Put A Cork In It: International Pig Week Continues

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Happy National Cat Day!  Had I known before today that it was National Cat Day, I may have actually named this International Cat Week ... but nope instead it is DAY THREE of my self-proclaimed International Pig Week here at LilyOnTheLam.  

If you have been keeping up with the Porcine-themed posts, you will know that Day One was a restaurant review of the Divin Porcello in Budapest, Hungary and Day Two was a restaurant review of The Thirsty Pig in Portland, Maine.  

For Day Three, we are going back to traditional LilyOnTheLam posting with a "New Product Wednesday" - product reviews on products that are new or new to me.  But in keeping with the International Pig Week theme, I am reviewing:  Corkers Pork Sausage and English Mustard flavoured (or in the US- flavored) potato crisps (or in the US- potato chips).  

In my subscription box trial-mania, I recently checked out Escape Monthly's "vacation in a box."  I find these boxes to be a super cool idea - you get a guide book and items from the country you are "virtually visiting."  This month's box is London.  I received a cute British toy car, an elegant tin of tea and several other Brit items including these CORKERS.

Although I must admit that so far I have already traveled to every place that Escape Monthly has sent me boxes on - Paris, Puerto Rico and now London.  Next month's box is Hawaii - a place I love and have been to many times.  So instead of "Escape Monthly," I have been calling them "Travel Memory Box."  Which is probably a better title than "Places Lily Has Already Been Box."

I must have an Irish soul resting in me because when I looked at this package of chips (a.k.a. crisps) from the Escape Monthly box, I thought "Isn't a corker like a weirdo?"  I looked it up in UrbanDictionary and sure enough, in Irish slang it is.  

Now before you say "You are what you eat, Lily you weirdo;' I have to say "Hey, don't call me a weirdo."  ;-)

I will admit that I am not one to shy away from non-American flavored snack foods.  My sister Squidge and I tried Frito Lay's India Magic Masala potato chips when we were in Delhi.  (Verdict: pretty tasty!)  

I also tried peanut-flavored Cheetos when I was in Moscow.  (Verdict:  Why does God hate me with these awful tasting Cheetos?)  

I even tried soft shell crab Pringles in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  (Verdict:  "These taste like crab butt."  To which my male Brazilian co-worker said: "How do you know what a crab's butt tastes like?"  Ahem.  No comment.)   

But even with my "gastronomical tourism" through snack foods around the world, my stomach wasn't sure if it was up for pork sausage and mustard flavored (or flavoured) potato chips.  I had had a particularly naughty weekend of eating a lot of junk food and my stomach was screaming for some fruit and vegetables that had not been deep-fried.  Sorry stomach, not today.  

I'm not sure why I was so wary.  I am a big fan of things cooked in animal fat.  It even says so on my curriculum vitae.  "Lily - friend of things fried in animal fat since 1734."  

Duck fat fries?  Yes, please.  Hash browns cooked in bacon grease?  Bring it on, baby.  Yorkshire pudding?  Cheerio and yes, yes!

But perhaps my wariness stems from the sad experience that generally food that is made to taste like other types of food can usually end up tasting only like chemicals.  

If these were homemade potato chips cooked in sausage fat and drizzled with mustard, I think I'd be more onboard.  But these are packaged crisps (a.k.a. chips) with a dusting of some sort of seasoning.  And maybe that seasoning tastes like pork sausage and mustard or maybe it tastes like soft shell crab butt.  Were my taste buds and stomach really wanting to get onboard this train?

Since it is International Pig Week and it is New Product Wednesday, I decided that this was no time for my stomach to wuss out.  So I tried the CORKERS ...

And ...

They tasted like pork sausage and mustard.

Not like a chemical, artificial version of a semblance of pork sausage and mustard, but they really did taste like pork sausage and mustard.

The question now becomes ... do I want potato chips that taste like pork sausage and mustard?

Ehhh ... I prefer a good old regular potato chip.  

Who knew that International Pig Week would be the defining point of my potato chip eating lifetime?  I've learned something new about myself!  

The Corkers were not bad, they were just not my taste.  Maybe one day I will be sitting on the couch, watching The Walking Dead on AMC and I will suddenly want a pork sausage flavored potato chip.  But so far that has not happened.

HOWEVER ... if you are craving a potato chip that tastes like pork sausage and mustard, this is the chip for you!

I have since learned that Corkers also makes a sea salt and cider vinegar flavor.  Now I have had salt and malted vinegar, but cider vinegar chips?  I am intrigued!  

They also make a red Leicester (like a cheddar cheese) and caramelized onion flavor as well as a Sweet Thai Chili flavor chip.  Traveling around Australia, I learned I am quite fond of Sweet Thai Chili flavored snack products.  Oh Corkers, you may make a convert out of me yet!  

(Sadly their website only ships Corkers to UK addresses - which is a reason to make friends with people in the UK.  I am quite content knowing I have at least ten people who I could hit up for an international potato crisp delivery if I ever had the urge!)

Tell me what your favorite potato chip flavor is in the comments section below!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next International Pig Week blog post!  

New Product Wednesday: Take Route Eleven To Potato Chip Heaven

Happy New Product Wednesday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

It is once again the time where I review products that are new, or at least new to me!  Memorial Day Weekend I went to visit my friend FLL (First Lady of Lynchburg) in Lynchburg, Virginia.

I knew it would be a great weekend of shopping, eating, sightseeing and wacky adventures.  And FLL delivered!

We had lunch at a local downtown restaurant that had a small general store-type display (Market At Main).  FLL said that I had to try the local potato chips under the brand name Route 11.

Now you don't have to tell me twice to try potato chips.  

I grabbed three flavors: Lightly Salted, Sweet Potato Chips and "Mama Zuma's Revenge" habanero flavored potato chips.  If I was going to truly experience Virginia potato chips, I couldn't just try one flavor - right?  That's right!

I was also happy to see that the Sweet Potato chips were made with organic sweet potatoes from Quail Cove Farms.  I have never heard of Quail Cove Farms, but it sounds lovely!  Evidently the farm is in Machipongo, Virginia.  

I have never heard of Machipongo either, but I am pretty sure it's my new G-rated swear word.  MACHIPONGO! 

The Lightly Salted Route 11 potato chips were perfection.  Not greasy, just the right amount of salt, crisp, crunchy, delish!  

The Sweet Potato Route 11 potato chips had great sweet potato flavor - and again not greasy, just the right amount of salt, crisp, crunchy and delicious.  I'm not a huge fan of Sweet Potato chips, but these are really good.

But then the most beautifully decorated potato chip bag - the Route 11 Mama Zuma's Revenge habanero-flavored potato chips - attacked me with a fiery vengeance!  I had three chips and then ran screaming, wishing I had a milk product to extinguish the fire!  They were SO HOT!  Serious MACHIPONGO!

A lone tear skated down my face.  I couldn't do it.  I just could NOT do it.  They were too hot for me!  I love potato chips, but these were just too hot!

There are six other Route 11 potato chip flavors, so even though Mama Zuma's Revenge was too hot for me I bet I'll find some more favorites from their other flavors.  You can buy them online here.

They also sell Route 11 merchandise, in case incredibly hot potato chips are not enough for you!  They have chip and dip baskets.  They also have gift tins and boxes.  Talk about an amazing gift!  (My sister and I sent our father a mixed flavors case of Route 11 potato chips for Father's Day!  We sent them early to make sure they arrived before Father's Day - and he was very happy to see them!)

You can also visit their factory in Mount Jackson, Virginia - a fry viewing and free potato chip samples!

Check out these Route 11 Potato Chips if you're looking for a non-greasy, crunchy, delicious potato chip!

New Product Wednesday: Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Potato Chips with Sea Salt

Happy New Product Wednesday, LilyOnTheLam.com Readers!

In my ongoing homage to the new South Tampa Trader Joe's store, New Product Wednesdays features another Trader Joe's product that is new to me - individual size bags of Trader Joe's Kettle Cooked Potato Chips with Sea Salt.

If you're a regular LilyOnTheLam.com reader, you may recall that I have zero impulse control.  (Read all about it here on my post entitled "Quit Stalking Me On Social Media."  It could also be titled "One Woman's Struggle Against Wicked Cheez-Its.")

I was having some insane salt and carb cravings.  Here's a tip - if you're having naughty food cravings, maybe you shouldn't go to a grocery store on an empty stomach.  You think I would have learned this lesson, say a hundred years ago - but no!  I'm an idiot!  

I wandered the salty snack aisle like an addict going through detox who wakes up in a pharmacy.  (By the way - the movie "Drugstore Cowboy" is one of my favorites.  If you haven't seen it, please do so ASAP!)  I knew I couldn't bring a giant bag of chips home, because I would eat the entire bag.  No, mandatory portion control was needed here.  I picked up a six pack of Trader Joe's 150 calorie kettle chips with sea salt instead.

I don't allow myself potato chips very often.  It just feels like a gateway drug to one hundred pints of Ben and Jerry's.  But if I am going to "do" potato chips, I am going to "do" it right.  I like kettle chips because they have more of that "oomph" of deliciousness.  Now normally when I indulge, I do the Cape Cod brand 40% reduced fat kettle chips.  Because of this, I think I have altered my palate.  Like a habitual diet Coke drinker who then drinks a regular Coke, I think full fat kettle chips taste extra greasy to me because I am used to eating reduced fat ones.

The Trader Joe's Kettle Potato Chips were crazy crunchy and surprisingly hearty tasting for a light chip.  I found them to be on the oily side, but like I mentioned - this could be because I'm used to eating reduced fat kettle chips.  They were satisfying and there was a decent amount in the 150 calorie serving size bag.

I still prefer my Cape Cod Kettle Chips, but the Trader Joe's kettle chips were a close second in taste comparison!  Check them out for yourself!

What's your favorite Trader Joe's snack food?  Let me know in the comments section below!

Bella Bella Bella - and no, I'm not talking about Twilight!

I was jonesing for some cocktails and culture, but what's a Tampa Bay area girl to do? 


For culture, I decided to head over to downtown St. Petersburg to take in the fantastic Chihuly Collection glass works exhibit at the Morean Arts Center.  I've been in love with Chihuly's works since I attended the opening of the Bellagio in Las Vegas a million years ago.  The Chihuly collection exhibit did not disappoint whatsoever.  Several rooms of beautiful, exquisite pieces.


Now that the culture portion of the evening was taken care of, it was time for the cocktails.  I headed down the street to Bella Brava New World Trattoria.  The first thing I noticed is that there are chalkboard walls and the waitstaff's names were written on the wall.  Evidently one of the waitstaff is named Lily - or else I was late for my shift and I didn't know it!

For the record, my server was Brian.  It would have been more ironic if Lily had been my server ... but again, I may have had amnesia-- maybe I work at Bella Brava!  Where's my apron?  What are the specials?


I started my evening with the Blackberry-Ginger Smash cocktail - acai liqueur, blueberry acai vodka, blackberries, ginger, simple syrup and lemon juice.  Tart, tasty, tangy and I told myself that the acai was good for me.  Health in a glass, right?

Now that the cocktail choice was made ... on to dinner.  Being American and therefore a lover of all things deep fried, I have a weak spot for any menu that says "housemade potato chips."  Hence the gorgonzola fonduta had to be ordered - housemade potato chips with a gorgonzola cheese fondue.

I was so excited for this appetizer and then so disappointed once I tasted it.  The fonduta had a taste that I can only describe as curdled - almost like maybe it had been overcooked and reheated several times.  The chips were also overcooked so that they had an almost burnt aftertaste.  The gorgonzola fonduta was overly pungent.  The flavors did not marry well at all.  It was like bad plus bad equals "ugh, what's that taste in my mouth?  Old socks?"  I found myself longing for a beer-cheese fondue instead or even just a topping of shaved Parmesan and Parma ham ribbons on top of the potato chips. 


The special of the day was a tuna carpaccio and Brian, my server, highly recommended it.  I loves me some good, raw ahi - so I said "Brian, consider me sold!"

The tuna carpaccio was amazing.  A little heavy handed on the sesame, but delicious nevertheless.  I have no idea what the lump of bagged salad mix with dried out carrot shreds was doing on the plate.  Visually, it completely brought the sophistication of the dish down (way down) and it did not add to the flavor profile whatsoever.  Pick a new salad or garnish, Bella Brava!


To accompany the tuna carpaccio, I had another cocktail - a French Greyhound- vodka, elderberry flower liqueur and ruby red grapefruit juice.  I have no idea what an elderberry flower looks like, but the overall flavor of the cocktail was perfectly tart and fantastic.  I could drink these all day and all night long!

The Bella Brava cocktail menu has many more items that I would like to try, but I'll be giving the gorgonzola fonduta a pass in the future.  My taste buds and my waist line are appreciative of that decision!