Isn’t the above picture just the picture of health? Not really. Tuesday night a group of North Iowa Bloggers (and yes—these ladies deserve a capital B) got together at my home for a bit of fun and taste testing. The new flavored Lay’s came out recently and after a quick Facebook conversation I decided to host a tasting party for all who could attend. Of course while I was at it I picked up what other summer items I could find but they did not get top billing like the Lay’s chips. Trust me.
Our scientific study was conducted prior to eating the rest of the yumminess that we had to share with one another. Of course I neglected to document the spread but trust me—it was vast and fabulous. We tasted everything from my beloved and sorely missed ham balls (thanks, Val) to Peanut Butter Cup Oreos and Guiltless Brownies (thanks, Amy) to Zucchini Peach Roll Ups (thanks, Jeni) to yummy cocktail franks (thanks, Katy) to various delightful gluten free treats (thanks, Laura and Donna). Add to those my contributions of a couple of skewered treats and fruit salad and we feasted. Thank goodness there were others who took great snappies of our feast.
Picture provided by Amy Hlld
But on to the tasting–the whole reason we were together on Tuesday night was to taste and review the 4 new flavors of Lay’s Chips. So without further ado—here we go. Comments for each flavor follow the picture.
Donna and Jeni register their dislike!
- Yuck!
- Don’t even like the smell.
- Better than expected!
- Not as bad as I thought!
- I hated these. Tasted like bad coffee creamer.
- Not as overwhelmingly sweet as I thought they would be. Kind of a dessert chip!!!!!
Some great expressions as everyone does the tasting!!!
- Tastes like Bath and Body Works would taste if you could taste it!
- Gross—tastes like perfume
- Fruit and chips don’t mix!
- Too sweet and I agree—did taste like Bath and Body Works.
- Icky flavor.
- I was disappointed. I love mango salsa and thought this would be the perfect combo but it definitely fell short in my book.
- Cheesy!
- My fave of all the submissions
- Great but how could bacon be bad?
- Needs wavy texture! Love bacon though!
- These were okay—tasted like bacon.
- I expected more—they seemed ordinary and I wanted more bacony goodness. We do live in Iowa, after all!
- These placed second place with 2 votes.
Amy picked these as her top choice! #Flat Sara looks on!
- I like wasabi but the addition of ginger ruined it for me.
- My favorite by far! I <3 the ginger.
- Love it.
- My favorite—would buy these!
- I might try wasabi now!
- Best of the 4—love the kettle cooked crunch with a hint of ginger to offset the wasabi.
- I liked the refreshing and different taste.
- First place winner with 5 votes!!!!!!
But what happened after the chip tasting? A LOT of fun! We loaded our plates and sat on the deck on a perfectly wonderful Iowa night and spent a few hours getting to know each other better. Sara, who initially got this group started, was somewhere in a hot tub in Colorado so we made sure she was a part of the festivities all night long as #FlatSara moved from inside to outside, had a place at the table and posed for pictures with all of us.
Jeni Flaa, Laura Cerny, Val Plagge, Katy Flint, Donna Hup, Amy Hild, myself and Flat Sara Broers
And of course—there was a lot of social media interaction going on because after all—that IS what we do.
Val, Donna and Katy doing what they do best—this was not even posed!
It is wonderful to find fellow bloggers and to have the chance to share with each other. Each of us have totally different blogs, do totally different posts but have so much in common. There are a few others who could not make it to this soiree but I am pretty sure there will be more in the future. In the meantime—give each of these ladies a visit. They all have great things going on on each of their blogs and a simple click on the titles below will bring up their blog in a separate window. Click on over and tell them Beth Ann sent you.
Jeni blogs at Jeni Eats
Donna blogs at DonnaHup.com
Val blogs at Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids
Laura blogs at All Things Travel
Katy blogs at Learning As I Go Along
Amy blogs at Modern Rural Living
Sara blogs at All In An Iowa Mom’s Day and Travel With Sara
Joy (who did not make it to this event) blogs at Living Life Joyfully
Debbie (who also could not make it to the event) blogs at Debbie’s Midwestern Kitchen
My top pick! Might have something to do with the last name of the “creator”.
44 Comments
Leave a commentLooks like you all had a great time. Thank you for the research and reviews; will have to look for them at our local grocery store.
They aren’t cheap but they are running specials on them now. I wish they had sample sized bags but that would be too easy, right?
Great post, great event. Thanks for getting us together, Beth Ann.
Absolutely, Laura! It was such a fun night!!!! Thanks for coming!
I picked up the Bacon Mac and Cheese yesterday but haven’t tried yet. The others scared me lol
As well they should scare you! 🙂 Not really. I am sure there will be lovers of all of them since everyone has different tastes. Glad to hear you are taking the plunge to try some!!!! Thanks for stopping by!
[…] Iowa bloggers tried all four varieties of these chips so you don’t have to. See Donna & Beth’s posts for more thoughts on the chip […]
Ironically, I saw sample size bags of the cappuccino chips, only, at Casey’s.
Really???? Well heck—that was the way to go!!! I guess HyVee opted out of that option!
This looks like a fun time was had by all!
We had a blast! There were no lulls in conversation—let’s just say that!!!
Sounds like a super great time. But any time with a group of fun friends is great! I can’t imagine cappuccino chips.
I decided that they were a dessert chip. Who doesn’t want to end a meal with a cup of coffee and a chip? 🙂
This sounds like a fun-loving group of bloggers. And you know how we bloggers love one another. I have been so blessed by meeting you.
And chips. Bonus. My chip-addicted sister would have loved to have been there. I try to avoid chips, but would have indulged in the name of research.
It was indeed for research. And now I have the leftovers on my counter……hmmm…maybe Mr. Diamond will add his comments.
I am sure you had a great time while you were tasting and talking.
We did!!! Thanks!
It sounds like you had a great time tasting and talking.
I am so glad you had such a good time, tasting and talking.
Ahhhhhh you girls have all the fun !!!!!
You are more than welcome to join us even if you have to drive a bit!
Looks like fun! CH is the tater chip lover in our family of two! That spread of FOOD looks awesome and I am sure the company was fine and the laughs were many!
You are right on all accounts. We all had such a great night and #FlatSara did, too. 🙂
Looks like wonderful times and great weather! Not to mention yummy food!!
It was really a fun night. It had threatened rain all day and while we really need the rain I was hoping we could be outside for the fun and it all worked out! Our weather has been so flaky this year and you just don’t know how to plan. But all in all—you are right–the perfect night!
I love this!! I think it’s hilarious that I read my thoughts on my face and that picture makes me giggle. Thank you so much for having me. I had such a great time and I’m so thankful for you all!
Thanks, Donna! I love that we all covered the “event” differently!!! Just goes to show that we all have a different thing to offer our readers! I have loved getting to know you—hope we have many more gatherings!
I thought about submitting “pepperoni pizza” flavored chips, but the submission process was beyond my ambition (as is most everything these days lol).. Betcha it would have been #1 at your party..
I betcha you are right on that!!! How could that not be a winner?
I know..
I might have to try the bacon chips after your reviews I think I will pass on the rest.
Sounds like a riot and I’m totally drooling but not over those chips! lol
That looks like so much fun! I’ve been thinking of planning a local blogger get-together. Maybe soon!
Oh you need to! Post haste.
And here I was worried you chipped a teapot!
Oh gosh—-that would make me sad!!!!!
Loved the reviews. So scientific. So thoughtful, So insightful. So funny :-D. I am a potato chip addict but like little coke’s I am loyal only to Lays Original chips.
The lay out look fab–your girls in Iowa know how to throw a party!
We had a blast—you would have loved this meet up, Katybeth. Although you would have had to have brought your own little cokes! 🙂
I saw the Cappuccino ones in the store and wondered what in the world they were thinking! Thanks for the reviews, so glad Flat Sara got to be there–how fun! Well, maybe not for her.
[…] easy appetizer to jazz up your next soiree? This is just the ticket!!! I served these at our Blogger Chip Tasting Party and they were a hit. I served some in little “shooter” type cups but any way you […]
Looks like a good time was had by all!
[…] spied some oddly flavored Oreos in a store and since we all had so much fun with the Lay’s Chip Tasting not too long ago I offered the challenge to the group that we just include a taste testing of Oreos […]
[…] seems that we love to get together. It does not have to be for a special event like our Lay’s Tasting Party or our Oreo Tasting Party. It can be just getting together for a meal at The Barrel Drive In or […]
[…] It All Started With A Chip – It’s Just Life […]