Raise your glass of milk and make a toast!

April 6, 2010. The day passed just like any other day. No big hoopla, no fireworks lighting up the sky, no media frenzy.

But there SHOULD have been.

And do you know WHY?

It was the 80th anniversary of day the Twinkies were invented.



Yes, children, bow your head in awe.

This moment should go down in history right next to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, I think this day should be made into a holiday - federal and state offices closed and schools closed, in honor of this great day. I mean, seriously, if Casimir Pulaski gets a holiday in Chicago, why not Twinkies?

Another reason why I am pushing for a Twinkies holiday?

Because it was invented in MY HOME TOWN of Schiller Park, IL.

I KNOW. Hold on. I'm feeling a little verklempt.

Okay. I'm better now. Yes. I AM proud. *sticking out my chest even more*

Twinkies were invented on April 6, 1930, at the Hostess plant in Schiller Park by a baker named James A. Dewar (the first American Idol). The machines that were used to make cream-filled strawberry shortcakes were busy only during the short strawberry season; the rest of the time they sat idle. Mr. Dewar used his ole noggin and put those machines to good use by coming up with a snack cake filled with banana cream. He named them "Twinkie" after seeing a billboard for Twinkle Toe Shoes. Because bananas were rationed during World War II, Hostess was forced to switch to vanilla cream. Change was a good thing and people loved the new flavor; Hostess never went back to the banana cream. And the rest, my friends, is history.

How could you not LOVE the taste of a Twinkie? All that talk about that it's bad for you, blah, blah, blah. C'mon, what ISN'T nowadays? Am I right?

So it's 150 calories (for one cake), 40 calories of that is fat. But it is pure heaven. Really.

And who can stop eating at one? I bought a package that came with two cakes. (Only because I couldn't find a BOX of them.) Do you think I'm going to stop at one? Not on your life.

Twinkies by the Numbers:

- 500 million: The number of Twinkies baked each year.
- 10: The minutes it takes to bake a Twinkie.
- 1930: The year James Dewar invented the two-for-a-nickel treat.
- 150: The number of calories in one Twinkie.
- 50: The number of recipes in the Twinkies Cookbook.
- 1: The rank of New Orleans in terms of per capita Twinkie consumption compared to other cities in the U.S.
- 1999: The year President Bill Clinton included Twinkies in the millennium time capsule.
- 26 days: The shelf life of a Twinkie.

info courtesy of www.hostesscakes.com

Facts you may not know:

It takes 45 seconds for a Twinkie to explode in the microwave. No, I didn't try this! (why would I waste one? This is according to Hostess.)

Twinkies make good wedding cakes.





Twinkies taste good deep fried.



photo courtesy of www.deep-fry.com


Twinkies can be a piece of art.



photo courtesy of http://www.todayifoundout.com

Twinkie has a reputation with the law.

Did you know that there was actually a "Twinkiegate"? Yep! 71-year-old George Belair was running for Minneapolis City Council. He tried to gather votes by serving Kool-Aid, coffee, TWINKIES, and other desserts to senior citizens to get their votes. And we all know how senior citizens flock to free food like flies to, well, poop. Anyway, this lead to the passage of the Minnesota Campaign Act, more commonly known as the "Twinkies Law". Old George lost the election anyway, despite his bribery efforts, and the charges were dropped against him. I wonder if the senior citizens just forgot to vote due to a sugar overload?

Actually, a lawyer tried to use this similar claim when defending his client, San Francisco supervisor Dan White, when he killed both mayor Goerge Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. Mr. White's lawyer argued that his client had "diminished capacity" after eating too much junk food. The strategy was dubbed the "TWINKIE DEFENSE". It didn't work - and White was found G-U-I-L-T-Y! Maybe the lawyer should have argued with Hostess Ho-Ho's (another one of my childhood favorites!)

Before he died in 1985, Dewar said that Twinkies were “the best darn-tootin’ idea I ever had.” He said that the key to his long life (Dewar lived to a ripe old age of 88) is to “eat Twinkies every day and smoke a pack of cigarettes.”

courtesy of http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/05/twinkies-fun-facts/

So if that isn't a good enough testimony, hear it from me.

I grew up smelling the good things baking in the ovens over at Hostess. (Well, that and the airplane fuels from O'Hare Airport, but I digress.) I ate Twinkies, Ho-hos and Ding Dongs growing up, along with all my siblings. This was back in the 60's when eating healthy wasn't heard of yet. But, hey, I turned out alright didn't I?

*crickets*

So feast upon these images, and buy some Twinkies, so you, too can taste this manna from heaven.

Atlantic Avenue Reunion

In my last post I talked about growing up on Atlantic Avenue with tons of kids, described some of the games we played, and the general camaraderie we felt among the neighbors. Well, 45 + years later, we had a reunion. My sister so kindly opened her lovely home to our friends from long ago. My siblings gathered in the driveway waiting in anticipation for the next person to arrive, with squeals of, “Oh! That’s so and so!” And we’d run up to them, hug, kiss, and cry! It’s true; sometimes we couldn't recognize the person, as I’m sure they felt the same about us. But as soon as they’d say their name, we’d laugh, hug, and yes, see some little resemblance of the kid we hung around with so long ago. Over 70 people attended last year, and our school principle from St. Beatrice, St. Francis, also came. It was funny – nobody talked about what they were doing now – it was nothing like a high school reunion. Nobody wanted to “prove” that they made it in this world. Everybody was just reminiscing. I’d hear catches of conversations of, “Remember when we...” or “I remember...” or “Who was the one that...” Some people stayed until way past midnight. All promised to mark their calendars for the next year’s reunion.

The Second Annual Atlantic Avenue Reunion was last weekend. We laughed, we cried. We reminisced, sang, and cheered. We ate, drank and were merry. We didn’t seem to see the added pounds, the bifocals, the gray hair, or lack of hair for that matter. What we saw were our buddies, our pals, our compadres from Atlantic Avenue. I felt like a kid again, especially when my brother’s friend, Mike, put my sister, Linda, in a head lock and called her Linda Shoelaces. (Our last name sounded somewhat close to that!) Nothing had changed. How fun to witness another family’s reunion – many of whom hadn’t seen each other in over three years! Mary was so clever to bring those T-shirts that she made for each of her siblings with their name on the front and home address and phone number on the back. My family is wracking their brains how to top that – and short of us all getting our names tattooed across our forehead, I don’t see how we can!

Several families came with all their siblings and significant others. Since that’s how I tended to remember them (in one lump sum) it was nice to see all members. Of course, I was happy to see those who came singly representing their families too!

My sisters worked very hard on this reunion. Irving Park Road is the main road that runs through the town of Schiller Park, and they decided to research all the stores that were in place back in 1965 on that street. They met with a local historian, and we had a heck of a trivia contest with everyone yelling out what they thought was on the corner of such and such. It was a lot of fun. Also, there were trivia questions posted all over the walls outside of my sister’s house and the garage, which started even more trips down memory lane.

 

Another great thing this year was that seven nuns from our old school, St. Beatrice, showed up at the reunion. Many people were so moved by this. And we couldn’t get over how young some of the nuns looked! We thought they were so old when they taught us! LOL! Remember, WAY BACK THEN, only their faces showed, not even their hair!



My twin sister, Pam, is very creative. She changed the words to, “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” Here are the words:

Mine eyes have seen the fury of the nuns of Old St. Bea's
They trampled on our classroom jokes,
and brought us to our knees.
They taught us how to read and write,
and always first say please.
Those nuns kept marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah! Those Nuns kept marching on.

They stuck us in the corner on the days when we were bad.
The whole time in the corner we prayed they would
not tell our Dad.
They scorned us when we laughed in church,
which really made them mad.
Those Nuns kept marching on.

They sounded forth the big school bell which ended all our fun.
We knew the bell meant "come in now", and we had better run.
We lined up single file then and entered one by one.
Those Nunse kept marching on.

As years went by we realized these nuns from way back when,
would be the reason why we all turned out to be such gems.
The memories now we hold so dear are all because of them,
those nuns kept marching on.

The lessons that they taught us help transfigure you and me:
As they tried to make us holy, and the best that we could be,
We hope that you are proud of us,
Your class from Dear St. Bea's,
Our Nuns keep marching on.

Those good old days we've shared with you
have sadly come and gone,
If we've never really thanked you then,
we thank you now in song,
Your presence here has warmed our hearts
and made our bonds grow strong
Our Nuns keep marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our Nuns keep marching on!

She made up folders to look like “missellettes” from church and pasted the song inside. Then she bought a school bell like the one that was used at to call us back into school from recess. Once the nuns arrived at the party, Pam rang the school bell, and we all lined up single file and walked to the deck. Then we sang the songs to the nuns. Watch the video here. My twin sister is the red-haired woman standing down on the driveway. I’m up on the deck all the way to the right in the black sweater. My other sister is to the left with blond hair in the bright coral top. My brother is in black all the way to the left behind the curly hook thingy. Missing from the singing are my other brother and sister. My brother was taking pictures. I don't know what my sister's excuse was. Unless she's really in the picture but I can't see her because she's so short. The nuns are standing down by Pam to her right.



Several parents of the kids showed up, too. Again, they looked pretty good for their age. The oldest was Mrs. Maturno at 92 years old. Still very sharp.

The party lasted well into the night. Everybody hugged and promised to see each other next year. I don’t know how we can top this year’s party, but there’s talk of getting a DJ to play some oldies music and having a, “Name that Tune” contest. Stay tuned.