"potato chip" news and stories

Pringles is among the here-since-the-70s foods that persistently redesign/refocus to make themselves either upscale or trendy enough to draw 21-century folks.

While Pringles has taken a shot at the gourmet market with their Pringles Select flavors, they really just want to appeal to the kids. Thus, we have the new Pringles Extreme flavors, the latest attempt to make something cool just by adding the word "extreme" to it. (Just like extreme sports drinks, extreme chewing gum and extreme ice cream.)

There's Blazin' Buffalo Wing, Kickin' Cheddar and Screamin' Dill Pickle. Only taste will tell whether it's got kick.

I am something of a fan of Kettle Chips (a fact that you may have figured out from this post about my family's road trip days and potato chips). I love that small batch, thick cut, darkly cooked taste that they have. It's so different from the rest of the national, mainstream brands that it's hard to even think of them as they same type of snack.

Recently, I got my hands on a bag of the Death Valley Chipotle potato chips, winner of the Kettle Peoples' Choice contest earlier this year. The winning flavor of that contest each year then joins the product line (at least for a while, depending on its popularity) so this is a flavor that is now on store shelves.

My feeling about the Death Valley Chipotle chip is that it's good, but not great. I prefer the Thai Spice over this heat profile (which might be because I'm not a huge fan of smokiness and these are definitely smoky). However, they were still tasty enough that I had a hard time not finishing the bag the first night I opened it. If you like a smoky, spice chip, then you should definitely add this flavor to your cart the next time you see it.

Oh, and one last, cool thing about this chip. The folks at Kettle have partnered with the Death Valley Natural History Association (DVNHA). They are donating $1 to the DVNHA for every Facebook user who downloads a special Death Valley temperature gauge that monitors the desert heat. If you want to grab that application, click here.

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If you're from New England, then Cape Cod Potato Chips are probably a staple in your cupboard (or wherever you may keep your chips). The original kettle chips are quite tasty, but let's talk about the various flavored chips that Cape Cod also sells.

The Sea Salt & Vinegar chips are strong and crunchy, while the Beachside BBQ chips taste a little different than other BBQ chips, as they have molasses and chili pepper. The Jalapeno & Cheddar chips are very strong when you open the bag but taste great. The Cheddar Jack & Sour Cream are so flavorful that you don't need any kind of dip to go along with them (Cape Cod also makes a new Honey Dijon chips and Buttermilk Ranch, but my local store was out of them).

T.G.I. Friday's actually makes a bunch of snack foods that you can buy in supermarkets, including Baked Onion Rings, Quesadilla, and Mozzarella Sticks. But the only one I've ever latched onto are the Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins.

These things can't be that great for you (cheddar, bacon, and salt in a chip form?), but who cares? They're very baked potato-ish and hearty, perfect to have with a sandwich. I usually have plain potato chips with a sandwich (not sure why, maybe I don't want any competition between the flavors of the sandwich and the chip), but I make an exception for these.

These aren't easy to find, at least in my area. I usually have better luck finding them at CVS or Rite-Aid than I do the big supermarkets.

From up north (Canada) come these delicious chips that I didn't even know about until this year: Miss Vickie's! I'm addicted to their Country Onion and 3 Cheese (which, oddly, I can't even find on their site).

Actually, Miss Vickie makes some other great flavors, some rather unique chips you a lot of other companies don't make, including Roasted Red Pepper Grill (which my local supermarket never has for some reason), Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar, Honey & Roasted Garlic, and Lime and Black Pepper. But it's the onion and cheese flavor I'm most drawn to. It's the type of chip that tastes like it has dip on it, and the flavor is very strong (but not that fake taste you often get with potato chips).