Balance of Food

Temptation of the Week: Canadian snack cakes in the United States

The Hostess body may still be warm, but other snack cake companies want to cash in people's desire, albeit lessening, to have a snack cake for dessert.

While Hostess represented Americana, its replacement in the snack aisle might be Canadian?

We have previously talked about the cakes from Vachon that have made their way to some parts of the United States: Jos. Louis and May West, for example.

The company has confirmed what we already know: Vachon wants to bring more of its Canadian delights into the United States.

"We want to grow the U.S. market and we have started to penetrate the east — Vermont and those surrounding states … that's what we started a year ago and we are continuing those efforts," said Saputo spokeswoman Sandy Vassiadis. Saputo owns Vachon and controls the Canadian rights to the Hostess products.

I can only personally vouch for the Jos. Louis and May West snack cakes. Food Republic had a story this week on all the Vachon products. The reporter noted the visual similarities between the Vachon products and the (Hostess products): Chocolate Swiss Rolls (Ho Hos), Croquettes (Twinkies), and Jelly Log (Sno Ball). Flakies might be similar to Hostess Fruit Pies except Flakies are "light and, well, flaky." Piques, Pops, and Miamis may not have a Hostess equivalent.

The Canadian sweet tooth isn't similar to the American sweet tooth, so even if the cakes look similar, they may not match up to the expectation of those who are used to Twinkies.

The other difference between the two countries is that the Jos. Louis snack cakes I have seen in the States are made with sugar while the Canadian versions were using glucose-fructose (high-fructose corn syrup). You would think the reality would be in reverse. In fact, I didn't bring any Jos. Louis cakes back with me from Windsor since I had plenty of them, all made with sugar. Maybe Canadians will cross the border to get a better version of their home country snack cakes.

You might feel un-American by eating Canadian snack cakes rather than Hostess. Though May West is an homage to Mae West, but Jos. Louis isn't named after the famous boxer. Think of having the snack cakes as a diplomatic gesture or international adventure. You can eat the Canadian treats in the United States and cross the border for "American" Twinkies in Canada. The two countries share a lot; each country is the other's largest trading partner. Better add snack cakes to the list.

Andrea Tantaros should know food stamps lead to weight gain, not loss

"I should try it because, do you know how fabulous I'd look? I'd be so skinny. I mean, the camera adds 10 pounds, it really does. I would be looking great."

Fox News Channel contributor Andrea Tantaros from "The Five" was on "Varney and Company" responding to the challenge that Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker gave to one of his Twitter followers to live on the equivalent of $133/month for a week.

Tantaros should give the challenge a try. Forget about surviving on food stamps for a week; she should try for a whole month.

Tantaros will find out that she will gain weight, not lose it.

The healthy food that she eats because she can afford to eat well won't be as available when factoring in a $133 budget for 30 days. A Starbucks drink costs more than a day's worth of food. On that kind of a budget, cheap carbohydrates and fatty meats are on the menu.

Even if Tantaros could survive on such a tight budget for food, she would have better access to grocery stores than many of those in New Jersey who have to live on food stamps.

From the clip, Tantaros is in rather good shape. The camera shows her and her legs, a normally unusual camera angle. So she could afford to gain a few pounds.

If someone such as Tantaros, with her level of ignornace on the impact of cheap food and food stamps, would gain weight and talk about that on television, that perspective would do more to raise the image of food stamps than any publicity stunt from a liberal or progressive politician.

Death of the Canadian Twinkie: Alive in name only

When you were thinking of "death" and "Twinkie," your mind likely went to the apparent demise of the Hostess company over a potential strike by bakery workers. Somehow, Twinkies will live on in some form under the branch of a different company. So the fears of loss over the death of Twinkies are a bit exaggerated.

What isn't up for dispute is that the once glorious Canadian Twinkie has been reduced to … dare we say it … an American Twinkie.

The irony is that unlike the threat to American Twinkies, the Canadian Twinkie was never in danger since the trademark and rights to the Hostess products belongs to Saputo Inc.

Unfortunately, I found in my latest trip to Windsor that the once-heralded Canadian Twinkie no longer exists.

I checked the label. Glucose-fructose. Bastards.

I saw the expiration dates. March. February. 2013!! Oh, the humanity.

Summoning up all the denial I could, I bought a box of Twinkies. Cup cakes too. Didn't see any King Dons; haven't found those in a while.

Canadian Twinkies had a lighter color (colour?). These Twinkies had the golden brown color of … sob … American Twinkies.

Colo(u)r. Taste. Expiration date. Glucose-fructose. All the signs were there. Canadian Twinkies dead of neglect by corporate management.

The death of Canadian Twinkies could be seen as trying to save a few pennies. Fall in line with American goods thanks to pressure from new trade deals. Coming so close on the heels of the apparent death of the American company is just ironic. As soon as I saw the danger signs of the changeover, Canadian Twinkies were dead to me.

I couldn't find them in Montréal or in Alberta on my earlier trips to Canada this year, but have always counted on Windsor to come through with a dessert that looks and tastes like sponge cake and cream filling. Now those days are over.

I loved the faces of people when I would tell the story about the differences between American and Canadian Twinkies. They would have that cynical look about the likelihood of a difference.

"What do Canadian Twinkies taste like?" they would ask. "Sponge cake and cream filling," I would reply.

Canadian Twinkies were from a time machine, not just across the border, but back in time to my childhood. They really did remind me of the Twinkies I ate as a child as I collected Hostess baseball cards from the bottom of the Twinkies box.

They were light and creamy and not that exciting, but in a good way. Canadian Twinkies were nothing fancy, very simple, and really tasty.

For some time, I used to make the Windsor run twice a year, getting Canadian Twinkies each time. The border guards thought it was amusing; telling them the story of the difference made them shake their heads. If nothing else, the conversation was as light as a Canadian Twinkie.

So I don't know exactly when the changeover occurred. There were there in November 2011 but were gone by November 2012.

Hostess Canada or Canadians with Hostess should be commended for keeping Canadian Twinkies alive as long as they did. While my memories are just that, I do remember as an adult what Twinkies should taste like.

Canadian Twinkies remain alive, American Twinkies will likely follow suit. But with high-fructose corn syrup and glucose-fructose and long expiration dates, Twinkies, from both sides of the border, are dead to me. RIP.

Thanksgiving pressure? It's just one meal

Practice Thanksgiving. Fakesgiving. Should we be treating Thanksgiving as a Hollywood production?

Seriously, Thanksgiving is a meal. Okay, several meals, counting leftovers.

Your family will still love you if you mess up the stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie. They somehow will still value you if the turkey is less than ideal.

Even if 1-2 items are off on the menu, you still have 8-10 items on the table worth eating on Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday. And you can always eat out on Black Friday, if the whole meal is a catastrophe.

So much pressure for one meal. In a regular year, you eat approximately 1,100 meals. That last-minute dinner you had on July 12 with two hull pieces of bread, one last piece of lunch meat, some sliced mushrooms, lots of mayonnaise, potato chip crumbs, and the last pickle in the jar. That meal counts as a meal just as much as Thanksgiving dinner.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. The only pressure you should have in cooking is using a pressure cooker. Trying to recreate being your grandmother from 55 years ago — sounds more like hassle than fun.

A reminder as we do every Thanksgiving holiday season, Temptation of the Week takes Friday off. Eat more food.

Volunteering at a food pantry is a great way to help people get food

The easiest way to help those in need who don't have enough food is to donate food to a food bank or food pantry. Buy the food, bring the food in, smiles all around, and then you leave.

The best way to help those in need who don't have enough food is to do what works best for you. For those with money but not much time, buying food and bringing that food to the food people works out well. If you have time but not money, consider donating your time at a food bank or food pantry.

My day job allows the employees to take a day to do volunteer work in the community. Naturally, I picked something food-related and helped a local pantry unload donations from a food truck.

You want to have a good breakfast before you help unload food from a food truck. You need your strength, and you'll be surrounded by lots of food. Unless you work in a grocery store or a restaurant, you've never seen so much food. Fruits, vegetables, breads, eggs, milk, fresh produce, and lots and lots of cans.

I wasn't sure where the food on the weekly truck came from, but I did notice the delivery in a van from a nearby Trader Joe's, and lots of Trader Joe's brand foods.

The regular volunteers and the employees had a intricate system for where the food was supposed to go and how that food should be stored.

We often think of people needing food as those who have apartments and kitchens, but just don't have food. Some have shelter but no access to cook, and of course, some don't have shelter.

Sliced bread may have been the greatest invention since sliced bread, but if you don't have a knife, sliced bread is better than having regular bread.

I spent part of my day stacking up cans of green beans. They wanted to make green beans a "blue light special" since the government liked giving green beans to food banks but people didn't want to take them. We stacked a lot of cans with the idea that people could take as many cans as they wanted. It's easy to say that people shouldn't be picky; too often, if we donate food that we don't want, chances are other people don't want that food either. We should rethink what kind of food to donate to food pantries based on taste, interest, and shelf-sustainability where a kitchen wasn't an option.

The food pantry had so many condiments in a food pantry: ketchup, barbecue sauce, marinade, and honey. We are told that honey can't go bad. But when refrigeration is only a theory, having honey can be extremely useful … and taste good.

For those who can cook, I stacked a lot of spaghetti on the shelf. Dried foods such as spaghetti, beans, and rice, are valuable because they can be kept around longer.

They wanted me to check for mold in sorting the bread. I noticed expiration dates, but none of the food I saw was expired. If you do donate food, double check the expiration dates. Having to throw out expired food makes the job of food sorters that much tougher.

In stacking the food, you don't get to see the faces of those who need help. Food pantries need volunteers there too. You might be more comfortable dealing with complete strangers, others prefer less interaction. Pick whatever works best with your personality.

You might think working with a huge amount of food would discourage people from donating because there were so much food. We forget the huge numbers of people struggling to get food basics on a daily basis, especially in a large city. Those who fell from the middle class are the fastest growing segment, but certainly not the only ones who need help.

I wrote a few columns on the joys of giving food when I was unemployed, and food donations still matter. The satisfaction you get from volunteering, especially when food is your passion, was something I couldn't put into words, and I deal with words all the time.

Know your strengths and give accordingly. If you have time over money, food pantries still need your help. Not just now in the holiday season, but year round. Doesn't hurt to start right now.

Temptation of the Week: Cranberries by themselves

The American sweet tooth lends itself to adding sugar to fruits that are already sweet. Applesauce with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup is the most common example.

Cranberries aren't naturally sweet, so you know the temptation to add sugar can't be denied. After all, you can't eat cranberries by themselves, can you?

Surviving a Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce feels almost unpatriotic. The cranberry is the fruit that is drowned in sugar or sugar type substance so you barely can find the cranberries themselves.

But what if you ate cranberries … without sugar? Can you actually eat cranberries plain?

Turns out cranberries by themselves are quite good. You aren't likely to eat a ton at a time because cranberries are pretty sour. You will get that face. Yeah, that one.

If fruit is nature's candy, cranberries are, well, very sour candy.

If you eat something that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, such as accidentally drinking a diet drink, cranberries can cure that problem. Your mouth won't even remember what came before the cranberries.

You could cut the cranberries with some orange zest or rest them in a little bit of orange juice. If I had a juicer, I would throw a few cranberries into a combination of different juices to reduce its sweetness. Or I would make some straight cranberry juice to mix in with vodka.

If you grew up on cranberry juice cocktail or a very sweet cranberry sauce, you will find an actual cranberry to be very difficult to eat. If your sweet tooth is not that intense, cranberries can be a delightful treat.

Cranberries also have antioxidants and are helpful for urinary tract health.

At Thanksgiving, you can have cranberry sauce, but think about reducing the sugar. Most people still want cranberries to be sweet, but reducing the sugar helps you truly appreciate the cranberry taste. Too often we are prone to masking the flavor of fruit, nature's candy, with more candy. Let fruit be fruit as much as you can. Yes, your face will make some strange moves, but don't worry, it won't freeze that way.

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Financial incentives can help some people eat less meat

We talk about creating scenarios where people reduce their meat intake. Without those incentives, reducing meat consumption will be difficult to impose. But in Argentina, a land known for its meat, there is reportedly one grocery store that has come up with some creative suggestions.

Though the store's intentions may be more aligned with helping out a butcher down the street, at least that is what the woman who told me the story noted, these ideas can help us out in the Northern Hemisphere.

I met the young woman in Banff. She was visiting her family in Edmonton but lives in Argentina. I could not confirm the details she told me, but have no reason to think that this isn't true.

She is a vegetarian living in Argentina. That in itself sparked some mild laughter, given Argentina (and Alberta's) reputation for beef and beef consumption. So she buys more vegetables than your typical Argentinian person.

She told me that this grocery store offers 50% off on vegetables on Thursdays. She also told me that you could get 15% off your bill if you had no meat in your cart.

Often in grocery sales here in the States, when you see something marked down, sometimes you wonder about the quality of said food. Hopefully, people are getting good quality for 50% off. If a society isn't shopping much for vegetables, a store can drive traffic to buy other food, including meat.

A 15% discount for a cart without meat would seem pretty easy with a good freezer. After all, meat will keep well in the freezer for awhile. So you can buy all meat and get 0% discount. And then go back later and get everything else to get a 15% discount.

Still in a meat-intensive society, getting people to think about meat in a different fashion is innovative. People often respond to financial incentives. In the States, where meat is cheap, people still complain about the cost of meat, and they would respond well to financial incentives.

Bribing people to reduce their meat intake, given the low price of meat, seems like a cheap way of getting people to eat less meat. Good. People who think the government tells people what to eat, even if companies really do this, need a different approach.

This isn't about not eating meat, just less meat than what we are eating right now.

Temptation of the Week: Drinking chocolate

When you aren't in the Starbucks exotic overpriced coffee-type drink, you tend to think that a $7 hot chocolate sounds pretty ridiculous.

I noticed the $7 hot chocolate when I walked into a brand new truffle shop in Chicago (full disclosure: I know the owner) on its official opening day.

If you are dealing with truffles, you are in a world about decadence, not thinking about pinching a penny or two. A truffle is a treat, and so would a $7 hot chocolate.

Since the store was opening, the workers were handing out free samples. So when I got the opportunity to sample the Mexican hot chocolate, I couldn't pass that up.

To call this "hot chocolate" wasn't fair; this was thicker, richer than anything you would find from a Swiss Miss. The sample hot chocolate came with a vanilla marshmallow — customers could also get rich whipped cream with their hot chocolate. I did enjoy the hot chocolate, but wondered if it was still worth the price.

I did mention to the owner that this was good, but not sure a hot chocolate was worth $7. She remarked that maybe the term "hot chocolate" didn't convey what she was trying to sell. She suggested maybe calling it "drinking chocolate."

I didn't quite know what was up with "drinking chocolate," but I might be willing to spend $7 on "drinking chocolate" when I wasn't prepared to spend that much on "hot chocolate."

Later in the visit, I noticed a couple drinking the "hot chocolate." That cup was pretty huge. I hadn't factored the size of the cup into the equation. You would get a lot of chocolate for $7.

In a time where fancy bars make $12 alcoholic drinks and $5 Starbucks fancy coffee drinks are the norm, paying $7 for a fancy drinking hot chocolate isn't outrageous. I could get a decent sandwich for about $7; most of the time I'd rather spend my calories/money on food rather than drink.

Still, I could see a time where I would go in and buy a $7 fancy drinking chocolate. The drink would be ideal for two, even if I don't have someone to share that with at the moment. Then again, it would be a treat all for me. Sometimes, we all deserve a treat.

Election Day through the eyes of the food supply

BalanceofFood.com had fun recently in endorsing Michelle Obama to continue as First Lady, regardless of what happens on Election Day.

Whether your passion is food safety, proper labeling, school lunches, food advertising, visible calorie displays on menus, food stamps, or organic food, who you vote for makes a difference. Yes, the United States has a race for president today. Representatives, senators, state reps and senators, local officials, judges — all of these people impact all these food issues.

Of course, the president has something to do with that, such as requiring calorie counts in chain restaurants, passed as part of Obamacare.

The world of food would greatly benefit from having two parties who cared about these issues. In some cases, we can't get Dems on board (e.g., Blanche Lincoln).

All of the changes that were implemented that have shown visible progress came when the Democratic Party was in control of the House of Representatives. This means almost two years without any new legislation. That 6¢ increase in school lunches looms larger in the rear-view mirror.

Christie Vilsack, wife of Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, is running for Steve King's seat in Iowa. If you hear her name tonight, that could be a sign that voters are responding to the idea of working toward an improved food supply.

This isn't to say that government can or should solve all our problems with the food supply. As we've noted, government is part of the problem. The private companies that are doing the most damage could step up. They aren't and they aren't being prodded by the GOP to do anything that will help.

California's Proposition 37 is a great example of where private companies are spending millions to prevent food labeling of GMO foods. Even if you find out who wins for the presidency, you'll need to stay up to see how Proposition 37 does in California.

As for a potential Romney-Ryan administration, food stamps would be in danger of cutbacks. The moderate victories on school lunches could be overturned, depending on how the House and Senate races go. Food safety could go back to the levels set by George W. Bush, or get even worse. If Obamacare gets repealed, the requirements to post calories on menus disappears. And who knows if Ann Romney would dig up the White House Organic Garden and put up a parking lot.

No matter how involved you are in improving the food process, the best way to help is to vote. The status quo counts on apathy at the voting booth. A high turnout voting rate is the only thing that scares politicians; think of voting as kryptonite for politicians.

Temptation of the Week: Postponing farmers market purchases

"I won't get mushrooms today at the (Saturday) farmers market. I'll just wait for the market on Tuesday."

You try to buy at just the right time to get the freshest possible produce and not to have too much in your kitchen. Sometimes, you can overthink the process.

I really did want to stop by the Tuesday market, the final market downtown where I live. So I pushed off the mushrooms to Tuesday.

Well, the winds from the after effect of Hurricane Sandy brought the local farmers markets down for Tuesday. One vendor made it out to the downtown market. One. No, the mushroom people didn't make it on Tuesday.

"Never put off for tomorrow, what you can do today." -- Thomas Jefferson

In summertime, you have much more of an error margin. If you miss a Tuesday market, Wednesday and Thursdays have their own markets. Where I live, Monday and Friday are the only days where I don't know of a market.

I ran out of mushrooms before tomorrow's market, having to buy mushrooms at the grocery store. A decent substitution, but not as wonderful as the fresh produce from the farmers market.

You don't know a hurricane from a 1,000 miles away is going to affect a trip to the farmers market. But a thunderstorm could, or simple rain, or you get an emergency at work, or you sprain your ankle before the next market and can't get there.

Grocery stores are open year-round every day. You can even find some stores open on Christmas Day. Farmers markets come quite often when the weather is warm, occasionally when the weather is cold.

Farmers markets purchases have to be treated as special, especially when the weather isn't special. If you have to ask yourself whether you need to buy something at a farmers market, go ahead and buy that food.