I’m going to try and keep it light for today’s blog. I just ate a Zinger and it got me thinking about the “old” treats I don’t have any more, or at least very often. Zinger’s I must say are delicious- the chocolate one’s are my favorite- but that’s true for most anything where chocolate is a choice. Another oldie but goodie that I love are Moon Pies, and I know a lot of people don’t care for them, but I think they are amazing. I am a bit biased because I like most anything that involves marshmallows and or chocolate and Moon Pies are an amazing combination of both. I keep waiting for the day when M&M comes out with marshmallow filled M&M’s but so far they’ve disappointed me. I’m kind of hoping somebody who reads this blog has an ” in” with the M&M people and can get that to happen. I have to brag for a minute, I actually “invented” Peanut butter M&Ms many years before they actually reached the market. I think I would be a very valuable asset to any candy making company because I’m pretty good at coming up with good flavor combinations they could make available. Back to Moon Pies…it was probably 15 years ago, and I used to take care of this older gentleman named Jim- he was a great old guy. He was president of the retired Teamsters Union and was a World War II vet, so he had a lot of interesting stories. His favorite treat was the banana Moon Pies which, before I took care of him, I have never had. As a general rule I don’t like artificial banana flavoring, but I have to say, Moon Pie did a really good job with it. They were much better than I expected. That lead me to eating the regular chocolate Moon Pies, and I just think the cookie layer- how it’s kind of soft – and then the marshmallow center with that little chocolate coating, is genius. Some of the older treats aren’t as fancy as some of the stuff they come up with today, but they’ve withstood the test of time. I’m a little worried that if more people don’t start supporting Moon Pie and Zingers they might stop making them so maybe pick some up next time you’re out.
On the subject of old treats, let’s discuss Hostess for a minute. Some of you may remember the original Hostess pastries, which were much better than the ones they make today. I used to love Susie Q’s but after they closed down and reopened, Susie Q’s just aren’t the same. They don’t have nearly the amount of fluffy filling that they used to have. If I ever buy them now I get rid of two of the cake pieces, and then put the other two together, and then it’s almost like an original Susie Q. There’s something Hostess does with the icing that they put in Susie Q’s and Ho Ho’s that really is astoundingly good. Some people will say Ho-Ho’s and Swiss Cake Rolls are the same thing, but they definitely aren’t. Don’t get me wrong, for the price you can’t beat Swiss Cake Rolls. However, the icing in a Ho Ho is much better. Twinkies also seem a lot smaller than they were pre-Hostess shut down, but I could be wrong about that. It’s funny how as you get older some things that seemed big to you when you were little, like a slide you used to go down, now seem so small. In fairness I’ve never eaten a ton of Twinkies, because like I said I’m more of a chocolate gal, but Twinkies are good. Fried Twinkies are delicious. Fried just about anything is delicious though- fried Oreos and all of the other odd things they end up frying at the State Fair- so maybe it’s more that the grease is delicious… but I digress. I give props to Hostess for pulling through their shut down, but it really just isn’t quite the same. I still support them, and who knows, maybe somebody from Hostess is reading my blog and they will work on that filling problem. Let’s be honest though, I think I only know of three people who read my blog, and I know none of them work for Hostess or M&M, or whoever it is that makes M&M’s, so the odds of any of these things happening are slim to none…and Slim’s out of town, but it’s fun to dream.
Finally, I’m also a Werther’s fan…and spice drops..so maybe I’m just an old soul. Hell, maybe I’m just old. Regardless, I just thought I’d put out a reminder for all the semi-forgotten treats of the past- oh, don’t forget Fudgesicles and Push-ups! I know there are a lot of new, fancy options out there, but the classics are still out there if you look for them. Consider this a call to action so that they stick around a few more decades. That’s all I have for today. Until next time, Peace out.
