R.I.P. Hostess

 Here in Hippie Town there are quite a few people celebrating the downfall of the preservative laced snack cake empire that we know as Hostess.  There are also a few fans apparently, judging by the fact that there isn't a crumb to be found in any of the stores around.  The lady that was standing behind me in line said she had personally checked and all of the Safeways and Dari Marts around have been stripped clean.  I want to believe that it was the Sundance Food crew that desperately bought up the Twinkies but I'm pretty sure it was the other personality of this town, the U of O students.
I'm sad about the news for two reasons.

The first is that without Hostess nobody will ever have another amazing wedding cake like this one.

The second reason has to do with childhood memories that I have of my Grandma Ike.  I was really young when she died but there are a few things I haven't forgotten.  When we visited her house she let us go down into the basement into the room with the food storage.  The walls were lined with mason jars full of everything from grape juice, to chili sauce but we didn't care about that.  We went straight to the big freezer.  I can remember the handle that you pulled up on to open the door and inside were Ding Dongs that had been individually wrapped in tin foil.

I don't think she ever ate Ding Dongs, but I can picture her happily stocking her freezer for when her grandkids would visit.  Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure that I've never even eaten a Ding Dong that wasn't frozen.

Sometimes she took me with her to replenish her supply at the "day old bread store" which was the Wonder Bread outlet in downtown Ogden.  It was right by 25th Street which is beautiful now, but was pretty scary back then.  Grandma would face the risk to get discounted deliciousness.   
She let me choose one of the two-packs for myself.  I would always pick the pink Snowballs.  I know that the Sno Balls are considered by many to be the ugly stepchild in the Hostess lineup but they were my favorite.  Whenever I see them in the store I remember my cute little grandma and how special she made me feel.

While Hostess may be part of the obesity epidemic and represent all that is wrong with America, it is also one of my very favorite memories.  So if you nabbed one of those Sno Balls before they were all eaten up, take a bite for me and think of the coolest grandma ever.