Amongst the brick cobbles of Portland’s quiet Pleasant Street sits Artemisia Cafe. “Coffee no cream, please.” At these tables pulses culture. Art expands, contracts, and, we, hope, expands again.
A stained glass fish, half red, half yellow, causes the patron to ponder the struggle of artistry and what it becomes for so many. Inside this cafe, in this fleeting moment, art stands. One of the few of the many.
Moist brownie. Strong coffee. It pays to wander the streets of Portland.
There they sat, on the convenience store shelf. Something I hadn’t eaten since junior high, a twin pack of Red Raspberry Zingers. Yellow sponge cake with a creamy middle coated with coconut and luscious raspberry icing.
But as I bit in, something was wrong. I had not eaten a Red Raspberry Zinger since junior high, since 1989. Not since the Interstate Brands take-over of Dolly Madison Bakeries. Zingers, for quite some time, have been made by Hostess.
I may be griping about one more mega-merger in a corporate society. The sadness of the fall of Dolly Madison and its commercials sponsoring Charlie Brown Holiday Specials; perhaps a more efficient world of today works more efficiently with a tighter supply chain. There is not enough room on grocers’ shelves to stock ump-teen bakers’ goods, hence the fall of my childhood favorite, the Dolly Madison Zinger.
But sadly, as I bit into the Interstate Zinger, it was merely a Twinkee coated with red raspberry icing and coconut. Note to corporate America, if you are going to kill an icon, let it die a honest death. Do not intravenously pump the life of a Twinkee into the body of a Zinger.
And reader, should you gleefully find yourself cracking open a twin-pack someday, wishing for the days of junior high, let that Zinger roll over your palate. Discern what you are eating. Join the taste buds and memories of consumers that discern this Twinkee in sheep’s clothing.
The Dow would be doing fine, and I would eat my way into retirement.
Chocolate Cookies picture by Paolo Neo
