Lunchbox Nostalgia

As Hostess Brands files in Bankrupcy Court and the "creme"-filled torpedoes, frosted pink domes, and butter-topped bread no longer roll off the assembly line, many of us face a revived nostalgia for the chemical-laden fluffy foods of our school day lunchboxes.

I was a child of the seventies.  My mom occasionally packed my Partridge Family lunch box with bologna on Wonder Bread, a Twinkie or Drake's Coffee Cake, and a thermos of water spiked with Hawaiian Punch. More often, I'd lunch on leftover brisket and ketchup on the bread that promised to "build healthy bodies in 12 ways."  Leftover brisket, meatloaf, or chicken cutlet sandwiches were usual fare. 

My mother made dinner almost every night except Saturday when she and my dad would go out.  My brother and I would get to choose a favorite frozen dinner at our local A & P.  Fish sticks, Tater Tots, Swanson's fried chicken TV dinner, or my favorite, Morton's Macaroni & Cheese.  Baked in the oven, the macaroni would come out bubbling hot, enveloped in a thick layer of melted cheese.

As Hostess fans madly dash to the grocery shelves in search of the final boxes of CupCakes, Ding Dongs, and Devil Dogs, I suspect nostalgia trumps the taste of these fluffy confections. 

As Proust said, "Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”  Of course, this is the same Proust who so eloquently penned an homage to the madeleine, the buttery scalloped Parisian cookie. 

During a recent trip to New York, I ducked into a neighborhood shop for a cup of coffee, I eyed a familiar package from my childhood.  Butterscotch Krimpets. I looked forward to sharing my technique of peeling back the salty-sweet panel of icing with  my 11-year old daughter.  I pulled apart the plastic to reveal my long-ago lunchbox favorite.  My daughter wrinkled her nose and assessed, "This smells like floor cleaner,' her usual response to anything with with an ingredient list resembling shampoo or that chemistry lab kit your brother had as a child.  The eternally-moist confections of our youth have nothing on a homemade birthday cake with buttercream. 

My daughters have been raised on a predominantly plant-based diet with occasional forays into the world of home-baked birthday cupcakes and Cavatappi with Four Cheeses.  School lunches include carrots with a side of hummus and GMO-free chips.

I wonder if my daughters will develop nostalgia for quinoa pilaf or organic tofu stir-fry...