"hostess" news and stories

Happy 90th Birthday Wonder Bread

by Jennifer Lawinski, Posted May 28th 2010 @ 4:30PM

Who doesn't love Wonder Bread?

With its soft white center and melt-in-your-mouth crust, used in making everything from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to grilled cheese, its been a staple on American tables. And lately it's received celeb endorsement too, making an appearance in Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video.

Advertised for the first time on May 21, 1921 -- after Taggart Baking Co. in Indianapolis "spent 1920 perfecting the quintessential American white bread" -- Wonder Bread is still going strong after 90 years on our plates, the Leesville Daily Leader reported.

The bread was named by Elmer Cline who was inspired by the International Balloon Races in Indianapolis. Ever since, the iconic red, yellow and blue balloons have featured prominently on the loaf's packaging, the paper reported.

When Wonder Bread became one of the first sliced loaves on the market in 1930, sales took off and it became the American staple we know today.

Filed under: News

What Can I Get You Folks? -- Bribery at the Host Stand

COMMENTS 16

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Sep 22nd 2009 @ 5:00PM

Photo: stopnlook, flickr

Many of you honestly believe restaurant servers have a cushy job that requires them to do little more than deliver food to a table and collect $180 an hour for their trouble. Fine. I'd like to call a temporary truce in the great "Are waitresses worth their keep?" debate and focus on another front-of-the-house staffer this week: The hostess.

Like most servers, I've been pressed into host duty when an employee hasn't shown up (or showed up too hungover to accurately monitor the seating chart -- hostesses are almost always the youngest, most inexperienced and least committed members of a restaurant's crew.) Hostesses have it hard.

Hostesses have to deal with customers at their hungriest, thirstiest, worst. It's not uncommon for customers who feel they haven't been seated quickly enough to hurl insults at the hostess or subject her to stem-winding rants about the crooked nature of the restaurant industry.

But here's what patrons never, ever do: In my experience manning the host stands at restaurants so ritzy that my job description included turning away male guests without jackets and in eateries so casual that "please wait to be seated" signs were dismissed as snobbish affectations, nobody once offered me a bribe.

Filed under: Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants

Snack Cake ID Quiz

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 4:22PM

Think you know your Ho Hos from your Swiss Rolls? Take this snack cake quiz to test your knowledge.

Snack Cake ID Quiz

Name this snack cake.

Yodel
Swiss Roll
Ho Ho
Funny Bones

Name this snack cake.

Yankee Doodle
Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcake
Enten-mini Chocolate Creme Cupcake
Hostess Cup Cake

Name this snack cake.

Devil Dog
Suzy Q
Devil Square
Zinger

Name this snack cake.

Yodel
Funny Bones
Swiss Roll
King Don

Name this snack cake.

Honey Bun
Vanilla Kandy Kake
Moon Pie
Yankee Doodle

Name this snack cake.

Ring Ding
Devil Square
Creme Puck
Zebra Cake

Name this snack cake.

Jelly Krimpet
Sunny Doodle
Strawberry Twinkie
Shortcake Roll

Name this snack cake.

Raspberry Zinger
Suzy Q
Sno Ball
Coconut Juniors

Name this snack cake.

Big Wheel
Ring Ding
Yankee Doodle
Peanut Butter Kandy Kake

Name this snack cake.

Vanilla Zinger
Butterscotch Krimpet
Hostess Golden Cup Cake
Sunny Doodle

Name this snack cake.

Zebra Cake
Creme Puck
Ring Ding
Chocodile

Name this snack cake.

Lemon Krimpet
Twinkie
Vanilla Zinger
Golden Creme

Name this snack cake.

Ring Ding
Yankee Doodle
King Don
Ding Dong

Name this snack cake.

Coconut Kreamie
Strawberry Shortcake Roll
Boston Kreme Roll
Raspberry Zinger

Name this snack cake.

Ring Ding
King Don
Suzy Q
Hostess Cup Cake

Name this snack cake.

Creme Puck
Suzy Q
Ding Dong
Chocodile

Name this snack cake.

Orange Cup Cake
Popem
Golden Cup Cake
Golden Krimpet

Name this snack cake.

Chocodile
Creme Puck
Ding Dong
Big Wheel

Name this snack cake.

Entenmann Popette
Mrs. Freshley's Big Bear
Moon Pie
Little Debbie Marshmallow Pie

Name this snack cake.

Chocodile
Swiss Roll
Ding Dong
Big Wheel

Filed under: Quizzes

Corporate bakery losing sales

COMMENTS 4

by Shayna Glick, Posted Mar 3rd 2008 @ 10:00AM

I was always more of a Little Debbie fan. Star crunches were my absolute favorite. I still sometimes gaze longingly at them at the grocery store. I wonder how they're doing, since reports on their main competition, Interstate Bakeries Corporation, are not looking too good.

The maker of Hostess Cakes, Twinkies, and Wonder Bread has been losing sales for the last quarter at least. And in January alone the company lost $18.9 million. That's the biggest drop since Interstate Bakeries went into bankruptcy in late 2004.

I feel bad for the workers who actually make the products. They'll be the first to get hit. By the same token, I do not feel bad about what the drop in sales could mean. Hopefully people are starting to eat more wholesome and fewer processed foods. This may be a sign that consumers are moving away from foods that can last forever.

Source

Filed under: Business, Ingredients, Bakeries

Banana-creme Twinkies are back for good

COMMENTS 5

by Joe DiStefano, Posted Jun 14th 2007 @ 2:06PM

Fans of limited-edition banana-creme Twinkies rejoice! Hostess resumed selling the lightly banana-flavored treats last week and plans to keep them around.

Banana creme was the original filling of the sugar-laden sponge cake when it was first introduced in 1930. A banana shortage forced Hostess to switch to vanilla creme in the 1940s. Since then Hostess has brought back banana Twinkies, but only for limited periods of time. Most recently the fruity treats hit the shelves to promote the film King Kong. Thanks to a 20 percent spike in total Twinkie sales during the promotion Hostess decided to permanently add the flavor to its lineup. I'd like to know what these puppies would taste like wrapped in bacon and then dropped in a deep fryer.

Filed under: Pop Food, Ingredients