French Fry Diary 236: Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Olive Oil Potato Chips

I love Trader Joe's. They have great meats, spices, breads, veggies and fruits, the healthy stuff, and of course those chocolate covered orange jells that you must get every time you go. They are no Whole Foods, but they're good.

Last time I was in there I had a bit of the munchies and grabbed some chips. Being an upscale grocer, they don't have the usual selection of Herr's, Utz or Wise, so you have to get adventurous. I grabbed a bag of Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Olive Oil Potato Chips.

Besides having the prerequisite gourmet long name, these were also a bit on the inexpensive side for the size bag - $1.99 for seven ounces is not bad. Unfortunately, like most gourmet long name chips, they were also almost impossible to open without a scissors. Can somebody tell me what's up with that? Seems to me being able to easily open the bag would be a plus, maybe even a selling point.

Now I'm a big fan of Spanish fries, French fries cooking in olive oil, so I was expecting a similar taste here. It doesn't come through well, which was odd as the ingredients were listed as only potatoes, olive oil and salt. They are still pretty good, if a bit greasy. They are still crispier than usual chips but the ones I got were a bit small for dipping - which they would have been good for.

All in all a good diversion and a nice snack. They are not what I would reach for first, but I wouldn't turn them away.