No More Twinkies?! How Will We Survive?

Wow, you'd think they had announced that it was end of sliced bread or hot coffee, the way everyone is carrying on. But no, it's just the end of an 82-year-old icon: Twinkies.

That's right, Hostess has announced it's stopping production, laying off employees and leaving sugary-snack-food aficionados in the lurch. The company recently has been roiled by declining sales and competition from healthier snacks, along with rising labor costs and striking workers.

The announcement prompted an outpouring of nostalgia for the diminutive yellow sponge cake with the mysterious white filling. Daytime news shows somberly discussed whether a homemade version, using yellow-cake mix and marshmallow filling, would come close. (Answer: Not really.)

Brooklyn author Steve Ettlinger, author of Twinkie, Deconstructed, has been fielding "a gazillion calls - as if there were some sort of national crisis," he told the Washington Post's Bonnie Benwick.

How crazy has it gotten? Chow (chow.com) even tried a recipe from a 2006 Twinkies cookbook for turkey stuffed with Twinkies. (No, I am not kidding.)

Hostess says its familiar snack-cake brands, including Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's, should be on the shelves for another week or so. And yes, people are already selling packages of Twinkies on eBay for $60 a box and up.

Photo:  sekimura  via flickr