Review: Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips & FAVORITE HOLIDAY SONG?

Junk Food Nation, sorry about that. Another one of those days where real life got in the way of…uh…this junk food blog.

FIRSTTODAY’S TURKEY HILL FREE COUPON WINNER:

December’s month of free ice cream started off with a bang yesterday – SO MANY RTs.  You guys are awesome. Today’s random winner is:

@TheJoshCatlett

Congrats, Josh – email me your contact info to Junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com and I’ll get the free coupon in the mail to you!

SECOND: TODAY’S WAY TO WIN A FREE 1.5 QT OF TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM:

As for today’s way to win, we’ll keep it really simple. COMMENT CONTEST! Leave a comment below on this blog post, and I’ll select a random winner from the lot.

THIRD: FAVORITE HOLIDAY SONG?

Nation, now that it’s past Thanksgiving, every city has that one music station whose job it is to play Christmas music and other holiday tunes 24 HOURS A DAY SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA….you know which station I’m talking about. If it isn’t Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, it’s Do You Want to Build a Snowman from Frozen.  My personal favorite is:

ALL I WANT’S A HOOOOO LA HOOOOOP.

So now’s you chance to tell me – favorite Christmas carol?  Holiday song? Let me know in the comments below. Bonus points if you include a link so I can listen too! (Note: bonus points mean nothing for the Turkey Hill contest 😛 )

FINALLY: Today’s junk food: Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips!

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: The Money Shot

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips were spotted back in June, but I’m only seeing them now. For the uninitiated, these Grandma Utz chips are cooked in LARD.  Like, real lard. Holy smokes. And now you’re adding bacon horseradish flavor on TOP of that??? Yumzers.

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: Is this a thing?

Let me ask you a question, Junk Food Nation – is this a thing people do? Have bowls of horseradish sprinkled with bacon bits that you dips potato chips into? If so, I’ve been eating chips all wrong. Should I dip these Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips into even MORE horseradish?

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: 7 cal per chip

Amazingly, based on these numbers, each chip only has seven calories.  That’s not so bad, right? If you’re eating lard? You’d expect them to be at least 10, no?

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: LARD

My buddy Joe told me he had a friend who would take these Handcooked Potato Chips and toast them up in the toaster oven to make the lard fat sizzle and really come out. I mean, that sounds amazing. Why aren’t we ALL doing this?  ESPECIALLY with these bacon horseradish chips – sizzling chips that taste like bacon? WIN WIN.

Sidenote: Lard is the second ingredient on this list, and bacon fat is an ADDITIONAL ingredient lower down. I mean, that seems like overkill, no? Delicious overkill?

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: Crispy

I opened this bag of Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips, and immediately smelled the horseradish.  WOOO.  It smelled good – plus, there was a definite porkiness to the aroma. Each chip was light and crispy.  I needed these in my mouth quickly.

Limited Edition Grandma Utz's Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips

Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips: Bits of something?

I gave the Junk Food Gal some of these Limited Edition Grandma Utz’s Handcooked Bacon Horseradish Potato Chips, and as soon as she chewed once she exclaimed OOOO THESE ARE GOOD. So yeah, that’s the review. These were DAMN GOOD.

First, the underlying handcooked chip is just awesome. Light and crispy, it had an awesome porkiness that I could tell came from the lard itself – the typical potato chip “oiliness” definitely had an essence of meatiness.

But then ON TOP of that porkiness was the distinct flavor of bacon. Salty, meaty, simple – there was a distinct smokiness to the flavor of the chip that was clearly from the bacon fat or “natural flavors.” It complimented the STRONG flavor of horseradish perfectly. The horseradish taste was bold and filled my nostrils. It wasn’t acute, like how wasabi pierces my nasal senses, but the horseradish flavor kept renewing itself on my tongue as I chewed.

Everything was well balanced however – I never lost the taste of the potato chip, the porkiness, the smoke, or the horseradish.  REALLY nice potato chips. Time to pop them in the toaster oven to see how these taste when sizzling…

PURCHASED AT: Giant Grocery, Germantown, MD

COST: $3.00 on sale

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy

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Discuss - 44 Comments

  1. Jessica says:

    OK, I have become the resident scrooge…I’ve really come to hate the 24/7 Christmas music…but picking one “holiday” song it would be Sugarland’s Little Wood Guitar. Not that I ever made a career out of playing guitar (I suck) but it hits home.

    • me too says:

      I will preface this by saying that I do like most Christmas music, BUT working in retail and hearing the same songs over AND over AND over for a month straight can really dampen the holiday spirit.

      What really boggles my mind is that wishing someone Merry Christmas is not “politically correct”, but it’s OK for every store with a sound system to blast Christmas music ad nauseam.

  2. alek says:

    MMM warm chips maybe I should try that. Why didn’t you review these when you toasted them.

  3. Justin Cornwell says:

    Linus and Lucy from the Charlie Brown Christmas special. It’s just a classic.

  4. Sascha says:

    If the horseradish isn’t overpowering, than these are for me. I’m not a fan of horseradish, but a little of it (for example, the dipping sauce for blooming onions) is just fine, and paired with bacon, potatoes and lard seems a good way to go.

    As far as Christmas music, I like most of it, especially the stuff from the 60’s through the 80’s. Wham’s Last Christmas, Band Aid’s Do they know it’s Christmas, and an instrumental version of Sleighride would be among the favorites.

  5. Sue says:

    Love this blog, reading for almost a year now, and I like to think I found some awesome new foods and saved some money on foods I might have purchased then tossed. Don’t love todays junk food because I don’t do pork but I love ice cream (hint hint, wink wink).

  6. Marc P says:

    These chips have all the elements it appears: baconness, crispiness, a little kick, and lard (the next food group after umami)

    The song you have chosen just gave me a headache without even playing it.

    Top choice for me is the ol’ classic Little Drummer Boy.

  7. Liz S. says:

    It’s not a Christmas carol, but it’s definitely a good song for Christmastime. It’s a Frank Sinatra song; but I like the remixed version better than the original song (hopefully Frank isn’t turning over in his grave over this remix, but I think it works):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mynuRWsRTQ

  8. MadSammyboy says:

    Am I the only one disturbed by the idea of Alvin and the Chipmunks having groupies?

  9. Deb M says:

    I’m rather partial to the Snow Miser/Heat Miser song…????

  10. Heather says:

    I’ll pass on the chips because I’m not a big fan of horseradish, but I LOVE Christmas music!!!!! My all-time favorite is “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney. It seems like it’s a love it or hate it kind of song for most people, but I could play it on repeat nonstop!

  11. Jeni says:

    You had me at lard.

    My classic, fun favorite is “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft. (Best. Name. Ever.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFUcLZExzlA

  12. Btyson says:

    One of the few Xmas songs I like are some of the Christmas carols and those chips look great!

  13. Sarah says:

    Ok….I can listen to this CD all year…best Xmas jollies ever!
    http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Jollies-Salsoul-Orchestra/dp/B00006JRXO/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1417548931&sr=1-2&keywords=christmas+jollies

    Lard, I make my pies with it, amazing!….I eat horseradish straight, like the good polish girl that I am! Doesn’t sound like these chips could get any better!

  14. John R. says:

    The Charlie Brown Christmas CD is a must!

  15. Brent says:

    Good call on Alvin and the Chipmunks. Mine is one you probably have never heard.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzjgMXseMvg

  16. MP says:

    Lard is a lot more natural than all the chemicals & preservatives we’ve been eating. Pass on Christmas music.

  17. DK says:

    I always enjoy N Sync’s, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

  18. Cara James says:

    Whole home alone soundtrack.

  19. DeannaR says:

    I’m not much for horseradish, so I don’t think these chips will be on my grocery list.

    As far as Christmas songs, What Child is This has been a favorite for a while now. Especially the Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige duet.

    http://youtu.be/4bH6iYBuFq4

  20. runinboise says:

    You had me at Bacon.

  21. Jes says:

    Those chips sound cool . I beat thought that because of the artifical flavoring in most chips these ones with real ingredients will perish much quicker . I’ve recommended you to a few friends and family . I really need to win some free ice cream maybe try something with a good review on “On Second Scoop” . Cheers , Jes 🙂

  22. Kn says:

    My husband is obsessed with Christmas music-I like most songs.

    What is more important is what songs do you hate?!?

    Mine would be Christmas Shoes (or whatever it’s called). Blech!

  23. Jen says:

    These chips look delish! I bet even more when heated. My favorite Christmas tune is Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby please come home)”. She’s performed that song every Christmas season on Letterman’s show since 1986. This year’ll be her last performance before his retirement.

  24. Trainor Lei says:

    Dear god o’chippy….so good!!! But, really, does anyone care enough to eat chips AND dip them? For me, when I get chips, I eat them because I’m lazy and don’t want anything high maintenance. Whoever can dip and chip, kudos to you.

  25. Jamie says:

    hmmm it looks like a horseradish dip with bacon. I don’t know why I never thought about putting bacon with horseradish dip! sounds yummy!

    I like almost all Christmas music… especially classics… bing Crosby and so forth….rock classics and traditional carols- I went to Christian elementary school… so we had pageant practice every afternoon…which made me happy.. I got out of doing some class work…. 😉

    but I will pick two cd’s my parents had when I was growing up… since everytime I hear any of the songs it reminds me of picking out the christmas tree, (u cut they gave homemade popcorn balls everyyear) decorating the christmas tree…. making holiday (microwave) fudge and my grandma’s nuts and bolts (that’s chex mix oldschool style)
    so my fav cds bc they meant alot to me when I was growing up… I would always get them out on December 1st:
    A very special christmas volume 1 (yah I sang santa baby ala Madonna, on christmas eve like EVERY YEAR starting at what? age 6? haha – hey, after the song we got to open up gifts…

    and the carpenters christmas cd

  26. Sarah says:

    I was in a store before Thanksgiving and they were playing Country Christmas music. Christmas music is one thing, but Country? Oh dear help me!

    Really the only Christmas music I like is the music itself, not the lyrics. But I have a soft spot for the Charlie Brown music!

  27. Liz Clark says:

    There is not really a favorite christmas song mine, though! I don’t mind listening to some trans Siberian Orchestra.

  28. Tanya says:

    Not a fan of horseradish but a interesting read nonetheless.
    My favorite Christmas song is the traditional Jingle Bells.

  29. Jess says:

    Those chips sound fantastic and my favorite holiday song that I use as a lullaby right now, is Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

  30. Barbara says:

    Love your blog! I think my favorite Christmas song would have to be Little Drummer Boy.

  31. Leigh says:

    Lard and bacon fat! I may have to try those chips. My favorite Christmas song is Christmas is the time to say I love you by Billy Squier. Love your blog!

  32. jaime says:

    Love anything by Bing Crosby, especially Silver Bells and Mele Kalikimaka!

  33. Brit says:

    I never met another person who’s favorite Christmas song is by the Chipmunks too…AWESOME!!! 🙂

  34. Anne Sutton says:

    A bizarre but good dip for regular chips is actually the new Reese’s chocolate peanut butter dip. It’s like getting a chocolate dipped chip…sweet, salty, yum.

  35. Anne Sutton says:

    Oh forgot my fave Christmas song….”have a holly jolly Christmas and in case you didn’t hear…” Burl Ives. Loved some Rudolph as a kid…and still do!

  36. Michelle says:

    These look great. I wish I could find them near me, but it is unlikely. Nalley’s used to make a bacon and horseradish dip (found in the refrigerated section near the sour cream) that was really good. Unfortunately, it’s been gone forever (as has, I think, all of their refrigerated dips).

    My favorite Christmas song is probably “Christmas Time Is Here,” particularly as sung by Dianne Reeves. For something more fun, I like “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC, or the Leon Redbone/Dr. John version of “Frosty the Snowman.” However, the entire Charlie Brown Christmas album would be on top for favorite Christmas album.

  37. Radium says:

    I’m going to go with the ‘StarCraft’ version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL-Yvk8nN20

  38. JC says:

    I loved the bacony smokiness of these chips at first bite… and then the horseradish punched me in the face. Wow. You were right that the flavor doesn’t fade, like with most chips, but that’s not necessarily a good thing here. If it was a punch of bacon, cheese, or barbeque, maybe, but the horseradish made my eyes water. I tossed the rest of the bag.

  39. Ann says:

    I have so many favorite Christmas songs! O Holy Night is one of them especially when sung by a high, clear voice.

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