Trail of Potato Chips Helps Nab Thief

My buddy Ray hipped me to this one from the Huffington Post, recently and inexplicably a cornucopia of potato-related news here on French Fry Diary.

The suspect robbed a Subway of several salty snacks and inadvertently left a trail for police with them. The full story can be found here.

Thanks, Ray!

French Fry Diary 336: Publix

We have a special treat for folks this week. While I'm busy running the Virtual Book Tour for THE HUNGRY HEART STORIES by my friend author Fran Metzman, another good friend of mine, Terry Willitts will be guest blogging here at French Fry Diary this week.

Today, it's Publix, a place I've actually gotten recommendations for, but alas there are none nearby, but Terry's got it covered...

PUBLIX CHICKEN AND ONION RINGS

Publix is a supermarket chain in the Southeast US, and they are noteworthy for their deli and bakery departments. (They also have great produce, decent prices, and great sales, especially their BOGO promotions.) Their deli makes some of the best subs - if you have one, you'll laugh at the idea of going to a Subway.

Recently, I had stopped in for some fried chicken (I prefer theirs to Popeyes or KFC) and saw they had fresh onion rings; I don't know if this is a new item, a seasonal one, or been there a while and I just haven't noticed (not entirely impossible.) I got a half pound of them with my chicken.

They were HUGE. I don't know about you, but I believe size does matter, especially when it comes to onion rings. The batter was light and crispy - not too crunchy but not soft or chewy. The onion was warm and taut and flavourful. These are the best onion rings I've had in years and highly recommend them, especially with an order of chicken, or perhaps a Publix sub. And stop by the bakery for a cake, pastry or other dessert.

Thanks, Terry! If you'd like more of Terry online, check out his regular blog here, his daily year long journey through "Doctor Who" from the very beginning here, and his eBay page here.

French Fry Diary 31: Earl of Sandwich, Downtown Disney

Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney doesn’t have French fries, but gosh darn it they should. It’s an upper class Subway type place that specializes in, duh, sandwiches.

As I said, no fries, but they do have potato chips and it should be noted that chips are merely an extra slice away from being fries. It’s almost the same animal.

At Earl of Sandwich, they have Miss Vickie’s chips, a French crunchy kettle chip that appears to be all fancy-schmancy due to the French thing. The flavor I sampled, one I might add isn’t made any longer, was "Mesquite B-B-Q/B-B-Q Champetre." They were very crunchy, spicy and tasty – and must be consumed with a beverage, preferably milk.

Closer inspection does lead to a disappointment however. Hidden on the back with the bilingual (French and English) ingredients and back story is the wicked truth that Miss Vickie is actually a subsidiary of Frito Lay. It doesn’t change the taste but it does mess with the whole French fantasy thing...

*reviewed from my 2005 trip to Walt Disney World.