Gotta Get At This: Walkers UK Barmy for a Sarnie Contest

This is other news I missed. Walkers UK appears to have made their Facebook viewable only to UK residents, so I keep getting Walkers news late. I honestly don't even know if you can still get these flavors, but I think the flavors are worth discussing so, I'm sharing the info anyways.

Here are 6 new flavor collaborations between Walkers and Heinz. They flavors are sandwiches featuring a specific Heinz sauce. There is "Bacon & Tomato Ketchup", "Cheese Toastie & Worcester Sauce", "Sausage & Brown Sauce", "Ham & Mustard", "Roast Chicken & Mayonnaise", and "Cheese, Cucumber & Salad Cream". All the sandwiches are pretty typical British fair, and actually make a LOT of sense as chip flavors. Bacon & Ketchup are already pretty standard chip flavors, Cheese & Worcester Sauce as well... but who knows how they taste together, I have never tried HP sauce/ Brown Sauce so I can't say what that tastes like but I know it has been a chip before by a brand called Golden Wonder chips, Ham & Mustard actually sounds the BEST of the batch... I had that flavor combo from Lay's Spain and enjoyed it, Roast Chicken & Mayo IDK but I think I could get behind it, and Lastly the Cheese Cucumber & Salad Cream combo... that is not a flavor made for me, I do not enjoy Salad Cream at all... so that one is for sure my Wildcard. All in all, the collection looks fun, edible, enjoyable, and worth a taste if you get the chance. What do you think about these flavors? Would you give them all a try? Let us know in the comments below!

Gotta Get At This: Smith's Australia Meat Pie & Sauce and Tomato Sauce

 This Summer Smith's in Australia has launched two limited edition flavors "Meat Pie & Sauce" and "Tomato Sauce" aka Ketchup. The 2 flavors are launched in support of the AFL, the Australian Football League. I don't know what that is, but by all accounts it's not American Football, it's not Rugby, and it's not Soccer. Sooo, it's it's own thing. The bags are cute cuz they look like Jerseys. The flavors sound great, "Meat Pie & Sauce" isn't hard to get right, and who doesn't love Ketchup? Both come on Crinkle Cut chips.
They both look yummy.
So, are you gonna be in Australia this Summer? Sounds like the Aussie hunt is on!

Gotta Get At This: More Deep Ridged Chips! Lay's Romania & Hungary MAXX Deep Ridged & Lay's Denmark Deep Ridged

Here are some more newly launched Deep Ridged Lay's from around the world.
Romania recently launched the MAXX line including flavors "Paprika", "Salt", and "Cheddar & Onion". Hungary launched the MAXX line this past February with the flavors "Salsa", "Cheese & Onion", "Kebab", "Bacon", and "Ketchup". And lastly, Denmark has expanded their Deep Ridged collection that began last year with "American BBQ" and "Naturel" to include "Sour Cream & Onion".
I'm not gonna lie, Hungary's collection looks DELICIOUS! Kebab, Salsa, Bacon, and Ketchup.... YUMMM to all of those x1000000. I believe the "Bacon" and "Ketchup" flavors are marked as Limited Edition, so if those sound like must haves to you, I'd suggest you hunt them down quickly.
Have any of you guys tried the Deep Ridged chips in these Countries? How do they stack up to the originals? Tell us in the comments section below.

Contest: Walkers UK Do Us A Flavour 2014 Finalists Announced

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UK, why must you always one-up us?? 6 FINALISTS??? Jeez thats a lot of chips. So JEALOUS!!
"Sizzling Steak Fajita", "Hot Dog with Tomato Ketchup", "Chip Shop Chicken Curry", "Pulled Pork in A Sticky BBQ Sauce", "Ranch Raccoon" (wtFFF?), and "Cheesy Beans on Toast" are the new flavors Chip fans in the UK will have to choose from.

Right off the bat, I want/need 'Hot Dog with Ketchup' and 'Pulled Pork'. I don't know what sticky BBQ sauce taste like, but it sounds HAM-AZING!!
"Cheesy Beans on Toast" sounds like a Brit thing... cuz that shiz sounds horrible to me... and "Ranch Raccoon" is ACTUALLY Raccoon meat flavored... so KILL ME now.
Why?? Why would anyone want a Raccoon flavored chip?? Do people even EAT raccoon?? Rename this bag "Ranch Rabies"... yuck-ah! Sheesh... to think, we all thought "Cappuccino" was a weird flavor.
And then we have 'Fajita' and 'Chicken Curry', both of which sit right in the middle for me. I could take em or leave. Those are flavors I would expect to see in this competition.

Walkers did a good job of covering a lot of bases with the finalist selection... with the exception of a sweet flavor. I think most will find something they like.

Wish me luck finding these y'all! Happy Hunting!

Lay's Canada Grilled Cheese & Ketchup

This was weird ... too weirddd. This is Lay's Canada's "Grilled Cheese & Ketchup", one of 4 Limited Edition offerings from their "Do Us A Flavour" contest. I was fortunate enough to find all 4 on ebay, when my sister couldn't find 3 of the 4 on her trip to Toronto. This one busted open in transit, so it was automatically the first one to get tasted.
Now, among the people I know, Lay's Canada's "Ketchup" flavor is always called out as a favorite, so I had some expectations for this bag. I'm not saying they are bad and I'm not saying they are good, but they are weird! They taste like "Ketchup" chips but then they have this dry creamy/cheesy taste after. Ok, I got it, it's like if you took 2 "Ketchup" chips, and one "Cheddar" chip and you made a 3 chip sandwich out of them... THAT is what these taste like. This is not a bag flavored like a Grilled Cheese sandwich; the picture of the Grilled Cheese sandwich with a smidge of Ketchup is deceptive, because the Ketchup to Cheese Ratio is the opposite.
I can see myself finishing this bag with pleasure, but I think ultimately, the "Ketchup" chip has already been perfected and this does not live up to it. I would much rather pick up the regular bag, then this. And for that reason, I would venture to guess that it won't win. However, if you love "Ketchup" chips, I do recommend you hunt this down, even if to only try it once.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Turkey Spoon Chips and Lay's Chile Salsa Mania

 

Lay's Turkey is spicing things up... their new "Kaşık Cips" or "Chip Spoons" come with a Turkish Baharat spice packet to be mixed in with yogurt to create a spicy yogurt dip... or you can skip the packet and just scoop up some plain yogurt. Very yummy-looking Mediterranean style chips. I gotta check these out.

And Lay's Chile is adding some flavor to their lineup... adding Salsa Mania to bags of "Corte Americano" bags. "Corte Americano" means "American cut" which is hilarious, because I don't think of "Wavy" cut chips when I think of chips in America, I don't think I've even  had a "Wavy" cut chip since I was like 6 years old lol.
I'm not sure if the bag comes packed with just Ketchup or just Mayo or both... I think it comes with both. So, if you are living in Chile, and are looking for something new, check this out. Chile also has their new finalist flavors out too... so there are a ton of yummy chip choices right now. AND, if you are NOT in Chile this is super easy to replicate here at home, so don't feel too bad about it. haha.

Contest: Lay's Canada Do Us A Flavour Finalists 2013 announced!

 

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 The 4 Finalists have been announced in Canada's Do Us A Flavour contest... and our Northern neighbors have not disappointed! These are 4 of the most whack-a-doo flavors I've ever seen... and if I don't get my hands on them, I will cry! hahaha. The 4 epic finalists are; "Creamy Garlic Caesar", which will likely have a creamy taste similar to ranch or cheese flavored crisps, "Grilled Cheese & Ketchup", which sounds similar to the US "Cheesy Garlic Bread" that we recently had win our contest... albeit, with a tangy tomato zing (and Canada knows how to make a Ketchup chip, so I think this one is gonna be AMAZING!), "Maple Moose", which looks to be the "weird" flavor but I think it's gonna be the best by far... point #1, the best Maple syrup in the world comes from Canada, and it is delicious. Point #2, I loved the US "Chicken and Waffles" flavor because of the salty/sweet combo, and I can see that happening in this bag too. The final flavor selected is "Perogy Platter", now, I am not a Perogy aficionado, all I actually know is that they have potato in them...thus, I have to assume these will taste like whatever else goes into a Perogy and will taste pretty authentic.
The voting on these flavors begins online in 4 days on the 30th of July. And a winner will be selected for the grand prize and the bragging rights that will come along with it.

So, have any Canadians tried these yet? What's your favorite? Let us know in the comments below and hashtag which team you're on! Without even tasting these yet, I'm leaning on #TeamMapleMoose !
Happy Hunting!

Lay's Canada Ketchup

You know people love you when they bring you bags of chips when they come visit you in the US, lol. My cousin sweetly brought me these little beauties on her quick trip over from Canada. Lay's Canada produces a pretty good chip and a great range of flavors, but one of the stand out gems is Ketchup flavor. Canada is the only country on our side of the pond to offer Ketchup flavor, so obviously, I get excited when I see it.
The chip itself is yummy, it has a good texture, much better than what is available in the US. It has a moderate potato flavor; it's not overwhelming but not totally devoid of potato taste either. This lends itself well to the Ketchup flavor because a few bites reminded me of fries and ketchup at McDonald's (maybe with a hint of those tiny chopped onions, mmm).
The Ketchup is tangy, sweet, and strong. The flavor is rich, and there is no mistaking that you are eating a Ketchup flavored chip. These are such a fun flavor, and I wish we had them here in the States, but I love knowing it is available in most other countries... and it's kind of fun to chase them down while on vacation. If you haven't ever had Ketchup flavored Lay's before, do yourself a favor. They're awesome!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Peru Salsa Mania

 

Lay's Peru has just started running a new promotion known as "Salsa Mania"! Salsa Mania brings sauce packets like Ketchup and Mayo inside your bag of Classic Salt Lay's.
To make it clearer, check out Exhibit A:

 

Step 1: Open your Lay's

Step 2: Look for your favorite sauce

Step 3: Put sauce on your Lay's

Step 4: Enjoy them how you like!

Each bag of chips contains one surprise sauce packet. The 3 sauces you can stumble across are Mustard, Ketchup, and Hot Sauce.

If this promotion sounds familiar, you may have seen it in some other South American nations. Youtube has some old commercials from some country enjoying Salsa Mania on ridged Lay's. I'm not sure what country it is.... and I would LOVE to know! But this is the first time the promotion has made it's way to Peru.

It sounds interesting. Sound off in the comments below. Does this sound good? Which sauce would you put on your chips?

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!

Tapuchips Israel Kids Ketchup

Here's an interesting bag of potato treasure. My friend Dan just got back from his first trip to Israel and was eager to find a bag of chips to bring back for me to show off on the blog. Israel's version of Lay's are known as Tapuchips. Tapuchips come in regular chips, ruffles, and fries varieties... but they also have another line known as Tapuchips Kids. Tapuchips Kids come in puffs and small discs that have very delicate seasoning and melt in a kid's mouth.
We opened the bag and tried a handful; but the handful disappeared in a second... the air-y potato puffs melted away like cotton candy on my tongue. The seasoning was sweet and tomato-y, just what you would expect of Ketchup flavoring, but very lightly applied for kids. The strange thing was that I recognized the taste and flavoring instantly as a snack I used to eat when I had braces... Gerber Graduates Lil Crunchies in Garden Tomato Flavor. While those are made of puffed corn and grain as opposed to potato; they are practically the US equivalent of these Ketchup potato puffs.
Anyways, it was fun to try these even though they weren't exactly what I would normally review on this blog. Dan and I had a good laugh at his not realizing these were for kids, and chomping on these. I wouldn't recommend them as a snack you should try, these should be left to the kiddies; but if you must have a taste, grab the Gerber ones.


Gerber Graduates Lil Crunchies Garden Tomato

Walkers UK Tomato Ketchup

Full disclosure: Ketchup Chips are not my thing. I've got friends who RAVE about how much they love Ketchup chips but I've never really been a fan (save for some freshly made chips from a lil joint at the Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, mmm). So, here's a bag of Walkers Tomato Ketchup.
We've got a perfectly made 100% British Potato crisp. Full of robust potato flavor, perfectly fried, just enough crispy crunch to satisfy. Seasoning is a reddish color, flavor is bright and sweet, definitely ketchup, evenly applied with a delicate hand. The potato flavor shines through. This reminded me instantly of "In N Out" French Fries with Ketchup. "In N Out" is a US West Coast hamburger chain, known for using fresh potatoes that they slice and fry right before serving. When served up with delish Heinz Ketchup they have a very distinctive taste compared to any ol' fries. (In my fantasy, they would taste like In N Out's Animal Fries... but I digress. ) These chips are just like having the yummy fried potato strings simply dressed in Ketchup. It was crazy coming to the realization mid-chew.

If you love fresh cut fries and ketchup, these were made for you and I think you'll love them. They still haven't got me converted, but I know a well made chip when I taste one, and these are bomb.