle, for there the snack cakes are distributed in a manner wonderful to see. For the munchies are upon you, and the hunger is deep. Look with wonder upon the gifts you have been given. Of the puffed cheese and popped corn, you may eat, but not the HoHo. Of the jerky and Nutella and Doritos you may have your fill, but not the Twinkie. Of the potato chip, plain or barbecue, ranch or sugar coated, you may eat, but not the Donette. Of the oil based snack of dubious origin you may eat, but not the Ding Dong. Though your craving be deep, think not of the little chocolate cupcake with the white squiggle thereupon. For the punishment is upon us and Hostess is no more. And the people wept."
Lamentations 8:11-20
Thine comments hath madeth us laugheth out loudeth, SuBee. BLESS YOUR FACE.
Reader Comments (80)
Twinkie, Twinkie, snack food star
Love to eat you in my car
HoHos, Ding Dongs, Cherry Pie
What will people eat when high?
Twinkie, Twinkie, made with lard
Losing you will be so hard
I NEED a Twinkie minion (Twinkyon?) (Minyinkie?)
And now I want a Twinkie. Thanks a lot. *sigh*
Those bees and Minions are seriously cute! I'm pretty sure the Mayans were right... the world is gonna end. How can it go on without Hostess??
Hey, did you know you will still be able to get Twinkies in Canada?
The Minions are Awesome!
OMG! This site is my new holy grail of happiness. You guys are SO funny! I just love it. I'm telling everyone I know about it. POWER TO THE CAKE WRECKERS!
A great tribute!
I've been talking about this tragedy all weekend. I can't wrap my head around the idea of no more twinkies, ever. I don't even like twinkies (way too dry) but I don't want to see them go. *breaks into a chorus of Memories....*
Don't fret....you can buy a Twinkie pan and make your own (maybe a healthier) version. They're on sale now at CVS. Just think of all the cake possibilities with that shape pan: a log cabin cake, perhaps? Now go and buy a pan and wreck on!
I haven't eaten a Twinkie in at least a decade, but I must say, the bees and the Despicable Me characters are downright cute. I kind of doubt the first one is professional, unless you consider the professional part to be the fact that the Twinkies were professionally made (though considering some past wrecks, I suppose it's entirely possible).
I have one question: can anyone identify the people on the top of the twinkie structure with the pink Sno Balls? I feel like I should be able to identify them, but blowing up the picture really didn't help.
Not the Twinkie! Take me instead!!!!!
That may be true, but Little Debbie Swiss Rolls are to HoHos as Hydrox are to Oreos. Yes, they're "similar", but the former tastes nowhere nearly as good as the latter.
--Johann
And the prophet said, cast ye your countenance toward the Walmart, and follow thy heart to the junk food aisle, for there the snack cakes are distributed in a manner wonderful to see. For the munchies are upon you, and the hunger is deep. Look with wonder upon the gifts you have been given. Of the puffed cheese and popped corn, you may eat, but not the HoHo. Of the jerky and Nutella and Doritos you may have your fill, but not the Twinkie. Of the potato chip, plain or barbecue, ranch or sugar coated, you may eat, but not the Donette. Of the oil based snack of dubious origin you may eat, but not the Ding Dong. Though your craving be deep, think not of the little chocolate cupcake with the white squiggle thereupon. For the punishment is upon us and Hostess is no more. And the people wept. Lamentations 8:11-20
The "dog" made out of Twinkies made me remember that I celebrated my dog's first birthday with a candle stuck in a Twinkie. He loved the Twinkie...the party hat I put on his head, not so much.
The end of Hostess is truly the end of an era. =(
"Yea, though we walk through the aisle at Wal-Mart with no Hostess boxes in sight"
Hahaha! I was literally telling this very story to my daughter as I was starting to look at your post about Twinkies, how the day the story came out that they were shutting down I went to get us one last box of Twinkies (not that my kids have ever even had any, I don't even remember the last time I had one), the shelf was completely empty. Then I checked back again yesterday, and they've filled the spot with other brands. Sad, sad.
The cowboy cake is pretty wonderful, but SuBee's biblical proclamation is beyond excellent. Twinkies aren't chocolate, so they never interested me much; Ring-Dings were my snack cake of choice.
Cake no. 6 is awesome in its pure tackiness! I, too, would like to see the topper -- I couldn't blow up the photo. The last one is just pure chocoloate genius.
My only consolation in this whole Hostess debacle is that here in Omaha, the Summer Kitchen Cafe makes a HoHo cake that is to die for! Otherise, I'd be lost.
Haha SuBee! That was great.
Such a wonderful tribute. As much as I'll miss the Twinkie, I think I'm going to miss powdered sugar donettes the most.
Bahahahaha suebee and sharyn XD XD The minyion and bee ones were cute, while the rest are just funny
The first wedding cake bothers me because they've thrown Little Debbie cakes in there amongst the Hostess. That's just not right.
Sharyn- "HoHos, Ding Dongs, Cherry Pie - What will people eat when high?" That made me laugh so hard. But fear not- as long as there are Cheetos and Dominos pizzas, I think they'll be safe.
True story- when I was in college, the campus Dominos had a 420 special. You could get a medium single topping pizza for $4.20 on Saturday nights. Talk about knowing your market...
I am not ashamed to say I would eat the heck out of that last cake. Swiss Rolls and Reese's PBCs, what's not to love?
I thought I would be OK with losing Hostess - I've never really been a Twinkie sort of snacker. But then I learned that Hostess owns Drakes! No Ring Dings... no Yodels, no Cherry Fruit Pies. I am sad. Perhaps I will become svelte again.
@SuBee: Amen, Sister!
@Melonie -- did you go to school in Boulder?
Little Debbie is owned by Hostess. They are gone also.
Those from the Philly area know that in fact Hostess is to Little Debbie as Hydrox is to the store brand. And Tastykake is the Oreo of the snack cake. Long live Tastykakes!
Dang it! I was not wanting Twinkies through all the news stories and FB posts of the "Woe is Me and my lose of Twinkies" until this. Now I'm going to have to go to the store and buy some so my son can at least try one.
Thank you for the Ghostbusters reference! My brother and I lamented that this movie may be the only way future generations will see the importance of a Twinkie.
Is it wrong that I REALLY want some of that last cake? It looked really good.
Tracy, Little Debbie is not owned by Hostess; they are owned by McKee Foods. In fact, they have commented that they expect their market share to expand dramatically with the exit of Hostess from the market.
Hmmm,that first 'wedding' snack cake cake. What are those white and pink cakes??
And why does the guy look strangely like an action figure of David Hasslehoff as Knight Rider??
Oh,and I am in luuuuv with that first Twinkie pile!
Amen, missyb! Tastykake forever! I won't miss Twinkies, but I would be devastated if Butterscotch Krimpets went away.
The internet news I've read says a Mexican company will continue the Twinkie tradition - the factory is probably right next to Hershey's chocolate, which, because of its West Coast defection I won't eat either.
I want that last "cake" so bad right now! Anything is better with Reese's!!!! Also, the twinkie bees are adorable.
To the tune of "The Stuff Song"
http://youtu.be/HybkvkwsO-Q
"My Ho Ho's dead.
My Twinkie's dead.
My Ding Dong... is dead."
RIP Hostess.
People haven't realized that Wonder bread is gone too. All Hostess cakes, Wonder Bread, home Pride Bread and so many iconic brands. I'm married to a Hostess/Wonder Bread route man who is sitting at the unemployment office as I write this. He wasn't even employed by Hostess yet his job is gone. Just like the Twinkie. Other companies will profit from increased sales so good for them. Little Debbie cakes are Delish so send your snack cake love their way! And so I'm not completely off topic, those Minions are divine!
Fear not, the vultures of capitalism are about and they will snap up the names and recipes of all the Hostess Brands products in the USA (they are still being produced in Canada, as mentioned above) and feed your nocturnal (or diurnal) cravings.
Yeah, Hostess is more than snack foods. The aforementioned Wonder Bread, as well as Merita, Nature's Own... and a bunch of brands I'd never heard of. Thanks, union!
Anybody remember the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project? If you don't, look it up. Wow, has it really been 17 YEARS since they did that...?
I love the Twinkie minions!
"Applause"!! Kudos to Sharyn and SuBee!
@Johann - I guess it's a matter of personal taste. Personally, I've always preferred the LIttle Debbie Swiss Rolls to HoHos anyway. And LD's Nutty Bars rock!
That said, I will miss Hostess. Their fruit pies were the best and I loved their chocolate donettes too.
They had BEEF FAT in them?!?!?!
I almost peed my pants at SuBee's update and it made my husband snort his coffee. BRILLIANT!
How can I live in a world without Snowballs? How will I know what season it is without the color coding of the desiccated coconut coating? Guilty pleasures are so hard to find.
Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls are NOT an acceptable replacement for Ho-Hos. They lack that certain plasticky ingredient in the frosting which made it SO MUCH FUN to peel the outside off the Ho-Ho first, and then unroll it and lick out the creamy filling. Debbie just doesn't do it, in Dallas or anywhere else.
Fear not! For us godless Canadians will still maketh the twinkie.
Apparently, some company bought out the right to make it a while back, and is not going out of business. American's can still enjoy a twinkie with their poutine if they find themselves north of the 49th, just as we can still have a cherry coke with our apple pie when visiting your fair country.
Was that a Tobuscus reference?
Also, I am quite sure some other company will buy at least some of the brands, including Twinkie. There's no way it would just be lost forever.
Yes, the Hostess brand name is still alive in Canada, but they don't make Twinkies and they have said they aren't going to start. Wonder if that will change with all the internet outcry.
@weepoodle
Thank you. That was a breakfast burrito snorted back up my nose.
Haha this is great. Idk how everyone can be craving twinkies, now, though after reading "beef fat" and "twinkies, twinkies, made with lard"??? Hmmm...appetite, get thee out the window. xoxoxo
Hilarious and touching!
Wouldn't blame the union though - the CEO got a 300% raise while in bankruptcy... and the lead executives got hefty raises too...
Back on topic... I will make minions tonight! (Who needs to buy a pan when you can use a spice jar and aluminum foil?
Hostess Lemon Pies are my favorite. :-(
Didn't anybody watch Wall-E? Twinkies were the only thing that survived!
Dark times folks, dark times indeed!
@Shara ~ Hopefully your husband can find work soon!!!