All good things must come to an end, and now the Twinkie goes gently into that good night. Fare thee well, Twinkie. We loved you well. (But apparently not well enough to keep Hostess from going under like the Titanic ... Too soon?)

The final batch of Twinkies has landed on grocery store shelves, and so the Era of the Twinkie, that nugget of "cream"-filled cake that was supposed to be able to survive a nuclear holocaust, is dead and gone. And what city got the last coveted sweet snacks and Twinkie fans acting like rage-filled animals, you ask?

Bad news for all of you out there main-lining sugar. A new study out of UCLA found that rats who were fed a diet high in fructose were dumber than those who were fed stuff full of omega-3 fatty acids. They're hypothesizing that this would be the case, too, for children and adults who ingest a steady stream of soda, candy, and various other sugary snacks. Researchers are suggesting that what you eat affects how you think, and that eating a lot of junky crap will harm your brain's ability to learn and retain inform ... mmm. Jelly beans. Wait. What were we talking about? Where am I? Who are you? Mom?

Who makes the best French fries in America? Well there's no ONE answer to that question. But Travel + Leisure magazine has pulled together a list of the top 25 fry dishes from around the country. Chances are good there's an amazing fry somewhere near you. Click through their slideshow to see if one of your favorites is listed.

What were their "Best" fries criteria, though? There are so many different kinds of fries now, I'm amazed they were able to narrow down the list to just 25. They quote fry "expert" and blogger Glenn Walker, who says, "The best fries are made from fresh-cut potatoes and double-fried, which adds crispness." But that's just how you make the best fries. What about the eaters -- how do you know when you're eating a PERFECT French fry? Here's what I think are the five secrets to French fry genius.

So here's something I never knew about Jackson Rathbone, the cutie who plays Jasper in the Twilight saga: He likes ketchup so much he tattooed it on his leg. A big, red Heinz ketchup bottle running up his calf! I would have thought it was because ketchup is a stand-in for blood, and he plays a vampire, and... that kind of works? But as it turns out, he really does love ketchup that much.

And I think that's just unfathomable. I happen to hate ketchup, for one thing. But for another, what's with tattooing food on your body? I love a lot of different foods, but I can't imagine feeling strongly enough about any particular food to actually tattoo its image on my body! But apparently Rathbone isn't the only one. Here's a few other foods people love enough to permanently stamp on their skin.

It's hard to believe, but iconic snack maker Hostess is shutting its doors. In bankruptcy court the company said they wanted to liquidate -- and they're blaming striking workers who rejected a new contract. "We deeply reject the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," CEO Gregory Rayburn said this morning.

Whatever the reason for Hostess going out of business, it's shocking to think there may be a time when we stop seeing Twinkies and other classic sugary snacks on store shelves. Maybe Hostess couldn't keep up with the times? In the past few years, Americans have been choosing snacks with more "natural" ingredients. But there's still a lot of nostalgic love for those Hostess cakes. Maybe some smart company will snap up the brand and re-release the snacks with an ingredient makeover. We can only hope! 

In the meantime, join us on a little tour through the Hostess Hall of Snacking Fame -- with recipes.

First, peanut butter -- now peanuts are being recalled for a possible salmonella outbreak. An extension of the recall that initially began with Trader Joe's peanut butter and more than 240 peanut products, two million pounds of whole peanuts by Hines Nut Co. -- linked to a New Mexico peanut supplier called Sunland Inc. -- are being pulled from shelves. The bags of salted jumbo in-shell peanuts have been distributed nationally in supermarkets like Wal-mart and Dollar General stores from April 12 to October 12, say FDA officials.

Definitely freaky to think that the contaminated nuts were being sold for such a long period of time. Thankfully, there have been no reports of illness associated with the Hines nuts (that we know of, of course). But the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there are now 30 illnesses in 19 states that can be traced to the Trader Joe's peanut butter. Here, the scoop on which peanuts are being recalled ...

And now, a little treat from the department of Gross Food Posted to Reddit: Someone claims they found moth larvae in their Clif Bar. I'll pause while you convulse with the icks. I'll shudder along. And here's the grossest part. (Is there a grossest part? It's all pretty awful). He almost took a bite before seeing the larvae.

Driving to work today, I unwrapped a Clif Bar. Not really paying attention to what I was about to consume, I put it to my lips and had the distinct thought of, "Are those cobwebs?" I look down and discover what I was just about to bite into was a TREASURE TROVE OF LIVE MAGGOTS IN A FORTRESS OF WEBS.

SCREAM! Also -- what are you doing driving and unwrapping a Clif Bar at the same time? That's as dangerous as texting while driving. But back to that Clif Bar: You'll be delighted to hear what other Redditors said about this.

Do you ever find yourself eating your kids' food? I don't mean finishing their hot dogs for them -- I mean actually sneaking bites of their food because it looks kind of good!

In principle I think most kids' food is lousy. I mean, isn't it mostly junk food? Can't they eat what everyone else eats, just like kids have done for centuries? It's not like Cave Children got their own Mastadon Snackables.

But in reality ... I kind of like it every once in a while. Maybe it's out of nostalgia, maybe it's because it's all kind of soft and mushy, or maybe it's just the bright colors. But anyway, here are the kids' foods I secretly like to snack on.