Random Tater Pic of the Day #284

A shelf in a store in the path of Hurricane Harvey. What does this really say about how people feel about Chicken & Waffles Potato Chips?

Image sent from reader, but originally from Tyme Powell on Twitter.

French Fry Diary 643: More Crisps from the UK via Canada

You might remember I got a wonderful gift from my big sister a few months back, who in turn got these chips from her friend Kelly in Toronto who had recently visited the UK. Here are the rest of those chips.

Walkers Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips - full name Distinctively Salt & Vinegar with Real British Vinegar - The Bride went right for them, as she really likes salt and vinegar chips. She liked them, stating, "Salt and vinegar chips are good." Ain't she cute? I asked for one, and she replied, "You're not going to like them." She was right, but not in the way that say some of the Lay's Do Us A Flavor chips were not liked. They were okay, but not my cup of tea, or um, even chips.

Speaking of Do Us A Flavor, another of the bags from Kelly was from the UK's version of the Lay's (Walkers there) contest. These potato chips, or crisps, were flavored thus: Scrumptiously Smoky Bacon with Pork from Norfolk. Wow, that's specific. When the bag was opened there was a very pleasant smoky aroma, a good sign. They were quite good, and reminded me of the chips I'd had a while back at the British Chip Shop, only better. The Bride likened them to Bacos. Thumbs up for these.

The bag o' chips, I mean crisps, are from The Real McCoy's and are advertised as 'man crisps,' thick with deep ridges full of flavor. The flavor in question is Flame Grilled Steak. Biting into them, they have more of a thick crunch than might appear from the pics. I don't really taste the steak, and neither did The Bride, but they did have a pleasant smokey flavor like the other meat chip on this review. The company also puts out Flavors like Thai Sweet Chicken and Sizzling King Prawn among others.

Again special thanks to my sister Bobbie and Kelly for sending these along.

French Fry Diary 561: Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Potato Chips

Kettle Brand has a handful of unique flavors, and even some wacky ones (Nut Butters, anyone?), but when I saw these on the shelf at Whole Foods, I just had to try them. Maple Bacon? Sign me up.

And despite the decadent flavor of these chips, as always Kettle Brand potato chips have no MSG, no preservatives, no transfats, no GMO, are all natural and gluten free. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the bacony goodness.

When I first opened the bag (with a scissors, they are from Whole Foods after all), the aroma that I got was close to Kettle Brand's own Backyard Barbeque flavor. I was kinda expecting something similar to Lay's Chicken and Waffles from last year's Do Us a Flavor contest, but it wasn't there.

Like all Kettle Brand chips these kettle cooked potato chips are twisty and perfect for dipping. The taste is decidedly very smoky, but not much bacon or maple flavor to it. If anything, it's more of a weak barbecue flavor if anything. The Bride agreed when she snagged one expecting bacon.

Don't get me wrong. These are really good potato chips. The you-can't-just-eat-one chip psychosis was in full effect as I ate more than a few. These are darned good, not really Maple Bacon, but darned good. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 517: Ruffles Max Steak Potato Chips

This is the newest in a disturbing trend of meat-flavored potato chips. Some are quite good like the recent Lay's Chicken & Waffles chips, and some are just disasters, and I hate to say it, most of those are steak-based. These chips, fully named Ruffles Max Maximum Taste Flame Grilled Steak Flavored potato chips, hopefully will be different.

My first question is - what's the difference between Ruffles Max, and Ruffles Ultimate? It just seems a bit redundant to me. The bag suggests drinking Pepsi Max with the chips, so maybe that's what the distinction is - marketing.

Looking at the ingredients, other than the mysterious 'flame grilled steak flavoring,' these might be along the lines of a barbecue potato chip. I hope so. With stuff approximating onion, garlic, smoke, brown sugar, etc., it's a good bet.

But I wouldn't take that bet, especially after opening the bag and getting a whiff of the aroma that came out. To say it was unpleasant would be insufficient. To quote The Bride after she got the scent, "It smells like feet." And there you go. Being a good husband, I made her try one first.

Her reaction was scattered. "I suppose it tastes like steak. I don't think it tastes like feet," then to me she said, "you're not going to like them." She went on to say she wished it tasted like well done steak.

I tried one. Surprisingly The Bride was kinda right. They tasted like well done steak, specifically well done steak cooked on an outdoor grill. That is exactly what these chips tasted like. I liked these a lot, and I was very surprised. Yep, I liked them. It's a shame these are only available in a Limited Edition. Get them while you can.

And the Winner Is...

...Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread Potato Chips! Details are here.

French Fry Diary 485: Lay's Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue Potato Chips

I love potato chips almost as much as I love French fries. And my favorite kind of potato chips are BBQ flavor. So when I see a new flavor like Lay's Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue, of course I have to pick them up and try them. And now I'm in tears.

What can I say. Call me a baby, call me a wuss. Call me a Northerner who doesn't know what real barbecue is. Call me whatever you like, but I'm sorry, these m-effers are HOT. My eyes watered after the second chip, and my mouth and tongue are still on fire. These are even hotter than Ruffles Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ or Wise Sweet Heat BBQ or even the Kaboom Sauce at Cool Dog Cafe.

Other than the heat, these are pretty standard Lay's potato chips - thinner than most, a bit greasy, crispy, and seasoned heavily. Checking the ingredients for where the heat might be coming from, I immediately noticed red pepper among the usual suspects. I'm guessing that's the culprit.

If you like hot, these are fully recommended. These are definitely hot, but I don't think I'll be getting them again.

French Fry Diary 479: Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread Potato Chips

Finally! The other night after a month long search, with friends and family, as well as you fine folks, looking, The Bride finally found a bag of Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread Potato Chips at an out of the way Wawa. A small bag, mind you, waaay on the bottom shelf, behind a bag of Sriracha chips, almost as if someone had hidden it to save for themselves later. Now, it's mine, all mine... bwahahaha!

I opened the bag with much anticipation, it did not have much of an aroma. The chips were standard thin Lay's and the almost three ounce bag held a sizable portion. Like the Chicken & Waffles chips these have a slow build toward their full taste. Cheesy Garlic Bread is solidly and accurately what they taste like, really good, and strong, cheesy garlic bread.

I was reminded of Texas Toast Four Cheese Garlic Bread, and sure enough, taking a peek at the ingredients, there are several different types of cheese at work here - cheddar, Parmesan, Swiss, Monterey Jack, and Gouda. The Bride thought there was too much of a 'fake' cheese taste to them, like other cheese potato chips. She also wanted more garlic.

These were very good, maybe not as good as I might have anticipated. Granted, there's been a big build up, and not being able to find them, made them even more of a Holy Grail of potato chips. I would definitely get them again.

I'm a bit conflicted as to which flavor I should vote for. The Sriracha is out of the running. The other two are very close... I think the Chicken & Waffles are a bit flavor heavy and sweet, perhaps too much so for repeat eatings. I'm voting for Cheesy Garlic Bread. Which one are you voting for?

Vote here.

French Fry Diary 477: More Pringles Holiday Flavors

We have talked about the Cinnamon & Sugar Potato Crisps from Pringles before. Basically they were just regular Pringles chips with a dusting of cinnamon sugar. I kinda expected the Pumpkin Pie Spice chips to be a similar gig.

As usual, in the cases of strange chip flavors, I made The Bride try one first. Her reaction was "Meh." It was just a chip with pumpkin pie spice dusted onto it. The aroma from the can was spot on, much like a scented candle, but after trying one myself, she had it right. They smell great, but I didn't care all that much for these, and as catastrophically picky an eater as I am, I like pumpkin pie.

The final flavor in the holiday trio that my big sister Bobbie got for me is rather specific - White Chocolate Peppermint. These didn't smell so great. Again, The Bride played guinea pig. Her assessment was that these were two tastes that didn't belong together, and related the experience to taking a bite of chocolate mint, then a Pringles crisp, then repeat.

I felt there were more in line with a bubble gum or buttered popcorn Jelly Belly, or faux beef made from tofu, or more appropriately, Lay's Chicken & Waffles Potato Chips - the flavors and textures just do not go well together. It feels wrong. That said however, I found the White Chocolate Peppermint much tastier and preferable to the Pumpkin Pie Spice.

Maybe Pringles will bring these out again next holiday season, or perhaps some new concoctions. Thanks, Bobbie, for getting these for me!

French Fry Diary 468: And So It's Come to This...

In the last couple months, The Bride got me a bag of rare potato chips from Anchor Food Finds, my big sister Bobbie found some holiday themed flavors of Pringles, my friend Marni bought me some snacks from Amish Farmers Markets, and I myself have been trying to obtain the three Save Your Fave potato chip flavors from Lay's. That's a lot of odd chips.

The Bride called tonight on her way home, and said she was stopping at Wawa. Did I want anything?

I told her I wanted potato chips, just a regular bag of regular potato chips. We both had a pretty good long laugh.

And so, it's come to this... I've got potato chip fatigue…

French Fry Diary 463: Ole Salty's Regular Salt

Next up from the Bag o' Chips, that The Bride got me for Christmas this year, a selection of rare potato chips from Anchor's Food Finds, we have the scariest bag of the bunch - Ole Salty's Regular Salt.

This is a silver bag of chips with just a label, almost as if it was astronaut food. Not even an expiration date. Folks, it does not even say 'potato chips' on the bag. The ingredients however assure me whatever it is, it's made of potatoes, soybean oil, and salt.

Ole Salty's of Rockford Illinois is a mail order only company, and this scary plain silver bag had no expiration date. Ole Salty also sells popcorn, dips, among other things, and also chips of lesser and more salt added. The packaging appears the same for that stuff. I guess it's a thing. Foil does keep sunlight out, which is not so good for chips in long exposures.

Only one thing to do. Open the bag. Not the easiest job in the world. So difficult, they could sell these things at Trader Joe's. Once open, this extra large snack-size bag yielded, as noted, a 1.25 ounce serving of chips, filling roughly the bottom third of the bag.

These chips are rather small but very crunchy, perhaps kettle cooked. Their taste is a bit of a cross between Munchos and Lays regular chips, a little greasy. Perhaps the Extra Salt might be better, because these are a little bland. For something called Ole Salty's, these chips needed salt.

Weird Flavors of Lay's Potato Chips

Friend and fellow writer Mieke Zamora-MacKay hipped me to these, twenty-five of Lay's weirdest (at least to us here in the States) flavors of potato chips.

Here's the link right here.

Some of the flavors are intriguing, like Mint, Mango, and Blueberry. Some are pretty much no-brainers like Bacon, Ketchup, Wasabi, and Curry. I know I would love a decent bacon or curry flavored potato chip. While others are just… insane to my tender palate. Squid, seaweed, and salmon? Not for me.

Thanks, Mieke! And don't forget, everyone, check out the blog and Twitter of this terrific writer. She also has a great story in the new anthology Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey. You can order the book here.

French Fry Diary 277: Lay's Stax

Folks that know me personally, know, that for a variety of reasons and health issues, I take a lot of pills. It's not a big deal, and keeps me kicking, that's what counts. The problem is that not all of these pills go down easy, and some have a rather crappy aftertaste, so there are a variety of things I'll eat during taking them and afterward to kill that taste. A good jellied candy will do it, or a couple M&Ms, but sometimes I turn to one or two potato chips. The processed ones like Pringles seem to work best, but they also usually taste like crap as well.

On the recent vacation I picked up the best alternative, Stax from Lay's. Similarly packaged in a plastic can, this potato flake perfect-formed chip has two grand advantages over the Pringles. First they have weight, a little more thicker and substantial, and second, they have flavor. And if they have flavor, you kinda want to eat more. Not necessarily what I wanted in a chip on my vacation, but still a bonus.

My weapon of choice is the Mesquite Barbecue flavor, which have a wonderful smoky vibe to them. And the thickness also makes them a great dipping chip. Stax also come in original, cheddar, salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, and ranch. They have a taste and flavor to get rid of any other bad taste in your mouth, and are a great snack anytime as well. Check 'em out.

Is It a Good Idea to Microwave a Big Bag of Chips?

If you have been on the internet for any length of time you have run into these guys. They put anything and everything in the microwave... so you don't have to. Today's object - a big bag of Lay's Wavy Potato Chips.

Kids, don't try this at home...