August 23, 2025 • 37 mins
These industrially produced snack cakes have a rich corporate history. Anney and Lauren fill in the science and saga of Hostess Cupcakes.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Anny Rees and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about Hostess Cupcakes. Yes, not
a sponsor, nope nah. Also the cupcakes specifically, they have
other snack cakes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's not a topic for today, No, And we were
just discussing the company itself is not a topic for today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, we're glancing across it a few times. But that's
a large and complicated and fascinating in a dry way
kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes, perhaps we'll return to it in the future, but
not today.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
No. Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Uh? I really should be better prepared for this.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, No, I think I was thinking that we hadn't
done like a really brand heavy episode in a minute,
and these are so weird but so nostalgic, and it
seemed like a good story. So yeah. A lot of
my selection process comes down to, well, I was twenty
(01:25):
nine Wikipedia pages deep and then I read some kind
of fact that I found personally interesting for some reason.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's as good a reason as any. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I have to say I don't have a lot of
experience with Hostess in general, and especially not Hostess cupcakes. Okay,
but when I was reading about it, I do remember
(01:58):
certain instances in elementary school with the sack lunch and
it would come with one oh yeah, And even though
it wasn't like the most amazing thing, there was something
about biding into it that I remember being like, this
is special. This feels special to me.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah. Yeah, as a as a school lunch thing. It
was the kind of product that my dad never would
have allowed in our household. And so whenever I got
ahold of something like this, I might not have liked it,
but I enjoyed it because of like the slight thrill
of knowing that I was bucking the system. Yeah, my
(02:40):
own little snack cake rage against the machine. Yeah yeah,
because it was always in the schools packed lunch.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I got ever in my home. No, but it just
there was something about it. I was like, Okay, yeah,
I can't get this at home. So people do have
a lot of nostalgia for it. I will say, doing
the research for this episode, if I was to personify
(03:11):
the Hostess cupcake, I think that a cupcake would feel
bad that they were constantly compared to the Twinkie.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, it seems sort of unfair, right.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
The success of the Twinkie. Always it was like before
the Twinkie, there was something.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Else, there was a different thing. But who cares about that.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Right, right? So that being said, you can't see our
twinky episode. Also are episodes about cupcakes.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
In general and muffins relatedly, and like other snacks and brands. Probably, sure, yes.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But I guess this brings us to our question. I
guess it does Hostess Cupcakes.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well. Hostess Cupcakes are a brand of sweet packaged snacks
and or treats in the form of these small, shelf
stable cream filled, icing topped cakes in the cup shape.
You know, it's like slightly narrower on the bottom based
on the pan that they're made in, Like the profile
(04:24):
is a trapezoid if you take a cross section. Yeah,
the standard flavor is chocolate cake with this lightlyad vanilla
flavored filling and then a layer of chocolate flavored icing
on top. And because that icing is you know, dark
brown in color, a contrasting squiggle of white vanilla icing
(04:44):
across the straight across the diameter of the cake. Yeah,
in this pattern that is formed in a chain of
seven full loops per cake. No more, no less, no more,
no less, seven loops those. This cupcake does come in
other flavors and colors and in this mini size. More
(05:05):
on those later. But the whole experience of this cupcake
is kind of just nice. Like the cake is tender
and moist, and the filling is real fluffy. The icing
is semi firm, like sort of toothsome, like a little
bit fudgy, but still smooth and kind of melty in
your mouth. Yeah. They are individually wrapped in plastic and
(05:26):
sold in boxes of eight to fourteen cakes, or sometimes
wrapped in a single serving tupac with like a little
paperboard tray. Those are found at like convenience stores and
checkout lines stuff like that. They are very sweet and straightforward,
you know, like a little bit oily perhaps, but just
(05:49):
nostalgically chocolatey and creamy and shelf stably. It's like it's
like if your mama were a robot, but she loved
you so much. You know, It's like the sensation of
an assembly line's love. Oh yeah, yeah, thanks robot mom.
(06:20):
Hostess Brands does also own a bunch of other snack
cakes like Twinkies, Ding dongs, hohes, snowballs, and honey buns,
among others, and some sandwich breads and buns. But yeah,
the classic cupcakes weigh forty five grams apiece. That's a
little over one point five ounces. They're about three inches
(06:43):
across and two inches tall something like that. That icing
loop design is a registered trademark. It is registered as
the original squiggle.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I don't think I will ever say squiggle as much
as I'm consciously in this episode.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I wrote it a disturbing number of time.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yes, it's very important.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I started thinking, is there is Should I get out
at the saurus? Is there a different word I can
be using? Is this squiggle overkill? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Here we are.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Choices, choices. Speaking of choices, In addition to the classic flavor,
the brand has and it's like regular lineup of snack cakes,
an option that is a golden cake like vanilla flavored
cake instead of chocolate. It does have like the standard
chocolate icing and creamy filling. They've also got orange cakes
(07:44):
with orange frosting and creamy filling, pink strawberry cakes with
strawberry frosting and creamy filling, and birthday cupcakes which have
like colored specks in vanilla cake than vanilla frosting with
sprinkles and creamy filling, and also sugar cookie flavored cupcakes.
And these are themed after those you know, those those
(08:06):
puffy grocery store cookies that are kind of cakey. Yeah,
it's like a vanilla cake with pink frosting with sprinkles
and creamy filling. And all of the above do have
the standard white seven loop squiggle. They do also have
those cupcake minis that I mentioned above, which are the
(08:26):
classic flavor, but they're in a more cylindrical shape and
each are approximately forty three percent the size of a
standard host is cupcake by weight. I did the math
on that. Yes, yeah, they come in They come in
packs of two to three minis apiece. There are also
(08:51):
seasonal limited addition cupcakes these days.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
As of this.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Recording, in August of twenty twenty five, the summer line
is available. The fall line is rolling out. Summer twenty
twenty five includes the More's Cupcake, which are Grand flavored
cake with toasted marshmallow filling and the typical chocolate icing
and white squiggle. There are two flavors of baseball themed cupcakes,
a yellow cake for day games, and a chocolate cake
(09:18):
for night games, each with a pale frosting decorated with
two red squiggle lines that are kind of curved so
it looks like a baseball stitching. Yeah. Yeah, nervous for
some is because of the day versus night games, and
you're thinking about vampires now.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I think, so something a little on edge.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well, don't calm down yet, because they also have patriotic cupcakes,
which are yellow cake with blue frosting, the white squiggle
and red sprinkles, which I find vaguely threatening, I think,
just because of everything that's going on right now. But anyway,
Fall twenty twenty five so far includes an iced Pumpkin Flavor,
(10:07):
which are artificially flavored pumpkin flavor cupcakes that's like a
pumpkiny orange cake, cream colored frosting, and an orange squiggle.
The filling on all of these is the traditional creamy filling,
which is just sort of vaguely vanilla flavored. Yeah. Also,
(10:27):
the thing that disturbed me most about all of this
is that, like I don't know if it's like a
fluke in the illustration or what, but the pumpkin, the
iced pumpkin cakes appear to have eight loops in their
squiggles and listeners. I gasped. I gasped, and I zoomed
in and I counted, and I believe I clutched my pearls.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I'm not even.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Joking, Like, this is the physical after reading so much
about the squiggle, that is the physical reaction that I
went through.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You've got to get out the conspiracy board. You have
red yarn?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Can I form the red yarn into a squiggle?
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We need to get to the bottom of this.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Oh oh man, I felt like I was glimpsing into
another dimension. Truly. At any rate, there is like like
there's a wild amount of proprietary technology that goes into
the manufacture of these things, and so like some things
(11:32):
I read about and some things I wasn't really able
to get to the bottom of. But from what I understand,
there's like at least five different companies that provide like baking, packaging,
robotics for all of this. Okay, So the essential process
is that the batter is mixed and then feeds from
(11:56):
holding tanks through depositors into cake pans, which then travel
through these tunnel ovens to bake. The cakes are then
deposited onto a conveyor belt, shuffled into an optimum cooling
configuration and then cooled in a tempering tunnel. Afterwards, they
(12:17):
are injected with the filling. After that, the icing is
deposited on top of the cakes in a continuous band,
which is then broken apart by an elevated transfer point,
after which the cakes are cooled again before the squiggle
is applied.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
That does sound like some serious business.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Okay, okay, Well what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
These are definitely a treat treat her nice, treats her nice.
There's not a lot of nutritionally nutritionally redeeming qualities about
these guys. And I want to say to younger Lauren,
and all y'all happen to be listening, but I want
to say to younger Lauren, please involve some protein in
(13:11):
your snacks so that you're less of a horrible person.
And if anyone else listening gains anything from that message,
then bless.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
This feels like you're trying to send a message back
to yourself, right.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Oh man, If only if only young hypoglycemic Lauren could
receive that message and put down the fruit snacks and
maybe get some trail.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Mix alas well, maybe someone will benefit from your your please.
Oh well, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We do. Okay. So apparently Hostess Cupcake Day is May eleventh,
commemorating what was possibly the first day that the product
was sold. Yes, yep, I love this next one. Okay,
I understand that in nineteen ninety seven, this art history
(14:25):
professor at the University of Pittsburgh constructed a pop art
pyramid of Hostess cupcakes with a snowball veneer that was
made up of forty five thousand, six hundred cupcakes which
were donated by Hostess. I didn't that this was the
(14:48):
plan anyway, I read about the plan. I did not
read about any follow up, but like the plan was
reported on after the professor had like contacted Hostess, proved
the structural integrity of the project, and then Hostess independently
(15:09):
backed up his data with their own experimental structures. So
I feel good about the fact that this happened.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
There should have been more reports. I was amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You know, it was nineteen ninety seven, like there wasn't
as much internet coverage. Yeah, if anyone was there, oh
my heck uh.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That would be amazing. Yeah, if we heard from someone who.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, it sounds glorious, but okay. As of twenty sixteen,
the brand's bakery in Emporia, Kansas was capable of making
right around nine million cupcakes every week, like one point
four million cupcakes a day, twenty four hours a day,
(16:02):
six days a week, and apparently Hostess cupcakes are the
brand's top seller. Yes above, Twinkies like twinkies are better known,
but cupcakes are like the old standard. As of twenty nineteen,
(16:23):
Americans bought some six hundred million Hostess cupcakes every year. Also,
when JM. Smucker Company bought Hostess Brands in twenty twenty three,
it was the largest ever cake and bread brand acquisition
(16:44):
in the United States by a margin of billions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, And I don't have more specific numbers for you
here because I want to report them later in more context.
With the surrounding information.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It's a pretty wild story. Yeah yeah, And we're going
to get We're going to get into it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, but first we are going to
get into a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And we're back.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Okay. So in nineteen nineteen, Continental Baking which later would
become known as Hostess, opened in Kansas City, Missouri, and
they wanted to create some sweet treats to sell alongside
their bread. The first of these treats was a plain
Devil's food cupcake, no cream filling or white icing on top.
(17:52):
It was produced by the Tigart Bakery and reportedly was
the first commercially sold cupcake in the United States time
A pack of two cost five cents. I'm pretty sure
it was a pack of two. But yet this Also,
it was a very difficult episode to focus on the
topic because Hostess I went on a whole thing about
(18:17):
sliced bread and all of this. But it was a
big deal. It was a big deal. Yeah, Yeah, that's
what I'll say. Also, this was a pretty big year
for the United States. The country was coming out of
World War One, women got the right to vote, Prohibition
was on the horizon, the flu pandemic was underway. With
the rationing of World War One lifted, and all of
(18:39):
these changes and stressors, it makes sense to me that
people latched onto this convenient sweet snack.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The cupcakes featured chocolate or vanilla frosting done by hand.
In the nineteen twenties. In the nineteen forties there were
some innovations like malted milk icing or orange cupcakes with
orange icing, and then in the nineteen fifties, Hostess and
specifically someone named Dr Doc Rice, improved upon the cupcakes
(19:11):
by adding the same cream filling from Twinkies and the
squiggle of icing on top. Notably, he's not a doctor.
He always likes to joke about that it's not a doctor,
but that was his nickname. Rice started working at the
company as a cake dumper, someone who dumped the cakes
(19:31):
out onto a flat surface. Was baked at the age
of seventeen and nineteen twenty three. His goal was to
go to business school. He was supervising five plants by
the age of twenty nine. After he came back from
World War Two, he started working at Continental Baking's experimental
space in New York. Due to World War Two shortages,
(19:54):
the quality of the cupcakes had suffered greatly, so he
was put in charge of reversing that whole thing. He
now had new dough consistencies and higher quality icings to
work with. The machine that was used to inject the
cream into the twinkies was improved upon, so according to him,
the attitude was why not fill the cupcakes too? Yeah,
(20:16):
let's go ahead, let's go for it. They also ran
a white line of icing across the top at first,
and these cupcakes were first introduced in Detroit, and they
were generally well liked, but the white line was deemed
too boring, not I catching enough. After a few weeks,
(20:36):
Rice landed on a seven looped squiggle. According to Rice,
sales of the cupcakes increased by twenty five percent after that,
and the non filled, non squiggled cupcake was discontinued. The
price of the cupcake also went up, since the addition
of the cream and icing added onto the cost of
production makes sense. And yeah, the squiggle was meant to
(21:00):
separate the Hostess cupcakes from the competitors and was and
is pretty iconic.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Oh yeah. Later in the nineteen seventies and eighties, Hostess
ads featured a couple of animated mascots, including Twinkie the Kid,
which was like Wild West kind of themed Twinkie, and
Captain Cupcake. Captain Cupcake was this anthropomorphic cupcake like a
like a giant cupcake body with arms and legs. The
(21:30):
squiggle represented kind of like a line of buttons on
a coat down his center. He also had like little
like a little like white squiggle mustache. Yeah, and he
wore a blue naval captain's hat, and his arms and
legs had like blue uniform like dress uniform sleeves and
(21:52):
pant legs on them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It's pretty. That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, a little bit creepy Scott's tend to be.
But yeah, oh yes, you know, pretty enthusias.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Okay, So this was one I had to put in
here because this is a very specific memory for me.
In the nineties, there was a memorable hostess ad where
a shark saw a woman in a black bathing suit
with swiggles on it, and she was seated in a
black inner tube and the shark thought she was a
(22:28):
hostess cupcake, so he the shark charges up at her.
She flies into the air screaming, and the shark asked, Hey,
where's the cream filling, which was their tackline for a while.
It was done very much in the style of Jaws,
like music evocative of Jaws, and I remember it so clearly.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
This was I was talking to some friends about doing
this topic yesterday and this commercial is the first thing that.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Got brought up very memorable commercials.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah buying out, Hey, where's the cream filling? Yeah? Yeah, yeah.
The company, then officially known as Interstate Bakeries, did hit
a peak in the mid nineteen nineties as the largest
wholesale baker of snack cakes and breads in the United States.
(23:24):
They would rename themselves Hostess Brands in two thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And this is where we get into some of our
fun business legal drama. Okay, So, over the years, the
company struggled as American taste shifted away from sweets and
labor cost increased. After two bankruptcies, the first in two
thousand and four and a falling out with union leadership
over recent wage and benefit cuts, the company liquidated in
(23:54):
twenty twelve, eliminating eighteen five hundred jobs. There were a
lot of fears at the time that these iconic products
would disappear from shelves, like the cupcake Twinkies, and they
did for about eight months, but production resumed in twenty
thirteen after the company's assets were sold to Apollo Global
(24:16):
Management and Metropolis and Company. So people were very excited
about that.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, this was a really big news item,
and the business side of the story is pretty wild
because like the company that held the brand had been
just incredibly mismanaged, Like they were in so much debt
that was held by these kind of fickle hedge funds,
and they had these intense pension costs, and all this
(24:45):
trouble with two kind of warring unions, the teamsters who
were their delivery drivers and the Aflcio Bak reunion. But
when the company liquidated after that second bankruptcy, that all
just like went away. Apollo General and that investor dude
(25:06):
bought up a bunch of the host To Snackcake brands
for just over four hundred million dollars and reopened under
the Hostess name. No one even bit against them when
they made their offer. They spent another like two hundred
and fifty million updating the factories and recipes and distribution model,
but it was immediately successful. They were immediately raking in billions.
(25:33):
We really could do a whole business drama episode about this.
It was very high profile. A lot of ink has
been spilled about it, which I love. I love all
of these incredibly serious financial publications writing extremely seriously about snackcakes.
It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Ugh at any rate. Yeah, like genuinely it worked like
they were acquired that. The brand was acquired by another
company called Gors Holdings in twenty sixteen, which took them
public on the Nasdaq that year with a valuation of
two point three billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Woo, what a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Right right, Yeah, and they just kind of chugged right along.
Those birthday sprinkles cupcakes were launched in twenty nineteen to
celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the Hostess brand. They
opened an innovation lab in Kansas in twenty twenty, employing
some twenty researchers, bakers, and product testers with eyes on
(26:45):
producing those like flashy limited edition flavors which are so
popular these days.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah. Well, and then the JM. Smucker Company purchased Hostess
for five point six billion dollars in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Five point six billion. Again, this was the largest ever
cake and bread brand acquisition in US history, and it
was the largest by a margin of three point two
billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Well, that was an actual gas pullout, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Because because the second largest happened back in two thousand
and eight. This this toppled that record from two thousand
and eight, when when Bimbo bought like a bunch of
stuff for around a measly two point four billion.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Wow, only two point four h.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
And that was like a bunch of like Wonderbread adjacent properties.
So yeah, just wild. Those minis rolled out in twenty
twenty five. I don't know, man, uh huh uh huh.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I you know, honestly, I really really do want to
hear from listeners about your favorite flavor, if you've got
a favorite special flavor.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I feel like they're up to all kinds of stuff
that I wasn't aware of.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh, they've been through dozens and dozens of flavor iterations,
especially right over the past like ten to twenty years,
and so yeah, So if there's one that you remember
fondly that got away, if there's a flavor that they
haven't done that you think that they should ooh, if
(28:50):
you think that a different snack cupcake is far far better.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I do know. Didn't get into this, but there's a
snack cake from Philadelphia that claims I think it's called
Tasty Tasty Cake. Yeah, and they dispute hostesses claim to
being the first snack cake, not the first commercially produced cupcake,
(29:19):
the first snack cake. Oh, I see, you've gotta love
the specifics on here. Yeah, yeah, yes, So if you
know about that, then the tasty cake let us know.
We would love to hear about it.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Oh yeah, that's a yeah. We'll have to get into
tasty Cake another time.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's another day for now. I think that's what we
have to say about the Hostess cupcake.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yes, it is. But we do already have some listener
mail for you, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from one more quick
break forward from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and we're back with
listener the comfort of a good treat.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yes, yes, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So Jen wrote your Ameretto episode Unearthed a distant memory.
I've had the flaming Doctor Pepper. Sadly, the version I
had was not on fire. I'm guessing for safety reasons,
and I'm not sure if there was a second liquor involved,
but it was definitely amaretto dropped into a logger and
(30:38):
it really did taste like Doctor Pepper. I can't recall
where I had this concoction, though it was likely here
in Halifax or when we lived in Toronto. Another drink
I do recall having at a pub here in Halifax
was the Ale Caesar, which was a fifty to fifty
mix of beer and a caesar, a Canadian cocktail with clamato, juice,
(30:59):
fot and various spices and flavorings. May be worth its
own episode if it wasn't covered in the Bloody Merry episode.
That one I recall mostly just tasted like a fizzy Caesar,
though not a bad taste by any means. I don't
think we talked about that. I think we might have
mentioned it in the Bloody Merry episode.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
It's ringing a very vague bell. But yeah, yeah, I'll
I'll have to do some I'll have to do some looking. Certainly,
Clamato is a phenomenon that we should talk about, yes,
because I am fascinated by clam juice plus tomato, and
then you bottle it in its shelf stable and people
(31:42):
purchase it on purpose and put it in things. I
don't have anything against Clemato. I feel like I'm about
to get hate mail.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Klemato played a pretty sizable role in our Dungeons and
Dragons campaign.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Oh Yeah, that's right, it did. Yeah, it's we obtained
some climato while we were out adventuring, like the party did,
like our fictional characters did we we we did.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Not, but and it became a recurring concept.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It really went a long way.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Food does come up a lot in our our campaign,
and I'm also interested in climato. I happened upon I
don't know why, but I saw a label that I
was just like, whoa, what is this? It looked really
fancy and I picked it up and it was comato.
Oh we should talk about this.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
We should. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I am also sad
that you're flaming Doctor Pepper was not flaming, But but
I'm glad that it really did taste like a doctor Pepper.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
That's so weird, that's fascinating. I'm so I'm so interested
in it. But yes, I mean it's perhaps for the best.
Maybe this is a final destination situation where we don't
need to mess with the flaming cocktail. So yeah, yeah,
for the good of all of us. Yeah, yes, Paul
(33:10):
wrote just listen to the Tomatillo episode and wanted to
share our experience with them. We live in northwestern Lower Michigan,
which is a Zone six A. There's an amazing local,
authentic Mexican restaurant called Osario's where we had real salsaverite
for the first time. Years ago.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
We decided we wanted to try and make it at home,
so that meant trying to grow a Mexican plant in
northern Michigan. Because of our geological history, the soil is
sandy and rocky, like a gravel pit. As a result,
you have to constantly add organic matter and water, often
to deal with the quick drainage. We were skeptical but
surprised how well they took to our soil up here.
We've been growing them for a few years now and
(33:47):
are having great success when all the other plants that
are supposed to do well in this climate are struggling.
The tomatillos are actually outgrowing the weeds. Last year, we
planted thirty eight seedlings before finding out each plant can
produced ten to twelve pounds each. Needless to say, we
ended up harvesting over fifty pounds before we ran out
of room in the freezers. We left the rest and
(34:09):
this year have about five times the volunteers then actual seeds.
We planted no worries though the words gotten out about
our salsa ver dae, so we'll be giving a lot away.
We're also going to try our hand at chili verde
with Tomatio's hatch chilis and pork shoulder. Maybe it'll finally
be enough to beat my rival at the work chili
(34:30):
cook off this winter. I'll keep you updated regarding ripe tomatillos.
Ours did turn pale yellow and purple, which made for
a beautiful color In some of the salsa. The flavor
does shift away from the sharp tang towards a little sweetness.
About what was curious was the odor gone? Was the
freshness replaced with the smell of a fruit right on
(34:50):
the cusp of rotten. We almost threw them in the
compost before deciding to try anyway. Good news, they absolutely
did not taste how they smelled, and now we have
two kinds of selsa ver day to enjoy. Oh this
is fascinating because see this is kind of my experience
with gooseberries and why I don't particularly enjoy gooseberries because I, yeah,
(35:13):
there's a scent that's sort of like right like like
like rot like like almost fermented in a bad way.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Fruit like sweet decay.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so, but I'm glad. I'm glad that
they taste I'm glad that they taste good. In the
case of the ripe talmentios, that's great.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yes, Also, congratulations, even if you've got perhaps more than
you were thinking, you're going to get.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Ten to twelve pounds out of thirty eight seedlings.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Yeah, that's quite a bit. I'm sure everybody's happy to
share the enjoy the fruit, silver Labor. I am desperate
to hear more about your rival at work at the worst.
Oh yeah, right, please keep us updated. I'm hooked already.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Oh yeah yeah. And this because because that chili very
day sounds really good.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
It sounds delicious. I want that right now.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
So yes, please keep us updated. I must know meantime though.
Thank you to both of these listeners writing in. Yes,
if you would like to write to us, you can
our email us hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saber pod, and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts in My Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite show. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(37:05):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Hello, and welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Anny Rees and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about Hostess Cupcakes. Yes, not
a sponsor, nope nah. Also the cupcakes specifically, they have
other snack cakes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's not a topic for today, No, And we were
just discussing the company itself is not a topic for today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, we're glancing across it a few times. But that's
a large and complicated and fascinating in a dry way
kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes, perhaps we'll return to it in the future, but
not today.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
No. Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Uh? I really should be better prepared for this.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, No, I think I was thinking that we hadn't
done like a really brand heavy episode in a minute,
and these are so weird but so nostalgic, and it
seemed like a good story. So yeah. A lot of
my selection process comes down to, well, I was twenty
(01:25):
nine Wikipedia pages deep and then I read some kind
of fact that I found personally interesting for some reason.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
That's as good a reason as any. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I have to say I don't have a lot of
experience with Hostess in general, and especially not Hostess cupcakes. Okay,
but when I was reading about it, I do remember
(01:58):
certain instances in elementary school with the sack lunch and
it would come with one oh yeah, And even though
it wasn't like the most amazing thing, there was something
about biding into it that I remember being like, this
is special. This feels special to me.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah. Yeah, as a as a school lunch thing. It
was the kind of product that my dad never would
have allowed in our household. And so whenever I got
ahold of something like this, I might not have liked it,
but I enjoyed it because of like the slight thrill
of knowing that I was bucking the system. Yeah, my
(02:40):
own little snack cake rage against the machine. Yeah yeah,
because it was always in the schools packed lunch.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I got ever in my home. No, but it just
there was something about it. I was like, Okay, yeah,
I can't get this at home. So people do have
a lot of nostalgia for it. I will say, doing
the research for this episode, if I was to personify
(03:11):
the Hostess cupcake, I think that a cupcake would feel
bad that they were constantly compared to the Twinkie.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, it seems sort of unfair, right.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
The success of the Twinkie. Always it was like before
the Twinkie, there was something.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Else, there was a different thing. But who cares about that.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Right, right? So that being said, you can't see our
twinky episode. Also are episodes about cupcakes.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
In general and muffins relatedly, and like other snacks and brands. Probably, sure, yes.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But I guess this brings us to our question. I
guess it does Hostess Cupcakes.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well. Hostess Cupcakes are a brand of sweet packaged snacks
and or treats in the form of these small, shelf
stable cream filled, icing topped cakes in the cup shape.
You know, it's like slightly narrower on the bottom based
on the pan that they're made in, Like the profile
(04:24):
is a trapezoid if you take a cross section. Yeah,
the standard flavor is chocolate cake with this lightlyad vanilla
flavored filling and then a layer of chocolate flavored icing
on top. And because that icing is you know, dark
brown in color, a contrasting squiggle of white vanilla icing
(04:44):
across the straight across the diameter of the cake. Yeah,
in this pattern that is formed in a chain of
seven full loops per cake. No more, no less, no more,
no less, seven loops those. This cupcake does come in
other flavors and colors and in this mini size. More
(05:05):
on those later. But the whole experience of this cupcake
is kind of just nice. Like the cake is tender
and moist, and the filling is real fluffy. The icing
is semi firm, like sort of toothsome, like a little
bit fudgy, but still smooth and kind of melty in
your mouth. Yeah. They are individually wrapped in plastic and
(05:26):
sold in boxes of eight to fourteen cakes, or sometimes
wrapped in a single serving tupac with like a little
paperboard tray. Those are found at like convenience stores and
checkout lines stuff like that. They are very sweet and straightforward,
you know, like a little bit oily perhaps, but just
(05:49):
nostalgically chocolatey and creamy and shelf stably. It's like it's
like if your mama were a robot, but she loved
you so much. You know, It's like the sensation of
an assembly line's love. Oh yeah, yeah, thanks robot mom.
(06:20):
Hostess Brands does also own a bunch of other snack
cakes like Twinkies, Ding dongs, hohes, snowballs, and honey buns,
among others, and some sandwich breads and buns. But yeah,
the classic cupcakes weigh forty five grams apiece. That's a
little over one point five ounces. They're about three inches
(06:43):
across and two inches tall something like that. That icing
loop design is a registered trademark. It is registered as
the original squiggle.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I don't think I will ever say squiggle as much
as I'm consciously in this episode.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I wrote it a disturbing number of time.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yes, it's very important.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I started thinking, is there is Should I get out
at the saurus? Is there a different word I can
be using? Is this squiggle overkill? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Here we are.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Choices, choices. Speaking of choices, In addition to the classic flavor,
the brand has and it's like regular lineup of snack cakes,
an option that is a golden cake like vanilla flavored
cake instead of chocolate. It does have like the standard
chocolate icing and creamy filling. They've also got orange cakes
(07:44):
with orange frosting and creamy filling, pink strawberry cakes with
strawberry frosting and creamy filling, and birthday cupcakes which have
like colored specks in vanilla cake than vanilla frosting with
sprinkles and creamy filling, and also sugar cookie flavored cupcakes.
And these are themed after those you know, those those
(08:06):
puffy grocery store cookies that are kind of cakey. Yeah,
it's like a vanilla cake with pink frosting with sprinkles
and creamy filling. And all of the above do have
the standard white seven loop squiggle. They do also have
those cupcake minis that I mentioned above, which are the
(08:26):
classic flavor, but they're in a more cylindrical shape and
each are approximately forty three percent the size of a
standard host is cupcake by weight. I did the math
on that. Yes, yeah, they come in They come in
packs of two to three minis apiece. There are also
(08:51):
seasonal limited addition cupcakes these days.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
As of this.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Recording, in August of twenty twenty five, the summer line
is available. The fall line is rolling out. Summer twenty
twenty five includes the More's Cupcake, which are Grand flavored
cake with toasted marshmallow filling and the typical chocolate icing
and white squiggle. There are two flavors of baseball themed cupcakes,
a yellow cake for day games, and a chocolate cake
(09:18):
for night games, each with a pale frosting decorated with
two red squiggle lines that are kind of curved so
it looks like a baseball stitching. Yeah. Yeah, nervous for
some is because of the day versus night games, and
you're thinking about vampires now.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I think, so something a little on edge.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well, don't calm down yet, because they also have patriotic cupcakes,
which are yellow cake with blue frosting, the white squiggle
and red sprinkles, which I find vaguely threatening, I think,
just because of everything that's going on right now. But anyway,
Fall twenty twenty five so far includes an iced Pumpkin Flavor,
(10:07):
which are artificially flavored pumpkin flavor cupcakes that's like a
pumpkiny orange cake, cream colored frosting, and an orange squiggle.
The filling on all of these is the traditional creamy filling,
which is just sort of vaguely vanilla flavored. Yeah. Also,
(10:27):
the thing that disturbed me most about all of this
is that, like I don't know if it's like a
fluke in the illustration or what, but the pumpkin, the
iced pumpkin cakes appear to have eight loops in their
squiggles and listeners. I gasped. I gasped, and I zoomed
in and I counted, and I believe I clutched my pearls.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I'm not even.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Joking, Like, this is the physical after reading so much
about the squiggle, that is the physical reaction that I
went through.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You've got to get out the conspiracy board. You have
red yarn?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Can I form the red yarn into a squiggle?
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We need to get to the bottom of this.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Oh oh man, I felt like I was glimpsing into
another dimension. Truly. At any rate, there is like like
there's a wild amount of proprietary technology that goes into
the manufacture of these things, and so like some things
(11:32):
I read about and some things I wasn't really able
to get to the bottom of. But from what I understand,
there's like at least five different companies that provide like baking, packaging,
robotics for all of this. Okay, So the essential process
is that the batter is mixed and then feeds from
(11:56):
holding tanks through depositors into cake pans, which then travel
through these tunnel ovens to bake. The cakes are then
deposited onto a conveyor belt, shuffled into an optimum cooling
configuration and then cooled in a tempering tunnel. Afterwards, they
(12:17):
are injected with the filling. After that, the icing is
deposited on top of the cakes in a continuous band,
which is then broken apart by an elevated transfer point,
after which the cakes are cooled again before the squiggle
is applied.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
That does sound like some serious business.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Okay, okay, Well what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
These are definitely a treat treat her nice, treats her nice.
There's not a lot of nutritionally nutritionally redeeming qualities about
these guys. And I want to say to younger Lauren,
and all y'all happen to be listening, but I want
to say to younger Lauren, please involve some protein in
(13:11):
your snacks so that you're less of a horrible person.
And if anyone else listening gains anything from that message,
then bless.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
This feels like you're trying to send a message back
to yourself, right.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Oh man, If only if only young hypoglycemic Lauren could
receive that message and put down the fruit snacks and
maybe get some trail.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Mix alas well, maybe someone will benefit from your your please.
Oh well, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We do. Okay. So apparently Hostess Cupcake Day is May eleventh,
commemorating what was possibly the first day that the product
was sold. Yes, yep, I love this next one. Okay,
I understand that in nineteen ninety seven, this art history
(14:25):
professor at the University of Pittsburgh constructed a pop art
pyramid of Hostess cupcakes with a snowball veneer that was
made up of forty five thousand, six hundred cupcakes which
were donated by Hostess. I didn't that this was the
(14:48):
plan anyway, I read about the plan. I did not
read about any follow up, but like the plan was
reported on after the professor had like contacted Hostess, proved
the structural integrity of the project, and then Hostess independently
(15:09):
backed up his data with their own experimental structures. So
I feel good about the fact that this happened.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
There should have been more reports. I was amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You know, it was nineteen ninety seven, like there wasn't
as much internet coverage. Yeah, if anyone was there, oh
my heck uh.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That would be amazing. Yeah, if we heard from someone who.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, it sounds glorious, but okay. As of twenty sixteen,
the brand's bakery in Emporia, Kansas was capable of making
right around nine million cupcakes every week, like one point
four million cupcakes a day, twenty four hours a day,
(16:02):
six days a week, and apparently Hostess cupcakes are the
brand's top seller. Yes above, Twinkies like twinkies are better known,
but cupcakes are like the old standard. As of twenty nineteen,
(16:23):
Americans bought some six hundred million Hostess cupcakes every year. Also,
when JM. Smucker Company bought Hostess Brands in twenty twenty three,
it was the largest ever cake and bread brand acquisition
(16:44):
in the United States by a margin of billions of dollars.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, And I don't have more specific numbers for you
here because I want to report them later in more context.
With the surrounding information.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It's a pretty wild story. Yeah yeah, And we're going
to get We're going to get into it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, but first we are going to
get into a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And we're back.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Okay. So in nineteen nineteen, Continental Baking which later would
become known as Hostess, opened in Kansas City, Missouri, and
they wanted to create some sweet treats to sell alongside
their bread. The first of these treats was a plain
Devil's food cupcake, no cream filling or white icing on top.
(17:52):
It was produced by the Tigart Bakery and reportedly was
the first commercially sold cupcake in the United States time
A pack of two cost five cents. I'm pretty sure
it was a pack of two. But yet this Also,
it was a very difficult episode to focus on the
topic because Hostess I went on a whole thing about
(18:17):
sliced bread and all of this. But it was a
big deal. It was a big deal. Yeah, Yeah, that's
what I'll say. Also, this was a pretty big year
for the United States. The country was coming out of
World War One, women got the right to vote, Prohibition
was on the horizon, the flu pandemic was underway. With
the rationing of World War One lifted, and all of
(18:39):
these changes and stressors, it makes sense to me that
people latched onto this convenient sweet snack.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The cupcakes featured chocolate or vanilla frosting done by hand.
In the nineteen twenties. In the nineteen forties there were
some innovations like malted milk icing or orange cupcakes with
orange icing, and then in the nineteen fifties, Hostess and
specifically someone named Dr Doc Rice, improved upon the cupcakes
(19:11):
by adding the same cream filling from Twinkies and the
squiggle of icing on top. Notably, he's not a doctor.
He always likes to joke about that it's not a doctor,
but that was his nickname. Rice started working at the
company as a cake dumper, someone who dumped the cakes
(19:31):
out onto a flat surface. Was baked at the age
of seventeen and nineteen twenty three. His goal was to
go to business school. He was supervising five plants by
the age of twenty nine. After he came back from
World War Two, he started working at Continental Baking's experimental
space in New York. Due to World War Two shortages,
(19:54):
the quality of the cupcakes had suffered greatly, so he
was put in charge of reversing that whole thing. He
now had new dough consistencies and higher quality icings to
work with. The machine that was used to inject the
cream into the twinkies was improved upon, so according to him,
the attitude was why not fill the cupcakes too? Yeah,
(20:16):
let's go ahead, let's go for it. They also ran
a white line of icing across the top at first,
and these cupcakes were first introduced in Detroit, and they
were generally well liked, but the white line was deemed
too boring, not I catching enough. After a few weeks,
(20:36):
Rice landed on a seven looped squiggle. According to Rice,
sales of the cupcakes increased by twenty five percent after that,
and the non filled, non squiggled cupcake was discontinued. The
price of the cupcake also went up, since the addition
of the cream and icing added onto the cost of
production makes sense. And yeah, the squiggle was meant to
(21:00):
separate the Hostess cupcakes from the competitors and was and
is pretty iconic.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Oh yeah. Later in the nineteen seventies and eighties, Hostess
ads featured a couple of animated mascots, including Twinkie the Kid,
which was like Wild West kind of themed Twinkie, and
Captain Cupcake. Captain Cupcake was this anthropomorphic cupcake like a
like a giant cupcake body with arms and legs. The
(21:30):
squiggle represented kind of like a line of buttons on
a coat down his center. He also had like little
like a little like white squiggle mustache. Yeah, and he
wore a blue naval captain's hat, and his arms and
legs had like blue uniform like dress uniform sleeves and
(21:52):
pant legs on them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It's pretty. That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, a little bit creepy Scott's tend to be.
But yeah, oh yes, you know, pretty enthusias.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Okay, So this was one I had to put in
here because this is a very specific memory for me.
In the nineties, there was a memorable hostess ad where
a shark saw a woman in a black bathing suit
with swiggles on it, and she was seated in a
black inner tube and the shark thought she was a
(22:28):
hostess cupcake, so he the shark charges up at her.
She flies into the air screaming, and the shark asked, Hey,
where's the cream filling, which was their tackline for a while.
It was done very much in the style of Jaws,
like music evocative of Jaws, and I remember it so clearly.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
This was I was talking to some friends about doing
this topic yesterday and this commercial is the first thing that.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Got brought up very memorable commercials.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah buying out, Hey, where's the cream filling? Yeah? Yeah, yeah.
The company, then officially known as Interstate Bakeries, did hit
a peak in the mid nineteen nineties as the largest
wholesale baker of snack cakes and breads in the United States.
(23:24):
They would rename themselves Hostess Brands in two thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And this is where we get into some of our
fun business legal drama. Okay, So, over the years, the
company struggled as American taste shifted away from sweets and
labor cost increased. After two bankruptcies, the first in two
thousand and four and a falling out with union leadership
over recent wage and benefit cuts, the company liquidated in
(23:54):
twenty twelve, eliminating eighteen five hundred jobs. There were a
lot of fears at the time that these iconic products
would disappear from shelves, like the cupcake Twinkies, and they
did for about eight months, but production resumed in twenty
thirteen after the company's assets were sold to Apollo Global
(24:16):
Management and Metropolis and Company. So people were very excited
about that.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, this was a really big news item,
and the business side of the story is pretty wild
because like the company that held the brand had been
just incredibly mismanaged, Like they were in so much debt
that was held by these kind of fickle hedge funds,
and they had these intense pension costs, and all this
(24:45):
trouble with two kind of warring unions, the teamsters who
were their delivery drivers and the Aflcio Bak reunion. But
when the company liquidated after that second bankruptcy, that all
just like went away. Apollo General and that investor dude
(25:06):
bought up a bunch of the host To Snackcake brands
for just over four hundred million dollars and reopened under
the Hostess name. No one even bit against them when
they made their offer. They spent another like two hundred
and fifty million updating the factories and recipes and distribution model,
but it was immediately successful. They were immediately raking in billions.
(25:33):
We really could do a whole business drama episode about this.
It was very high profile. A lot of ink has
been spilled about it, which I love. I love all
of these incredibly serious financial publications writing extremely seriously about snackcakes.
It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Ugh at any rate. Yeah, like genuinely it worked like
they were acquired that. The brand was acquired by another
company called Gors Holdings in twenty sixteen, which took them
public on the Nasdaq that year with a valuation of
two point three billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Woo, what a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Right right, Yeah, and they just kind of chugged right along.
Those birthday sprinkles cupcakes were launched in twenty nineteen to
celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the Hostess brand. They
opened an innovation lab in Kansas in twenty twenty, employing
some twenty researchers, bakers, and product testers with eyes on
(26:45):
producing those like flashy limited edition flavors which are so
popular these days.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah. Well, and then the JM. Smucker Company purchased Hostess
for five point six billion dollars in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Five point six billion. Again, this was the largest ever
cake and bread brand acquisition in US history, and it
was the largest by a margin of three point two
billion dollars.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Well, that was an actual gas pullout, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Because because the second largest happened back in two thousand
and eight. This this toppled that record from two thousand
and eight, when when Bimbo bought like a bunch of
stuff for around a measly two point four billion.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Wow, only two point four h.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
And that was like a bunch of like Wonderbread adjacent properties.
So yeah, just wild. Those minis rolled out in twenty
twenty five. I don't know, man, uh huh uh huh.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I you know, honestly, I really really do want to
hear from listeners about your favorite flavor, if you've got
a favorite special flavor.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I feel like they're up to all kinds of stuff
that I wasn't aware of.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh, they've been through dozens and dozens of flavor iterations,
especially right over the past like ten to twenty years,
and so yeah, So if there's one that you remember
fondly that got away, if there's a flavor that they
haven't done that you think that they should ooh, if
(28:50):
you think that a different snack cupcake is far far better.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I do know. Didn't get into this, but there's a
snack cake from Philadelphia that claims I think it's called
Tasty Tasty Cake. Yeah, and they dispute hostesses claim to
being the first snack cake, not the first commercially produced cupcake,
(29:19):
the first snack cake. Oh, I see, you've gotta love
the specifics on here. Yeah, yeah, yes, So if you
know about that, then the tasty cake let us know.
We would love to hear about it.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Oh yeah, that's a yeah. We'll have to get into
tasty Cake another time.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
That's another day for now. I think that's what we
have to say about the Hostess cupcake.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yes, it is. But we do already have some listener
mail for you, and we're going to get into that
as soon as we get back from one more quick
break forward from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and we're back with
listener the comfort of a good treat.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yes, yes, okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So Jen wrote your Ameretto episode Unearthed a distant memory.
I've had the flaming Doctor Pepper. Sadly, the version I
had was not on fire. I'm guessing for safety reasons,
and I'm not sure if there was a second liquor involved,
but it was definitely amaretto dropped into a logger and
(30:38):
it really did taste like Doctor Pepper. I can't recall
where I had this concoction, though it was likely here
in Halifax or when we lived in Toronto. Another drink
I do recall having at a pub here in Halifax
was the Ale Caesar, which was a fifty to fifty
mix of beer and a caesar, a Canadian cocktail with clamato, juice,
(30:59):
fot and various spices and flavorings. May be worth its
own episode if it wasn't covered in the Bloody Merry episode.
That one I recall mostly just tasted like a fizzy Caesar,
though not a bad taste by any means. I don't
think we talked about that. I think we might have
mentioned it in the Bloody Merry episode.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
It's ringing a very vague bell. But yeah, yeah, I'll
I'll have to do some I'll have to do some looking. Certainly,
Clamato is a phenomenon that we should talk about, yes,
because I am fascinated by clam juice plus tomato, and
then you bottle it in its shelf stable and people
(31:42):
purchase it on purpose and put it in things. I
don't have anything against Clemato. I feel like I'm about
to get hate mail.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Klemato played a pretty sizable role in our Dungeons and
Dragons campaign.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Oh Yeah, that's right, it did. Yeah, it's we obtained
some climato while we were out adventuring, like the party did,
like our fictional characters did we we we did.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Not, but and it became a recurring concept.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
It really went a long way.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Food does come up a lot in our our campaign,
and I'm also interested in climato. I happened upon I
don't know why, but I saw a label that I
was just like, whoa, what is this? It looked really
fancy and I picked it up and it was comato.
Oh we should talk about this.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
We should. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I am also sad
that you're flaming Doctor Pepper was not flaming, But but
I'm glad that it really did taste like a doctor Pepper.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
That's so weird, that's fascinating. I'm so I'm so interested
in it. But yes, I mean it's perhaps for the best.
Maybe this is a final destination situation where we don't
need to mess with the flaming cocktail. So yeah, yeah,
for the good of all of us. Yeah, yes, Paul
(33:10):
wrote just listen to the Tomatillo episode and wanted to
share our experience with them. We live in northwestern Lower Michigan,
which is a Zone six A. There's an amazing local,
authentic Mexican restaurant called Osario's where we had real salsaverite
for the first time. Years ago.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
We decided we wanted to try and make it at home,
so that meant trying to grow a Mexican plant in
northern Michigan. Because of our geological history, the soil is
sandy and rocky, like a gravel pit. As a result,
you have to constantly add organic matter and water, often
to deal with the quick drainage. We were skeptical but
surprised how well they took to our soil up here.
We've been growing them for a few years now and
(33:47):
are having great success when all the other plants that
are supposed to do well in this climate are struggling.
The tomatillos are actually outgrowing the weeds. Last year, we
planted thirty eight seedlings before finding out each plant can
produced ten to twelve pounds each. Needless to say, we
ended up harvesting over fifty pounds before we ran out
of room in the freezers. We left the rest and
(34:09):
this year have about five times the volunteers then actual seeds.
We planted no worries though the words gotten out about
our salsa ver dae, so we'll be giving a lot away.
We're also going to try our hand at chili verde
with Tomatio's hatch chilis and pork shoulder. Maybe it'll finally
be enough to beat my rival at the work chili
(34:30):
cook off this winter. I'll keep you updated regarding ripe tomatillos.
Ours did turn pale yellow and purple, which made for
a beautiful color In some of the salsa. The flavor
does shift away from the sharp tang towards a little sweetness.
About what was curious was the odor gone? Was the
freshness replaced with the smell of a fruit right on
(34:50):
the cusp of rotten. We almost threw them in the
compost before deciding to try anyway. Good news, they absolutely
did not taste how they smelled, and now we have
two kinds of selsa ver day to enjoy. Oh this
is fascinating because see this is kind of my experience
with gooseberries and why I don't particularly enjoy gooseberries because I, yeah,
(35:13):
there's a scent that's sort of like right like like
like rot like like almost fermented in a bad way.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Fruit like sweet decay.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so, but I'm glad. I'm glad that
they taste I'm glad that they taste good. In the
case of the ripe talmentios, that's great.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yes, Also, congratulations, even if you've got perhaps more than
you were thinking, you're going to get.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Ten to twelve pounds out of thirty eight seedlings.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Yeah, that's quite a bit. I'm sure everybody's happy to
share the enjoy the fruit, silver Labor. I am desperate
to hear more about your rival at work at the worst.
Oh yeah, right, please keep us updated. I'm hooked already.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Oh yeah yeah. And this because because that chili very
day sounds really good.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
It sounds delicious. I want that right now.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
So yes, please keep us updated. I must know meantime though.
Thank you to both of these listeners writing in. Yes,
if you would like to write to us, you can
our email us hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saber pod, and we do
hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts in My Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite show. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
(37:05):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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