Product Reviews: Fritos Lime & Salt, Pepperidge Farms Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

I had to fill a prescription for Mr. T this morning, so I had about 20 minutes to kill in Albertson’s while I waited. Killing time in a grocery store is always a dangerous thing for me, especially when I’m not there with a pre-planned grocery list. I did need milk and oj and bread, but that took me all of 5 minutes to load into my cart which left me with a full 15 minutes of food browsing. And did I mention in my rush to get the girls off to school and the other two packed in the car for the doctor appointment, I forgot to eat breakfast? So needless to say, I ended up bringing home some unnecessary items including the Fritos and snickerdoodles.

Let’s start with the Fritos with Lime & Salt. I have never seen this particular variety before, but the package doesn’t say “new” so perhaps my local Albertson’s is just slow to pick up on the lastest culinary trends. I enjoy a corn chip. I realize not everyone does. My brother-in-law enjoys tortilla chips in general, say like with salsa or a good guac, but he abhors Fritos—he says they taste like feet. I’m not certain I know what feet taste like (actually, I’m pretty certain I don’t know what feet taste like), but I can’t imagine it would be a very pleasant tastebud experience unless maybe they were smothered in peanut butter and hot fudge, but my brother-in-law never said anything about peanut butter and hot fudge so I can only assume he meant plain old feet. But corn chips are OK for me, or rather, good corn chips. Once when I was young my mom had picked up some Laura Scudder’s corn chips. Those. were. nasty. I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to include “Scudder’s” in their brand name—it doesn’t sound very appetizing to me, but then I don’t remember any of the Laura Scudder’s products ever tasting very appetizing so maybe the brand name was born from some kind of subconscious effort to appease themselves of the guilt of putting out such scuddy products by offering a subtle warning—a little truth in advertising kind of thing.

Anyways, I tried the Fritos with Lime & Salt and have found them to be quite enjoyable.  They have a bit of a sour bite which you would expect from a lime, but the flavor isn’t so overpowering that it leaves you with that funky aftertaste.  It’s a bit like running your tongue along the rim of a virgin margarita glass, but more subtle like.  They’re rather salty, but not sooo salty.  I’m not screaming “These Fritos are making me thirsty!” or anything.  I’ve been enjoying them on their own, but I imagine they would be quite tasty with a little bean dip or guacamole or fresh pico or perhaps as a garnish with your favorite chili?  My kids are all enjoying them as well.  Thumbs up all around.

One thing I did find interesting, though—while I was perusing the ingredients to make sure they were suitable for my allergy-stricken children, I noticed the ingredients listed natural flavors including “natural lime flavor and natural lime type flavor.”  What do you suppose “natural lime type flavor” means?  That “type” thrown in there makes me a little suspicious of the “natural”.  Or is it just code for lemon?  Is lemon “lime type”?  Interesting.

OK, now onto the Pepperidge Farms Soft Baked Snickerdoodles.  I’m not normally a fan of soft baked type store bought cookies.  For some reason, no matter what the variety they all have the same kind of taste for me—like there’s some kind of distinctly flavored softifying secret ingredient.  Given the choice between the old school crunchy Chips Ahoy and Chewy Chips Ahoy, I’ll take the crunchy every time.  But I was drawn in by the “Melt in Your Mouth Recipe” claim on the bag and heaven knows I loves me some snickerdoodles. 

I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised.  They weren’t nasty, but they were not great or even really good.  That distinctly flavored softifying ingredient was definitely present as well.  And they most certainly did not melt in my mouth.  Maybe if I poured a boiling hot cup of cocoa into my mouth and let it sit there while I dropped in pieces of the cookie (I’d have my head tipped back of course to prevent the cocoa from dribbling down my chin when I opened my mouth for the cookie), it would melt.  But I doubt it.  They were pretty darn chewy and not in a “this Charleston Chew is chewy, but not too chewy, Louis” kind of way, but rather a “is it almost time to swallow now” kind of way.

Oh well.  At least now I won’t feel compelled to finish them, which is a good thing considering I’ve already polished off half my bag of lime Fritos.