new bag technology

hi there, i wanted to write a post about a new snack food bag technology that really appeals to me -- the "grip n pour" bag.

it is narrower than a typical snack sized bag.

i came across this bag in a tigermart at a NYS Thruway rest stop, and it was from the rocky mountain popcorn company. good thing! because i have really been craving and thus eating a lot of white cheddar popcorn lately. so i quickly picked up a bag of this white cheddar popcorn, even though it was nearly half the weight of the smartfood and the same price.

well, the popcorn was delicious, and sometimes we need to trust the small time flavor scientists and snack experts to get it right. nice light cheddar flavor. i am very curious to try the "southwest" cheddar flavor of these. hopefully i will find them in my travels someday.

but back on the main subject, from a young age, i have always been an advocate of what my sister calls "drinking" the chips bag when it gets to the end, which is what the "grip n pour" bag logo looks like it is advocating. so obviously i was really into that.

where the idea fell short is that it was not convenient for driving. my partner was driving our car, and his man hands were getting stuck in the narrower bag, so i had to pull the bag off his non-steering-wheel-hand. then, he tried to grab n pour and his visibility was nonexistent. i would not suggest that to readers.

anyway, if you are really committed (i don't recommend this because once i did it with berries n cherries welch's fruit snacks and it really was the worst), you can buy a dozen of these 1.5 oz bags on the website -- OPEN ROAD SNACKS . COM

wish they had a variety pack!

3.5/5 - solid flavor, love the concept, unsure of execution, would definitely give it a second try

#PROBLEMATIC

just wanted to report this travesty i saw at wawa today...

tips on chip taxonomy + revealing my biases

well, i sure ate a lot of chips this week with my friend josephine. despite being a bit of a goth, she is really a good sport, about chips and all other subjects. anyway, this week we ate a lot of herr's cheese curls, which brings me to the subject that i have been dreading: i have a preference in crunchy bagged snacks.

photo courtesy of my friends at the nytimes

let's talk about the varieties:

• chips
• potato chip
• seasoning
• plain / salted / classic
• specialty potato
• specialty preparation (this includes "kettle" varieties
• corn chip
• seasoning
• plain corn / salted
• extruded & puffy varieties
• straight up puffy
• corn - think jax or herr's puffed cheese curls
• potato - i don't know what this is but i am sure it is out there
• other flours (dry powdered apple? yes i can review my favorite product made with apple flour some time)
• puffy yet crunchy
• corn - this is where i would put classic cheetos

potato chips:

i have a strong preference for traditional chips, over puffy crisps/snacks. i think my absolute favorite is a potato chip. i really do like classic salted potato chips for an everyday scenario, and my favorite brands are lays's classic and utz salted classic. in flavored or seasoned potato chips, i really liked those cheddar and sour cream ruffles i had a few weeks ago. i keep thinking of them. i also do like a few chips made with specialty potatoes. cape cod potato chips used to have excellent russet potato chips (just salted), and now they have wonderful yukon gold potato chips.

corn chips:

in the corn chip category, i like seasoned and nonseasoned chips equally. if i am just snacking (as opposed to making nachos or utilizing chips for dipping), i really do prefer doritos spicy nacho. the doritos tacos locos were very delicious, so that might be my runner up. if i am going beyond a simple bowl of corn chips, i like using doritos in nachos, but for plain corn chips, i really like bearitos corn chips in blue corn and tostitos corn chips in restaurant style though they have been registering a bit lip-chappy on my salt scale lately. 

extruded snacks:

puffed bagged snacks are not usually my first choice, but if i am eating them i like classic cheetos, which are puffy yet crunchy. the only straight up puffy variety i like is jax, i find that other varieties tend to be digested by salivary amylase a few seconds too soon for me, and i don't really like that. jax seem to have a good crunch factor despite their puffiness. sometimes i get apple sticks from trader joe's and i like those a lot because i love chips but i am getting maybe 1/8 of a serving of an apple.

photo courtesy of my friends at trader joe's