Wonder Bread is leaving us. Bankrupt company Interstate Bakeries Corp is closing a bakery in Lakewood, which means, no Wonder Bread in Oregon or Washington. Apparently a Seattle plant will continue to manufacture Hostess snack cakes -- no word on whether this includes the infamous Hostess Lemon Pie so beloved by the other member of this household. (No, not the cats. The husband.)

The article claims that "increasingly health-conscious eaters grew less interested in the company's famous white bread and other treats, such as Hostess Cup Cakes and Twinkies." Yet, they are closing the plant that makes BREAD and keeping us in SUGARY TREATS. Something seems a little...off.

During the height of the Atkins craze, it seemed to me that non-sweet baked goods were becoming increasingly difficult to find. If I went to a coffee shop, where at one time they might have had an assortment of rolls, some of them sweet, now it seemed they only had the sweet ones. My theory was that people who cheat on the Atkins diet don't cheat with a brioche or a mini-baguette. They cheat with sugar. Or, perhaps I should say, SUGAR!!!.

As a carb-lover who avoids sugar, I found this disheartening.

On the other hand, at the fabulous Vancouver French restaurant Hermitage where Paul & I had the pleasure of dining with Robert Silverberg and his wife Karen Haber (plus Robert Sawyer, Kirstin Morrell, and our friends Palle and Dawna), the bread they put out on the table is possibly the best bread I have ever had. Period. Which was very heartening, since we got lost and arrived at dinner rather late, when everyone else was already deep into the appetizer course, and truly exquisite bread made me feel not a bit left out. Plus, my decorative plate had bats on it, which is guaranteed to cheer me up under any circumstances.