Baked! Lay's Canada Ketchup

Saw that sister had brought me Ketchup chips from Canada and was like:    < : D wooohooo.

Saw that sister had brought me Baked Lay's from Canada and was like:    O_o  really?

Here's a bag of Baked Lay's from Canada. I could care less about Baked Lay's. They are a throw away to me.
They taste like sad Pringles.

However, last night at like 3am when I was starving, these started to look yummmm.
The chip is the same as every other Baked Lays chip. It has that texture like it was made out of potato paste and put on a cookie sheet.
The Ketchup flavor was amazing! Sweet, but not too sweet. Tangy. Complimented the potato flavor well. Simple yet intriguing. I liked it.

Its actually is a nice snack... but I just prefer the old school fried chips more. If you like Baked though, I think you'll enjoy these!

Lay's Canada Kettle Cooked Dill Pickle

Thank you Canada!
Heres a bag of Dill Pickle Lay's Kettle Cooked Chips that sister-face brought me back from her trip to Toronto. She is a die hard Pickle lover so I wasn't surprised she picked these up. Me on the other hand... I have no position on the status of Pickles. So I figured I would pop this bag open and share with her one lazy day. The bag smelled nice and potato-y with a kick of pickle-y vinegar aroma. I dove into the bag, not sure of what to expect... No.1: Crunch. Excellent, thick cut, kettle cooked, crunchiness. What Lay's has managed to do with their Kettle Cooked line is so perfect. It is never rock hard, snap a tooth, crunch. It is just the marriage between thick flavorful chip and exciting texture. I really adore this line, both at home and now abroad. No.2: Potato-ness. The Kettle Cooked line always delivers a better potato product. The thick cut chip and the smaller batch cooking gives the chip a much more authentic potato flavor. This is what you are paying for; fried potato... not fried air soaked in seasoning. No.3: Pickle-Power. The pickle flavor is so nice on these chips! It is like you pulled the pickle slice out of the jar and put it on top of the chip. It is authentic, familiar, and delicious. Just realistic pickled flavored chips. I couldn't taste the dill separately, but I only eat Dill Pickles, so I think I just perceived the taste as the only pickle I'm familiar with. You can see the Dill on the chips though, which makes them look really yummy. I think I loved these because they are in the same family as the Vinegar chips (my favorite). These are acidic and you get the nice sour Pickle brine taste... matched with savory potato and salt. I think these are just an excellent bag of chips. If you like Pickles, Sour, Vinegar, etc. You will adore this bag. Enjoy!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Arabia Forno and Lay's Cyprus Στό Φούρνο

Here's a little update on some new international lines. Lay's Arabia is currently promoting their new Lay's Forno line, which is their baked chips. Looks like they are starting off with 2 flavors, Authentic Cheese and Black Pepper. These started showing up online last month but they just started their big push on Facebook recently and are finally sharing commercials for it... if you like Baked Lay's check it out.

 

Also showing off their Baked line right now is Lay's Cyprus. Their Στό Φούρνο or "In The Oven" line consists of Barbecue, Mediterranean Herbs, Salted, and Oregano (Ive also seen Paprika but its not listed on their FB). I know the Salted and Med Herbs are older in the line, so my guess is they are expanding the collection right now. If you like Baked chips, Oregano sounds delish!

Lay's Romania Autumn Contest

Lay's Romania is sending 2 Boxes of their new Autumn flavors to the winner who guesses the 2 new flavors via their Facebook contest. The contest closed yesterday, but I think we can take a fair guess at what Romania will be launching soon. Looks to me like Creamy Forrest Mushroom and Garlic Pork Tenderloin. Maybe? We should know in a few days.

Contest: Lay's USA Do Us A Flavor 2013

Lay's Do Us A Flavor has finally closed for submissions. Now it's on to the judging phase! Here is the exciting news... we WILL be getting 3 new flavors on store shelves February 12, 2013!! Looks like USA is following my favorite contest format; where 3 flavors are made for sale and 1 is voted for by the people to join the Lay's permanent family! I love this format because chip fans get to try 3 new flavors, even if they don't last, you can still be a hoarder before they disappear for good. And of course, we get 1 new flavor which is always a good thing.
If you want to be informed of the 3 finalists next year, head over to the Lay's facebook page and sign up for the email notification... it includes a $1.00 off coupon (nothing I like more than chips than a coupon!).
The contest had some interesting flavor submissions, can't wait to see what they choose.

PS PICK ME!!

Gotta Get At This: Margarita Onduladas Mayonesa

Um, is this real life?? Is this a bag of MAYONNAISE flavored chips?? Hells yes....
Here's a bag of Margarita chips from Colombia, part of their Onduladas line... aka Ruffles. This bag is brand new and out now. They are kind of relaunching the line as a line for dip flavored chips; the collection already includes Tomato, Cream and Herb, and the now retired Carbonara Sauce. So, a mayonnaise flavored chip fits in quite nicely. I'm excited to try these, and I might actually get the chance this weekend, so fingers crossed. I think the idea of a Mayo chip is awesome, can't wait to see how these turn out.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's France Sélections

New collection of chips out of France right now... These 3 flavors make up the Lay's Sélection collection. The range consists of Sea Salt, Cheddar and Red Onion, and Cream and Fine Herbs. I'm not quite sure if these are Kettle Cooked, but they are similar. The bag reads "Extra Crispy" and the website describes them as thicker potato cuts, cooked in a special process. I wasn't sure if this special process is Kettle cooking, because of the style of the chips on the front of the bag. So anywayyyyys. These are the new chips out of France. If you try em, let us know how they taste!

Lay's Arabia Chili

BLURGH.
I just ate this bag... nay, a single chip from this bag. It's pretty fowl. I had a friend over who reads my blog (Hi Malyssa!) and we dared to try this flavor. Thought the worst part would be the spice... boy, were we wrong. You open the bag and the smell is indescribable. Maybe like milk left out over night in an old leather bag. It was just BAD. We couldnt figure the smell out, but presumed it wouldnt impact the taste. How this bag could take on a taste so foul, I will never know. It tasted like the smell. Whatever that was. Followed by a tiny, itty bitty, bite of spice. Then... the creepy unknown flavor amplifies... and it sits in your mouth... for what feels like forever. The chip is very similar to the US Lays in texture; its quite flaky and thin. But you can't focus on the chip with a flavor so disturbing.

Do not ever, ever, eat this bag of chips. Do you understand?

This has been a Public Service Announcement, brought to you by your friends at The Chip Report.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Chile Mediterraneas Sabor Pebre

Here's a new flavor out of Chile that looks yummmm. It's part of Chile's Mediterraneas line. My understanding of Spanish translates that to Mediterranean. However I'm not sure that the flavors in this collection are what I would necessarily think of when composing a Mediterranean collection. They've got Serrano Ham, Oregano, Tomato Basil, and now this new flavor Pebre.
Pebre is a salsa like sauce from Chile; Wikipedia describes it as "a condiment made of (cilantro), chopped onion, olive oil, garlic and ground or pureed spicy aji (peruvian) peppers." They also note it goes great on barbecued meats.
Considering the sauce is typical of Chilean cuisine, and Lay's was just promoting it as the must have snack on September 18th (Chilean Independence day) I really don't understand how it fits into the Mediterranean line. But the collection seems to be quite popular there, so I don't think it really matters. 
What matters is that if you are visiting Chile anytime soon, and you love new flavors, check this one out :)

Walkers UK Smoky Bacon

Mmm. Bacon.
Bacon is by far one of my favorite flavors of chips. This bag is serious happiness. You pop it open and it smells like rich, fatty, luscious BACON! The taste is really pork-y. Having tasted Bacon in England, I know that their bacon retains a more authentic pork taste... this bag emulates that earthy, pork belly, style bacon. The label could be almost be swapped to smoked ham and you wouldn't know the difference. The potatoes are perfection. Walkers always makes the best chips. I've given up trying to find another chip as delicious as a Walkers brand chip. It tastes of hearty potato flavor. It stands up to the strong bacon flavor. They just go together like two pieces of a puzzle.
If you like Bacon you've got to track this down. Try a local British grocer or Amazon. I highly recommend it!