March 22, 2025

WEEKLY MENU 03.23.25

Crunching through the Weekly Menu 03.23.25 is the only way to go!

Where is the crunch coming from on the Weekly Menu 03.23.25? Potato Chips! Turns out that National Chip and Dip Day is this week. And since potato chips are near the top of the copious list of my favorite spuds, we will indulge.

The day itself doesn’t discriminate—it could be any chips or any dip: corn chips, pita chips, salsa, guacamole, hummus, tzatziki, bagel chips… you get it. But potatoes. They are the holy grail of chips, IMHO.

Potato Chips have been around for over 200 years~

The earliest known recipe for potato chips is in the English cook William Kitchiner‘s book The Cook’s Oracle published in 1817,^[2] which was a bestseller in the United Kingdom and the United States.^[3] The 1822 edition’s recipe for “Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings” reads “peel large potatoes… cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping”.^[2][4]

A legend associates the creation of potato chips with Saratoga Springs, New York, decades later than the first recorded recipe.^[9] By the late nineteenth century, a popular version of the story attributed the dish to George Crum, a cook^[10][11] at Moon’s Lake House who was trying to appease an unhappy customer on August 24, 1853.^[12] The customer kept sending back his French-fried potatoes, complaining that they were too thick,^[13] too “soggy”, or not salted enough. Frustrated, Crum sliced several potatoes extremely thin, fried them to a crisp, and seasoned them with extra salt. To his surprise, the customer loved them.

They soon came to be called “Saratoga Chips”,^[14] a name that persisted into the mid-twentieth century. A version of this story was popularized in a 1973 national advertising campaign by St. Regis Paper Company which manufactured packaging for chips, claiming that Crum’s customer was Cornelius Vanderbilt.^[10] Crum was already renowned as a chef at the time, and he owned a lakeside restaurant by 1860 which he called Crum’s House.^[10] The “Saratoga Chips” brand name still exists today.

Wikipedia

Favorite~

Everyone has a favorite chip – or crisp, as they’re known across the pond. MY favorite is actually from overseas. When we were in Ireland a few years ago, we ended up missing dinner one night. The only thing to eat in the pub were these chips, an outstanding sub for a late-night meal. Thank God for Amazon. I order them for special occasions (like Father’s Day and Bert’s Birthday). They take some time to get here but are well worth the wait. (Affiliate links follow. See Disclaimer Page for details.)

O' Donnells of Tipperary Handcooked Mature Irish Cheese and Red Onion Flavour Crisps (7 x 47.5g packs)

$24.84

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03/23/2025 12:50 pm GMT

What’s your favorite potato chip?

I’m going to admit it here first. I’ve never been successful at making my own potato chips. I think a big part of the charm of chips is that all you have to do is open the bag and dig in, no mandoline required.

Of course, the ubiquitous chip dip is French Onion. I don’t hate it, but it’s not my usual first choice. And I don’t like the pre-made stuff. It seems like a waste of time to me. I make a mean Blue Cheese Dip, but my all-time favorite dip with chips is Dill Dip. A few crudites added in make the entire platter a little more virtuous.

WEEKLY MENU 03.23.25

How do the chips come to the table, so to speak? They are our star appetizer for Sunday dinner. We’re pairing them with steaks, more potatoes (of the baked variety), Scalloped Onions (O.M.G.), and Ice Cream Sundaes. How about that for elevating spuds?

The Scalloped Onions are, honestly, pretty decadent. A little goes a long way, though; they are a spectacular accompaniment for steaks. They do NOT stink in a potato jacket, either. If you have a chance, include them the next time you make steak. Or burgers. Or meatloaf.

We’re trying a new to us crockpot meal for “taco” Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Casserole. It’s from Instagram, and it is so easy and low-key. I wish I had created it myself.

Mongolian Meatballs are scheduled for Wednesday, but we’re a little up in the air about our dinner plans, so I’ll use pre-made meatballs and a fair amount of the sauce mixed in the crockpot.