Song of the day, 17 March 2026

Tallow, tallow, give it to me, give it to me: Teddy's Vinegar Vibe Tallow Chips

When I first saw these chips, I immediately began singing Porcupine Tree's "Shallow" in my head with the song's title replaced by "tallow". Personally, I think Steven Wilson would be proud to have his radio-friendly riff rocker in a mashup with rendered beef fat. 

I found these Teddy's Tallow Chips in the organic/artisanal junk food aisle at Woodman's. Since buying this bag I have discovered a second brand of tallow fried chips laden with salt and vinegar there which makes me wonder if tallow chips are having their micro-moment of trendiness.

The brand has a story not unlike that of Jackson's: Katherine Horvath found that her son Teddy had severe food allergies so he couldn't eat most snack foods. Mom then tested various options and found that her son could eat potato chips friend in tallow without a reaction.

Oddly enough, Teddy's, like Jackson's, hails from suburban Milwaukee - Cedarburg, in this case.

Tallow, in case you were wondering, is rendered beef fat. That is, beef fat cooked slowly so that, upon melting, the fat can be separated from any non-fat bits. 

The bag had "Subtle Tang" on the front so I wasn't expecting a vinegar overload. Still, I looked forward to trying these as I had never had tallow fried chips.

I found them to be of a darker hue of yellow and brown spots were not uncommon. They had been very thinly sliced and looked fragile. I didn't spy many bubbles on the surface of the chips. I read that tallow has a high smoke point and wonder if one fries chips at the same temp in tallow as seed oils. Being thin means less cooking time so perhaps this accounts for the lack of bubbling.

The aroma was beefy with an earthy spud scent beneath.

Crisp and tallowy is how my notes say they tasted. I think they went easy on the salt but the salinity increases the further down the bag you go. The bag did not lie as I found them to have a subtle tang as advertised. The potato flavor was sweeter than the aroma.

It would have been interesting to have tasted Teddy's chips not knowing they were friend in tallow. Would I have picked up on the animal fat? These really do have an earthy, beefy flavor to my tongue. Seed oils give a "cleaner" flavor, one that is sharper, maybe? Less earthy.

These were very tasty chips though I would have preferred more tanginess.

Song of the day, 16 March 2026

A fine name for toilet paper

Bringing balance to the humble potato chip: Humble Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar Potato Chips

So we're back to last fall with this selection.

Humble Chips hails from Ontario, Canada and so I thought it odd to find their products at the Willy Street Co-op which prides itself on local foods and tries to minimize stocking foods that use a lot of fossil fuel to get to their stores. I guess the organic on the label trumped other concerns. Or perhaps Humble has an American potato chipery.

These were, if I recall correctly, my first cider vinegar chips in a while. Not the first to have cider vinegar flavor in the mix but where it's prominent and right there on the front of the bag. It seems a very autumnal flavor though available year-round. 

The color on these chips ran the gamut from yellow to light tan and had some nice browning on the edges. Although thinly sliced, they had rather large diameters. I loved the earthy potato aroma which stood apart from the oily scent. However, my nose detected little to no vinegar.

In addition to being of the fairly rare cider vinegar family, these were also the first non-kettle cooked chips I'd had in a while. And so they were indeed as the label said - light and crispy. While there was no extra salt to be had, the potatoes did have a wonderfully earthy taste which was complemented well by the cider vinegar flavor. The problem was that, although there was plenty of cider vinegar taste, I found them to be rather mild with only a modicum of tanginess.

I suppose this is not surprising as the Humble website describes these chips as a "balanced take on a classic." My disappointment concedes that the Humble folks were honest.

Not as sour as I'd like them, but these chips had a very good flavor.

Faith, hope and spuds: Ole Salty's Kettle Cooked Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips

If memory serves, I found this bag of Ole Salty's chips at the Mobil at Aberg and Shopko Drive early one morning at around 1:30 back in January. I was on my way home and thirsty so I figured I'd make a quick stop for a soda or something I didn't have at home. One stroll through the chip aisle later, I walked out with a new brand of salt & vinegar snacking adventure ahead.

 

 

The next day I took a look at the bag in daylight and found that Old Salty's is in Rockford, Illinois, the home of Mrs. Fisher's potato chips. Rockford punches well above its weight when it comes to potato chips. There's a fellow on the label who reminds me of someone from the Pink Panther cartoon wearing rain gear. Also on the bag is Biblical verse, 1 Corinthians 13:13:

 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 

I read it as "But the greatest of these is spuds." 

 

The chips were fairly lightly colored though brown spots were common. I guess they were mostly cut from fairly narrow gauge spuds as the chips were generally small and dainty. However, they did appear thicker than normal. Oil of the soybean variety came first in my sniff test. Spud came next with a hint of vinegar bringing up the rear.

 

A healthy crunch was to be had and I found that these were the first salt & vinegar chips in a while that actually tasted like there was more salt on them than you normally get on a potato chip. The vinegar flavor came with a moderately strong tanginess to it while the potato flavor was more earthy than sweet, my preferred ratio. The oil wasn't a prominent taste for my tongue but it did catch a little roastiness which was delicious.

 

God smiled upon the Tater Chicks 815, LLC, who manufactured these chips as they were very tasty. They simply hit all the right notes for me - earthy potato flavor, more salt, and a good, firm vinegar zip. Highly recommended.

Got to keep on risin'

Yesterday I baked a loaf of jalapeño cheese bread.

I remember watching the dough get perilously close to the window on the lid of my breadmaker. She was really risin'.

**Jim Morrison voice**

Mr. Jalapeño Rising

**end Jim Morrison voice** 

With about 10 minutes before the rising was to give way to the baking, the top collapsed.

Gah!

Oh well.

I brought it to gaming and sampled it there. I thought it turned out well and so did my gaming compatriots. Earthy jalapeño with a little zip and some cheddar goodness all brought together by tasty Maillard reactions.

No tang, man: Salt & Vinegar Kettle Cooked Potato Chips by Pop Daddy

Another review delayed. The photo is dated early December of last year. I honestly do not recall where I found these chips but, given the date, I suspect they were bought somewhere in Chicagoland.

Pop Daddy is a Michigan company, Howell, to be precise, which looks to be about halfway between Detroit and Lansing. Their "About Us" section says the company was founded by folks looking for healthier junk food, essentially. Ha!  

The chips' webpage uses phrases such as "Sharp, tangy" and "bring the zing". I just found these words and so had no tangy, sour preconceptions about these chips going in.

Not a bad photo. I think the preponderance of red helped my cheap camera to not wash the color out with its auto-enhancers from Hades. These chips were thick and had nicely browned edges, though I couldn't tell if it was because the skin was left on or from the cooking process. The surfaces of the chips were densely packed with bubbles. Overall color was a fairly deep yellow but dotted with brown spots. Many of the chips were curled up into non-Euclidean snack shapes.

The aroma in the bag was big on oil and followed by some spud and then a hint of vinegar.

These puppies had a nice, big crunch to them. The potato flavor was on the sweet side and, being thick kettle chips, the oil flavor was prominent. Salt levels were normal. There was a medium vinegar taste to the chips but my tongue didn't register much tanginess which I thought to be really odd. Odd as in preternaturally weird.

Consulting the label I found malic acid, citric acid, vinegar solids, apple cider vinegar solids, and tartaric acid. Given this lengthy list it seems inconceivable that these chips didn't A) have a stronger vinegar taste and B) have more of a tangy zip to them.

As they were, I wished that the spuds had more of an earthy flavor to them, a fairly minor gripe, as, overall they had a nice, vinegary taste. But there was virtually no tang. The mind reels. Their website's description beggars belief.

I'm going to (eat) Jackson('s): Jackson's Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Vinegar potato chips

Where did I find these? Woodman's? At least my tasting happened this year and not last fall. Playing catch-up - slowly but surely.

This sampling happened last month.

Jackson's! 

Besides a different taste, is there something beyond gimmickry to frying in avocado oil? Is it healthier? Better for the environment? I guess it's not a seed oil which found themselves being demonized for reasons I do not comprehend not that long ago. Avocado oil isn't cheap so perhaps using it is supposed to give a "premium" vibe - chips for the well-heeled.

Here's the company's story, in brief.

Megan and Scott Reamer's son, Jackson, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and they found that a high-fat diet rich in "premium fats" benefited him. Aha!

I also see here that it's a Wisconsin company. They're in Muskego, part of the greater Milwaukee area and I like to support my local chipsmitheries. 

The camera on my phone auto-boosts brightness and either has a lousy auto-white balance or it f***s with color. I have turned off every photo enhancement setting I can find yet many photos, especially those with bright colors, end up slightly washed out. So apologies for the photo.

The chips were actually of a medium dark yellow not the near white you see above. There were some brown edges and minimal bubbles. They were cut thicklier than your normal chip. I was happy to catch a big vinegar aroma, so much so, in fact, that it hurt my nose. "A good portent," I thought to myself. Potato came next with oil trailing in third. Very odd. Oil is usually the primary smell. "Another good portent," I figured.

They were crunchy as I expected considering their thickness. Plus they were kettle cooked. I was surprised that the potato flavor was way out front with a nice sweet-earthy balance. Salt level seemed average while the vinegar tang was medium-light, a disappointment considering it was so prominent a smell and had caused me some mild olfactory distress.

My notes end with "Fine but needs more tang."

Piper, your tree has a new home

I am happy that Piper's cat tree has a new home and is appreciated by some fellow felines.

A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XX: Extrude this!

Another one from last fall. I am really behind in my salt & vinegar snack reviews.

Lay's strikes again.

Stax are Lay's newfangled answer to Pringle's, apparently. Potato paste extruded into a mould. Not really my thing but I will give any salt & vinegar snack a tasting at least once.

These Stax thingies are all uniform in shape - and color too: yellow with the odd tan area. I was surprised to find that they had a big vinegar smell to them but this was followed by a reconstituted potato aroma - like instant mashed potatoes.

Putting one into my mouth, I was surprised again but this time it was their crunch. Pringle's are crispy but these had crunch. Maybe they're thicker than Pringle's. I didn't find them to be saltier than your average potato chip food product and was highly unsurprised to find that they had that instant mashed potato flavor. Lactose and malic acid gave them a solid medium dose of tang.

While I appreciated the firm tanginess here, the spud flavor was found lacking.

Casey's you better watch your spuds: Casey's Salt & Vinegar Kettle Potato Chips

Last fall I made a trek south for reasons I cannot recall. I just remember that I ended up at the Duluth Trading Co. outlet store in Belleville, about 20 miles south of Madison. Perhaps that was my destination - to get some new shorts.

So I bought a couple pairs of shorts and a vest and then drove around a spell during which I spied a Trachte building. Before heading home, I stopped in at the Casey's on River Street. (Is there more than one in town?) There I did a stroll down the junk food aisle and happened up their house brand of salt & vinegar chips. I eagerly busted the bag open upon my return.

They were slightly darker than most chips - a nice tan hue. It seemed the skin was left on as the edges were lined with brown. Although I didn't pull out my calipers, these chips were thicker than normal. Sticking my nose in the bag and taking a sniff, I got a big whiff of oil while the vinegar was pleasantly pungent. The spud smell was rather faint, however.

Their thickness and/or kettle preparation gave these chips a massive crunch. I think my skill vibrated while taking my first bite, good sign, I felt. They tasted a bit oily, initially, but a potent vinegar tang made itself known and I found that it had brought its salty friend. With enough chips in my maw chewed to a paste, I found that I could taste a nice, earthy spud flavor.

These chips were an unexpected find and an unexpected pleasure. I adored all the tangy goodness and appreciated the elevated level of salt. Plus the potato taste was, er, tasty. More earthy than sweet.

Some very fine chips, here.

Song of the day, 15 March 2026

Down and dirty mofawar

Last fall I made my second annual stop in at Qahwah House in lovely Lombard, Illinois. I bought a bag of their coffee beans in addition to a cuppa thinking it would be fun to ward off the chill of winter with a mofawar in-hand. Well, it took me a while and spring is nearly here but I've finally opened that bag o' beans and tried my hand at coffee Yemeni style at home.

I have not been brewing it in the traditional manner and instead have been using my coffeemaker. Step 1: grind the beans. Check. Step 2: lightly crush some cardamom pods. 

Check.

Step 3: put everything in basket and let 'er rip.

Add cream and voila! 

It took me a couple pots to figure out how much cardamom to put in there but, once I got that down, things have been humming along. Good stuff.

I need to buy those bookshelves I've been meaning to buy for months

Before the Los Lobos show last night in Stoughton I stopped in at Ink Cap Books. It's a lovely little bookstore with lots of cards and stickers and whatnot too. Despite being a small shop, they had a couple titles I've been seeking.

I just found out about Absolution within the past couple weeks. Hopefully it is as creepy as the preceding books and bursting with unheimlich goodness. I've had Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on my to-read list for a long while. I've heard good things about Piranesi and perhaps reading it will motivate me to finally read Clarke's epic debut.

Help each other. Love everyone. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive.

My new Tree of Life vernal decoration has arrived! It is gorgeous!

It was made by a lady up in Door County. 

I wish Piper was here to see it and ring the bells. This apartment is slowly becoming the place I want it to be.

He places the numbers into a tube

It's a clear plastic shoobedoobe

Song of the day, 14 March 2026

This was sublime last night.

Song of the day, 13 March 2026

If you are at the Stoughton Opera House tonight, you may hear me yelling for this one.

Tasting Africa

I've been meaning to have a taste of Africa at Holisac Taste of Africa since I first heard of them a few years back. If I recall correctly, they were in Sun Prairie at that time but they've since moved to the food court at Global Market.

Earlier this week I took a friend's daughter out for dinner at Global Market. She's a student at the UW and I like getting her out of the campus area for a good meal. There were several folks who were very kind to me back when I was an impecunious college student and I am happy to pay it forward. Her mother told me that she'd recently suffered a breakup and was disillusioned with boys. It was my hope that a visit with her honorary uncle and something different for dinner would help cheer her up. Oh, and ice cream too.

The occasion also gave me the chance to try Holisac. My dining companion was initially going to order something familiar, a poke bowl, until we got to Hotco Noodles. The counter there had some samples and I grabbed one of their noodles. After popping a couple into her mouth, she was hooked and ordered some stir fry noodles with tofu.

She really liked the noodles and somehow managed to wolf down a rather large plate of food. You can do that when you're 19. Methinks she'll get it spicier next time. I ordered chicken peanut soup with fufu. Delicious! The soup was mild yet richly flavored. The fufu was just something to dip in the soup. It had a texture that was somewhere between mashed potatoes and bao.

I look forward to exploring their menu further.

While chatting with her I discovered she has taken after her mother and is a regular at a particular campus area bar. Ha! I got an earful about Gen Z men and learned that they are goofy. For instance, many are reluctant to approach women. She complained about having to go up to men whom she catches looking at her from across the bar.

Fellas! Make some moves!

Pouring concrete at dawn

Construction on the apartments or condos or whatever they are to be continues apace at Madison Yards.

Lavender scones, dilly dilly

Last Sunday I had a couple folks over for brunch. I took advantage of the situation to foist my first attempt at making scones on them.

They were buttermilk lavender. There they are just before being put into the oven. I brushed them with buttermilk.

And here they are just after being taken out. 

They turned out well - visually.

Luckily they tasted good too. Mild sweetness to accent the gentle floral taste of the lavender. The texture was Goldilocks - it wasn't super light like Wonder Bread but wasn't too heavy either as with Landbrot. My guests enjoyed them and the leftovers were happily taken home.

Remembering Piper

My lockscreen at work.

Winter is not done with us yet so we have beer

Last night I had the pleasure of taking dinner with my father-in-law. We dined at Vintage out on the west side once again. I indulged myself and had a pint of Ionic Bond as I am all over rye beers**.

It was very tasty. 

It had a body that was fairly light for the style, i.e. - it wasn't very viscous as if it were motor oil like takes on the style by Baltika or Żywiec. However, it was delicious. Full of coffee, roasty goodness undergirded by a rye earthiness. Plus a stiff dose of hops to balance all those malts. A fine way to chase away the late winter chills.

**As long as they're not IPA's. 

Sisu persists

To whomever refuses to take down the Sisu: Road to Revenge poster at Palace Theaters, I salute you.

The Platonic Ideal of the Kaiser roll

A couple weeks back I had a conversation about Kaiser rolls, those round rolls with the starfish-like slits on the top. When I was growing up the Kaiser rolls we ate may or may not have had poppy seed on them but they were all crusty on the outside while being light & fluffy on the inside. My interlocutor had a similar experience in their youth.

We both lamented that Kaiser rolls in Madison lack the crusty exterior. Here's a photo I took of Kaiser rolls, which may have been labeled as Hard Rolls, at Hy-Vee.

Look at how that crust gives! It was soft and not crispy crusty. Oddly enough, the same goes for those from Clasen's whom you'd think would make them "traditionally", i.e. - with a crispy crust.

Am I wrong? Is the crusty outside an optional thing with the Kaiser roll? How can you have a hard roll that is squishy when you poke it? So you don't make the slits to give it that crown-like appearance but you also don't put the "hard" in hard roll? This is just odd to me.

Music, all I hear is music...guaranteed to please

Recently I put a CD shelf together and got all of my music CD's unpacked. Well, most of them. Bootlegs remain in a box. Since then I have bought even more and now have to rejigger things to make room for them on the proper shelves.

The Louis Michot and Alash albums were bought at their shows here earlier this month while the one by Verità Baroque was purchased online after seeing one of their performances at the Madison Early Music Festival back in January. Tomeka Reid - come back to Madison, please! 

I bought The Monks album just yesterday at B-Side. It was neat because I hadn't been there in ages and had never been to their new digs which, I suppose, aren't all that new anymore. The general layout is the same as the old space and the presence of Steve Manley behind the counter gave a familiar and welcoming feeling. But it was really odd to be able to browse without having to squeeze between shelves. All that space is so odd. Ha!

I was happy to see that the King Crimson selection remains strong there. 

Playlist, 10 March 2026