Tales of the Salty Bag

I once had haggis chips gifted to me by my buddy Ricky. They were thick cut potato crisps. Stay hydrated, Marc PS.. The haggis chips were of the Mackie's of Scotland brand. Well, here we are with another bag of Mackie's, this time however they're a more standard flavour, sea salt & vinegar flavour to be exact; naturally grown & gently cooked. The bag, well the bag is quite fetching. The chip description is primarily on what I'd call a natural paper (you know that brown cardboardish looking paper) texture with brilliant blue text and a background that matches the text colour. There's vine graphics surrounding the 'label' on the front. All in all packaging is top notch. When I opened this work of art I saw thick looking chips (upon reading the back of the bag afterwards it appears that my visual assessment was exactly as Mackie's intended their product to be [I had forgotten that Mackie's were all thick cut crisps]). Anyway, I popped on

I've been listening to my record collection alphabetically for a while. This past week I came to the R's. On the weekend I threw on The Rezillos, earlier this week Ridgemont then yesterday it was time for The Riot Before. Since I have my records organized alphabetically for band then chronologically once I'm into a band, the first Riot Before album that I threw on was Fists Buried in Pockets . You know what's the best thing about Fists Buried in Pockets? Everything. When one's music collection is expanding at a rapid enough pace it's easy to forget about or overlook albums..(no matter how enjoyable said album/band is)..which takes me back to The Riot Before's Fists Buried in Pockets. The Riot Before play mid to uptempo punk rock. There's a folk influence, not so much as a guy sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar kind of way, moreso in the poetic socially concious lyrics kind of way (that being said there is harmonica and some less instrumentally de

Lets talk about Old Dutch Cheddar and Sour Cream chips. They kind of smell like farts. The chips are your standard flat lightweight potato chip (standard Lays and Old Dutch are pretty much the same for weight comparison). When the chip hops into your mouth you're all, "hey somewhat creamy texture with slight faux cheddar taste, how ya doin?" C&SC politely replies, "Oh, you know, been hanging out with my buddy, Sour Cream and Onion Jr." Then you're all like, "Oh, that's odd because you taste like sour cream and onion's less offensive cousin" "Yeah, that's me. SC&O is actually my Dad's cousin. It's just easier to say buddy than second cousin" "Cool. Since your on the light side of the flavour spectrum do you mind if I take you for a swim in homemade sour cream and onion soup dip?" "Yeah budday! Just make sure you grab a good half dozen of me so that you have the strength to sweep through wi

I enjoy collecting. That's a statement that won't surprise many people that know me. I like to hold something in my hands, something physical that can't get lost in a sub-folder or hard drive crash, something that I can feel..or taste. For almost all of my collections however I maintain one primary rule, my collections have to involve direct consumption (that and I have no intentions of ever flipping anything at an inflated price). I make a conscious effort to regularly put needle to all of the physical records that I own (well almost all, there's some clunkers that I've picked up in batches at garage sales or had given to me en masse that I'm slowly sifting my way through [I do intend on giving each one of them at least one spin]), not just their digital counterparts. Any crevice in my car that is large enough to house a cd/cd's does in fact almost always house compact discs (in their cases [not a cd binder, I'm not an animal {I'm wise enough to re

Not the most brutally aggressive, but there's some serious bite to em that keeps you more than intrigued..anyway... This past spring..summer, I don't remember when exactly. Last winter? Yeah, either way, Doritos came out with Doritos Inferno. Being that the bag looked eerily similar to Roulette it was a safe assumption that Inferno would just be the hot chips from Roulette, right? Well let me tell you, Doritos Inferno are their own beast and gee golly was that a fantastic surprise. There's almost an initial sweetness which segues into a chili pepper hot (but not a brutal hot) and finally ends with a chili powder flavour. I haven't seen a bag of these at the store in a minute so I'm guessing they're out of season (fingers crossed). I'm not sure if Doritos is going to be rotating them in and out seasonally or if they're gone 'forever'. Either way, if you see a bag; grab em up, they're a nice hot but not brutal chip. Here's to hoping for t

I was recently at Into the Music in Winnipeg par-oozing the punk/hardcore section (a mix of new and used) and I found an interesting looking LP. The cover looked like a christian rock album from the 70's, the band "Christ On A Crutch" and album title "Shit Edge and Other Songs For The Young and Sentimental". Upon closer inspection this turned out to be a double LP with the second album being " Spread Your Filth The Doughnut and Bourbon Years ". Since I had never heard of Christ on a Crutch before, I figured it would be a good time to introduce myself to this (assumed) punk? band..after all it was only $12 (score!?). This past weekend the daughter and I were having lunch so I figured I'd throw on some music, and heck, why not make it music that neither of us had ever heard (at least I'm pretty sure she hadn't listened to Christ on a Crutch before..but who knows..right?). I had no real expectations for this album (I avoided researching anythi

This past weekend I was at Superstore grabbing some groceries and I noticed that Planters Wasabi & Soy Sauce flavoured almonds were on sale. A while ago I had Blue Diamonds version of Wasabi & Soy Sauce almonds and quite enjoyed them so I figured I'd give Planters a throw..and well, they were like 33% off so why not. When I got them home, peeled off the lid, broke the seal and took a look I saw exactly what I expected, almonds complete with their skins and a white powder coating on them (I didn't initially take a whiff, but after consuming a few handfuls I dipped my nose into the container..it smelt like salted almonds..now back to the tale). I tossed a few in my mouth and was, well, disappointed. Yeah, there was a smidgen of wasabi bite to them (nowhere near what I was expecting) and (according to my tastebuds) no soy sauce flavour (after all was said and done maybe 5% or less had some trace of what could be considered a soy sauce flavour). I thought, 'maybe those

About a month ago I tweeted at Covered Bridge "any plans for an all dressed release?"..I never heard back. That's cool...This past June I was driving on my way to Vancouver for a wedding and I stopped to get gas. When I entered the gas station I saw that they had a Covered Bridge standee. When I approached the standee I got pretty excited. They had two flavours that I had yet to consume; Sour Cream & Onion and Limited Batch Loaded Hot Dog. It wasn't the flavours as much as them being Covered Bridge that made me excited. Sure, hot dog/hamburger flavoured chips usually taste like hot garbage or something similar..but Covered Bridge yo! Finally about a week ago I cracked the Loaded Hot Dog bag. When I peeled the bag open I was greeted with the pleasant scent of standard covered bridge chips (sort of well cooked potato) and then a hint of all dressed smell wafted out. *Crunch* Is that a hint of yellow mustard?..wait ketchup?..wait! dill relish?!! There were flavours

A (month?) ago I was listening to the Anxious and Angry podcast (great pod [from Ryan Young {off with their heads}] if you don't already listen) and he played Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain. Up to that point for some reason (I guess due to the Chain in their name) I had associated Jesus and Mary Chain with Alice in Chains..you know, meh rock (grunge). Suffice to say when I heard Just like Honey I was pleasantly surprised, it was beautifully mellow uk 80's pop rock. So I got to the Googles and found a stream of the full album that Just like Honey was on, Psychocandy . All around a great album of hypnotic rock that splits it's time between distorted guitar (with the gain at 10) that at times can be quite abrasive and clean mellow reverbed out guitar. Both of which go perfectly with the somewhat monotone (reverby) vocals. I'm pretty happy that Ryan introduced me to a band that would have (most likely) went unnoticed by me FOREVER. (I picked up their 21 Singl

This past winter homie and his (then) fiance took a little trip to India/(and Southeast Asia?). I believe they went there to pick me up a bag of Lays India's Magic Masala chips, but they also did other non chip related activities. Since they don't live near me it took a minute to get the bag into my possession..but finally last month I got em in my grubby little hands. I was actually pretty excited to try 'em, I dig me some East Indian food. Tonight as I tore open the bag and a breeze of formerly trapped air escaped to tantalize my nostrils I was greeted with a somewhat familiar scent...these chips smell very similar to Mexican Chili which honestly didn't raise my level of excitement. Since scent is just the tip of the iceberg I paid little attention and tossed one of these little thangs in my mouth. The chip is very much like a (slightly more dense) Ruffles (small ridges on a medium weight chip). The flavouring, which is fairly well distributed throughout the chips, i

It's not hard to make an acceptable plain salted potato chip. From my experiences, chip salt is chip salt. They might say sea salt, they might say lightly salted..original, etc. at the end of the day they're just an inoffensive salted snack. For that reason it's rare for me to write about them very often on here. That said, this past week I cracked open a bag of Covered Bridge Sea Salt kettle cooked potato chips. When I took a whiff they smelt like salted potato chips. I tossed one in my mouth and initially they tasted to be on the lighter salted side of plain salted chips. As with all covered bridge chips, the crunch is a fantastic kettle cooked (not too crunchy, not too weak) and the chips are on the dry side of the kettle cooked grease spectrum. Covered Bridge always brings their A game and the sea salt chips aren't an exception with just the right percentage being well cooked brown chips and enough skin to add some real flavour to the chips. Now comes the real test

Sour Cream & Onion isn't the most exciting chip flavour. In my opinion it's a flavour that often gets overlooked due to it's lack of flash, bang, POW! SC&O is an inoffensive flavour..which makes my next statement all the more surprising. A month ago I was on a road trip and I stumbled upon a bag of Sour Cream & Onion in a gas station, I grabbed them and have been pretty excited to pull open the bag since. The reason for this excitement..they're Covered Bridge. When I cracked the bag tonight and took a whiff, well..there isn't much to be said, SC&O is not the most fragrant flavour. The chips look like standard Covered Bridge, some skins and just the right ratio of perfectly browned chip to potato yellow. I tossed one in my mouth and was met with an evenly flavoured somewhat thick creamy SC&O seasoning. Every once in a while the actual potato chip shines through with some skin or browned potato flavour which just adds to the the SC&O flavour ra

I've been looking forward to? this post for a while..I think? Pringles, I believe they once went by a slogan of "Once you pop you can't stop". I have never agreed with that slogan, for as long as I can remember they've been the mountain dew to my crab juice. Whenever I see someone with a can of Pringles I seriously question their sanity. All that aside, I haven't crunched on a tube in I'm guessing 10+ years and maybe my tastes have changed. I figured that in order for me to make a serious post regarding \em I had to get me some tubes and crunch away. You know, have a fresh take on these formed and tubed "potato chips". There have certainly been Pringles flavours that have intrigued me so I snatched up a handful of tubes when they went on sale; Spicy Guacamole (actually pretty good flavour wise), Jalapeno (meh, not enough Jalap too much Pringle "chip" flavour), Pizza (kind of tastes like 3 cheese pizza pops, weird tasting faux "ch

On a recent trip I picked up some records and some salty snacks. Of these records and snacks I picked up two based on packaging. Tasty Nuts (Haldiram's Nagpur, Taste of Tradition, Indian Snacks, Tasty Nuts, Spicy Peanuts, "Spiced coated fried peanuts" to be exact). I saw these gems in the store and thought, "Who doesn't want some tasty nuts?". They come in a maroon bag with a picture of the nuts taking up half of the space while lettering and the Haldiram's logo taking up the rest. When it was time to get to snacking I poured some nuts into my hand to view some peanuts that have a light yellow almost flaky coating sprinkled with a red seasoning powder. I popped them into my mouth and was delightfully met with peanuts covered in a light (almost flakey?) crunchy coating. The seasoning on the nuts is fairly spicy. Something like a hot chili powder with a hint of mesquite? and possibly a hint of lime? [I'm not great with labeling spice but these nuts a

When I was a kid there only seemed to be 2 kettle cooked chip brands;. Dutch Crunch and Miss Vickie's. Miss Vickie's always seemed expensive and were a treat, for the longest time MV's Sea Salt & Vinegar were my jam (they're still pretty good). Then I either started looking around..or the market flooded and there were Kettle Cooked chips everywhere. Either way, Miss Vickie's eh? A while back I cracked a bag of MV's Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Onion. When I took a whiff there wasn't really anything to write home about. The chips are Standard Miss Vickie's, nice kettle cooked chip weight and crunch without being overly greasy. When chip met maw my taste-buds were initially treated with some tangy vinegar flavour (it's present but not aggressive)..soon the vinegar tang becomes sweet letting it's balsamic roots shine through. Initially it wasn't until after swallowing that the onion became present with the aftertaste being similar to sour cr

The annual Lays "Do Us a Flavour" contest has a similar plus/minus as the weather man so when I saw that one of only four Canadian flavour contestants last summer was Wavy Lays Cowboy BBQ Beans it should go without saying that I was less than enthused. My inner monologue when I saw them, "Yay, an unrecognizable salty flavour that will taste like faux bacon and nothing, all at the same time. YOU GO LAYS!!". Why did I even pick up a bag you might ask? Well, addiction doesn't discriminate. Being that I had pretty low expectations it took me a while to get around to opening them. A couple weeks ago it was finally go time. *Snatch* *Tear* *Sniff*..well, they smelt like a can of brown beans. Into the mouth with ye, and I was met with what I had assumed, smokey "bacon" chips..there was however a hint of sweetness. Did my taste-buds deceive me, were these chips better than I thought they'd be? Yes. Were they good? Meh. Salty slightly faux smoke flavour. Af

This past March my in laws went on a lil' vacation. When they returned to the homeland I was presented with a bag of Hawaiian Values Surf's Up Big Waves for Dipping Potato Chips (plain). These fellas come in a big 283g bag that's graphics fit the brand name perfectly; a surf board, some waves, a nice blue sky and a sun peaking out from behind the Hawaiian Values text. The packaging alone gets a big smile and thumbs up. Crack the bag open, pull out your loupe for full on inspecting and you will find a chip that falls somewhere between a Ruffles chip and a Wavy Lays. About 3/4 Ruffles and 1/4 Wavy Lays I'd say. These chips are average leaning towards lightly salted. Since Surf's Up Big Waves are towards the Ruffles end of the spectrum they're on the more puffy side of crunchy. Not a bad chip, they are, however, a little weak for my dipping needs (I can be an aggressive dipper). Ever since (I want to say January 2013) every time I hear a mention of surfing or rip

For some reason the man wants you to believe that dip should be primarily consumed on top of a fairly plain conduit (be it a chip, cracker..knife, spoon..finger). I'm not sure who trend setter zero is in this instance, but that person should have been slapped. I'm not saying dip's not enjoyable with plain (salted) chips/crackers/what have you, but if you stop there you're going to miss out on a whole world of flavour. I've previously mentioned ketchup chips into dill pickle dip , but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Most people can enjoy an artist recording/getting up onto stage with just their voice and a guitar. I can also confidently say that people need more than that sometimes..if not most of the time. Throw in some drums, bass, another guitar..some brass or a fiddle, how bout a slide whistle or a back up singer..shit, even a beer tray. Take Red Roses for Me, The Pogues first album, for example. They literally used a beer tray on multiple tracks. Go li

I recently picked up a copy of Adam Ant's Vive Le Rock. I don't believe I've ever heard anything from Adam (and the) Ant(s) but I recognized the name of Adam Ant so I figured why not, it was pretty cheap and I always love 'new' music. On the cover Adam's dressed almost hair metalish holding a semi hollow body..the back everyone's dressed 77ish. I got home and tossed the album on. New wave you say. From my experience, mid 80's (85) new wave is generally pretty..um..yeah. (There's some interesting parts here [rip down has some infectious yodeling?] and there but for the most part) This album's inoffensive mid tempo radio friendly rock, so..yep. I was hoping for something with a little more of an edge..or up tempo..or interesting. That being said, The Cars first 5 albums are absolutely fantastic (I can't say I've ever really given Door to Door or Move Like This a listen [I should get on that]). A couple nights ago I tore into a bag of Cape

Crack open a bag of Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut Dill Pickle Potato Chips and you'll be slapped in the face with that very pleasant smell of Dill Pickle flavour chips. This may lead you to think, "Are these going to be aggressively dill pickley..maybe heavy with the vinegar burn?". Well, saddle up partner because as soon as you throw one of these crunchy ridged thingers in your mouth..you get an average level of run of the mill dill pickle flavour. The first whiff may be a little misleading, but they're a completely adequate dill pickle chip. As a Kettle Brand chip, you better make sure you have socks on because they're on the greasier side of the chip spectrum. Word to the wise, if you're gonna step into these you may want to have some dip handy, not because the flavour needs to be covered up but because gee golly these are some sturdy chips. You won't find the crunch to be a turn off but I'm pretty sure one could eat a brick of cream cheese with these an

Limited edition..whether it's motivated financially or strictly due to marketing, limited edition can be a real bitch for one that enjoys collecting. When you're at the top of the food chain (purchaser zero) it's not such a bad thing to want the limited pressing of a record, however if you miss the boat and find yourself in need (want) of a limited pressing, bummer. There are far too many greasy turds out there that will snatch up a record and flip it on ebay/discogs/what have you. These people bum me out..that and record store day pressings. Record store day can (for the most part) eat a dick. Big labels with big name bands releasing limited pressings not because they have to but because they can, ugh. Anyway, I'm not really here to talk about limited edition/pressings. I'm here to talk about pressings that are limited...then repressed because why not. I specifically have the Slayer Vinyl Conflict box set in mind. When this box set was released in 2010, at the time

Every once in a while the "Lays do us a flavour/flavor" gimmick produces a tasty chip flavour..but in general they usually produce bland if not offensive, fit for the garbage can, duds. When I read both the Canadian and American entries for 2015 I was, well, disappointed. It read like a rundown of taint influenced salty snacks. There were some (somewhat long shot) potentially tasty flavours (mostly to the south of the 49th parallel). I only managed to procure 1 American flavour for 2015..I've had New York Reuben and Montreal Smoked Meat collecting dust in the salty cellar for a minute. I assumed that they'd taste almost exactly the same (salty faux meat) and didn't anticipate a recommendation to come out of the review (it should be noted that I entered Reuben on Kettle Cooked into the Canadian contest). My sister in law thoughtfully picked me up a bag of New york Reuben when she was in Vegas this past summer. I was interested in trying these chips, however the m

Have chip bags always had "Best Before..Fresh Until..blah blah blah" dates? Maybe I just didn't pay attention when I was younger but I want to say that these dates were an invention of the mid to late 90's. I could try to research their origin but what's the use? When I see an interesting bag of chips that I've never consumed I'll snatch 'em right up knowing very well that I may not get around to going to crunch town on them for months. And I don't just mean a month or two, I mean MONTHS...shit, it may even get to a year. It's partially due to the fact that if it's a rare bag I don't want to not have them any more..and partially because I somehow end up with a lot of bags in the salty cellar and I don't necessarily want to consume a new flavour whenever I have chips, you can't neglect the good ol' flavours (or good new flavours that demand a repeat). What I'm getting at is that these 'Best Before' dates, as far a

In late October 2006 I was living in Calgary and went to see Hatebreed for the first time. Before going I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from the pit. I had assumed that there'd be slamdancers/2 steppers/spin kickers...blah blah blah. When me and my buddy Ryan got to the show and the festivities commenced I noticed that there were 3 basic groups of attendees. The people standing on the outside; nodding and such, maybe dancing a bit..but mostly just soaking in the music, the stage show and the antics going on within the pit. There were the people on the outer edges of the pit; 2 stepping a little maybe throwing in some other dance maneuvers that hardcore kids like but not being (in my opinion) dickholes with the flailing and kicking. Then there were the people in the 'middle' of the pit swinging their arms giving 110%, spin kicking and all around douching hard. At the core of the melee there was a young? man fully dressed in a santa suit who I have to assume spent 4

I've had a bag of Kettle Brand Pepperoncini chips cooling in the salty cellar for a minute. I honestly haven't been in that much of a rush due to the whole Kettle Brand usually being a disappointment thing [even though I find the pepperoncini flavour beyond intriguing]. Finally tonight I figure I'd step into this lime green bag of (hopefully) goodness. When I opened the bag and took a whiff I was met with a smell similar to salt and vinegar. The chips have green flakes on them and don't look dissimilar to sour cream and onion. I popped one in my mouth and hot dang, the initial crunch released a faint salt and vinegar flavour..followed by a heat that is similar to black pepper, however, with a bit more of a kick. The chips have a nice crunch and (for being Kettle Brand) aren't overly greasy [compared to almost any other kettle cooked chip they're still pretty greasy]. The grease however doesn't overpower the "pepperoncini" flavour which is a *thumbs

I'd like to say I'm a music and chip connoisseur..aficionado..halfwit, but that would insinuate some sort of high level of competence; a developed palate..possession of some sort of authoritative expertise. At the end of the day I'm an enthusiast through and through. I've never taken the time to study music. I dabble in the theory and history here and there (dabble may even be an overstatement), but at the end of the day I'm happy liking what I like and making my own uneducated observations. There's tons of music that I'm supposed to like (intellectually and historically) but I just don't. I thought about listing some of those bands here (partially as a troll..and partially because I enjoy shitting on some astonishingly boring highly regarded bands) but I've tried to avoid shitting on any artists at the Salty Bag, mostly because when push comes to shove anyone that's released a legitimate album is leaps and bounds more talented than me (that even

2015, amiright. Below I've listed some stuff that was rad. The stuff on the list isn't necessarily new for 2015, just stuff that I partook in consuming that I think others should as well (even if they have to go out of their way). This listing is in no particular order. Chip/Snack Division : - "Homemade" Queso (Velveeta and Hot Ro*tel [yeah it's not from scratch but it's a nice alternative to Tostitos {pretty much all the other brand pre-mades that I've tried are hot garbage}]) - Homemade Dill Pickle Dip (cream cheese, pickles, pickle juice, garlic or onion powder..then whatever you think'll be good in it [thanks Tara]) - Archer Farms chips (Canadian division. R.I.P.) - Freezeritos (Doritos (Sweet Chili Heat, Ketchup, Dillicious (or whatever they're called now), Roulette, Hab/Guac Collions...I think that pretty much has them covered)  - President's Choice chips in general. Big shout out to the "Loads of" line. (I was i

(Note: if you're here strictly for the chips skip to the final paragraph) Since the inception of television it seems that reality TV shows (centered around 'talent' competitions) have existed. For the last 15(?) years, the focus of these shows seems to be yodeling, you know, hitting as many un-necessary notes as possible to illustrate ones vocal prowess. American Idol, The Voice..whatever current show that broadcasts people vying to have someones hand shoved up their ass so that they can show off their ability to sing words written by others and hit notes that are dictated to them. At the end of the day there are amazingly talented singers that are given the ability to broadcast their skills to a nation, is this good? I don't know, what I do know is that Spraynard 's latest album Mable absolutely blows away any of those puppets trying to shortcut their way to the top. Spraynard's previous album, Funtitled (their 2nd album) was one of my favourite of 2011 so

This is just a rundown of my postings in 2015 including: the blog title, chip and music reference for anyone that doesn't want to read all them: January 2015: Piss Angel - Music: Pig Destroyer      Chip: Blair's Death Rain Jolokia Pepper The Devil's Takin' Names - Chip: Doritos Scream Cheese     Music: (for title) Lawrence Arms Sink or Swim - Music: Bigwig     Chips: Archer Farms Spicy Ketchup and Salt Pepper & Vinegar Nihilism - Music: Rancid     Chip: Kettle Brand Sriracha February 2015: Hell Frezes Up -     Music: Volition     Chips: Old Dutch Rave   (less of a review more of a lament) I Don't Want to go Down to the Basement, Either - Music: The Hextalls - Rock You to Sleep      Chip: Lay's Wavy Milk Chocolate State-Sanctioned Murder - Music: The Capitalist Kids - at a loss      Chip: Hardbite Wild Onion & Yogurt Pieces of You -  Music: Mobina Galore      Chips: Freezeritos (predominantly Doritos Sweet Chili Heat) M