Canadians Love Their… All Dressed Chips

All Dressed chips are frequently sold in Canada and are a unique flavor not like anything found in the US.

The first time I had one of these chips, it was after picking up someone off the floor as they fainted when I said “what’s an all-dress chip?”

I hadn’t ever heard of them before, much less had them, and even once I was corrected and told that the term was “all dressed,” it didn’t exactly sound appealing. After all, when I ask for my burger to be fully dressed, it usually means that I want everything on it…and I do NOT want everything on my chip.

I had already experienced the beloved ketchup chip (beloved by the crazy Canadians, that is…not myself) and further explanation that the chip was “kinda like ketchup chips with vinegar, salt, and pepper” really didn’t make the case for me to jump on the bandwagon.

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The description, however, was surprisingly accurate AND it turns out the chips are delicious. Weird, I know. They really do kinda taste like a ketchup chip met up with a salt ‘n’ vinegar chip and said “hey, let’s experiment with a whole bunch of spices and seasonings that no one will be able to distinguish” and voila, Canadians favorite chips were born!

I suppose it’s kind of like the “everything bagel” of chips. You think it’s going to taste weird if you heard everything they put on it, but once you have it, you find that it’s actually pretty good (albeit, not for everyone, of course). They’re perfect for people who innocently dip their chips in ketchup or like stacking their chips directly on their sandwiches.

Pizza pancakes – When sweet dishes go savory

Pizza pancakes with suasage, pepperoni, and mushrooms in the batter without sugar along with pizza sauce and parmesan on top instead of syrup

Pizza pancakes are pretty self-explanatory, but in case you’re not sure what you’re looking at…. those are Bisquick mixed with standard pizza toppings like pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms, fried until cooked like normal pancakes, and then topped with marinara/pizza sauce and cheese.

This may be a brand new concept for some people, but if you’ll remember, I’m already acquainted with adding meat to waffles when my sister makes them for our dog. He’s never complained before and considering he’s the pickiest animal I have ever met (and then some!), I know they must be good. :P

Waffles with ham and other savory ingredients instead of sugar. Great as homemade dog food.

As for the pizza ones, I’m a fan of using pizza toppings/flavorings in/on vehicles other than a pizza dough crust that takes at least an hour of rising time. I like quick and easy, ya know? So tortilla pizzas (like Hello Kitty, to boot), crockpot pizza, pizza biscuits, and even pizza zucchini appetizers are all fair game.

I’m not really feeling the pancakes specifically, though. I’m sure they taste great, but I kind of prefer the “set it and forget it” style for pizza alternatives, so standing over a griddle, making dozens of pancakes (as if I ever make just one, pfft), doesn’t exactly sound that enticing.

I do love one of the suggestions in the comments, though. One of her picky eaters used them as a lunchable style snack, microwaving them the next day with sauce and mozzarella in between. To think of them as quick snacks for any time is actually a great idea!

Fun kids’ foods of the past (Guest)

Today’s post is brought to you by guest poster, Sally.

Everyone remembers the food that they ate when they were young. These are the foods that weren’t always the best things around or the healthiest – but the most fun! Most adults forget about what they used to go crazy for as their tastes change, but it’s always fun to take a trip down memory lane.
So if you have ever tried to eat a full packet of popping candy in one go or loved the huge sizes of the old Monster Munch (which are now back!) here are some of the so called “kid’s” food that you will probably have feasted on and loved in the past.

Crispy Pancakes
What was not to love about Crispy Pancakes? These favourites from Findus were a fast tea with chips and beans and had flavours like mince and onions, chicken and mushroom, chicken and bacon and cheddar cheese. These fillings were slipped between a folded pancake that had been coated in breadcrumbs. Cook them for too long and they are like cardboard, don’t cook them for long enough and they taste like soggy cardboard – but as a kid everyone thought they were amazing!

Jawbreakers
These were some of the most popular sweets that kids would run to the shop to buy with their 20p in their hand. Jawbreakers were (or should I say are as you can still find them) massive gob stoppers that have loads of layers. Each layer is a different colour and flavour and it was so exciting seeing which one would come next. Most kids couldn’t manage the full jawbreaker in one go so they would leave it and go back to it later – by putting it on a plate, worktop, desk etc!

Pop Tarts
Pop Tarts are the ultimate in kids food – stick one or two into the toaster and wait…..when it pops out you have a slice of sugary heaven with a super hot filling. Not only were these a favourite of kids and plenty of adults all over the country they were the cause of a lot of burns. Hands up anyone who hasn’t grabbed a Pop Tart fresh from the toaster and bitten straight into it and suffered the agony of hot jam burning their mouth! It might have hurt but we went back for more. One of the best things about Pop Tarts was they were marketed as a breakfast snack, so we could munch them thinking we were being good.

Chocolate frosted pop tarts

Um Bongo
Um Bongo they drink it in the Congo! This was the drink that had more tropical fruits than you can shake a stick at. It was fruity, sweet and addictive for kids. Most parents hated it but nearly everyone had this in their lunchbox at school. It came in boxes which were easy to keep in your bag 9and pop once you had drunk it) and the advert jingle was sung in playgrounds all over the country.

Um Bongo 100% tropical fruit juice

Angel Delight
You might have forgotten about Angel Delight but it if you try it again it will probably be a new guilty pleasure. Making Angel Delight took a few minutes (mix the powder with milk) then put it in the fridge to set. Some people would eat it runny before it set, which was good, but others would be forced by their mum to eat it ‘properly’. The only question with this sweet and smooth combination of a sauce and mousse was which was your favourite flavour? Was it chocolate, raspberry, strawberry butterscotch or banana? Mine was butterscotch.

Micro Chips
What could be better than chips that cooked in the microwave? For plenty of kids nothing! Check a packet of microchips in your microwave and three minutes later you could be eating scolding hot chips that tasted as though they were fresh. Well they didn’t but they were fun and they were quick to make as soon as you got in from school!

Author bio: Sally Lindsey, kitchen designer for London based kitchen company Nicholas Anthony. She focuses her effort on kitchen paraphernalia and design trends that adds life to this place of the house, including optimal use of space for big families, cooking recipes and light fixtures.