By Debbie Schlussel
**** UPDATE: I checked with Janet in consumer affairs at Kettle, and she said the flavoring packets in this kit are NOT KOSHER, that only the chips in the kit are. The rest of Kettle products are certified kosher. ****
Memorial Day Weekend is generally considered the first official holiday weekend of the summer season. Yes, I know summer isn’t officially upon us until late June, but the “summer season” is upon us. And you know what that means? Potato chips.
Because they’re loaded with fat and calories, I almost never eat potato chips. But every once in a while, if there’s an interesting new flavor, I like to try it.
Now, though, Kettle Brand has a limited edition “Create a Chip” kit for you to create your own potato chip flavor. At $14.99 (or $24.99 for two) including shipping, it’s a little pricy, and I haven’t tried it because I’m not that much of a chip connoisseur. (For my Jewish readers, the Kettle website says all Kettle products are certified kosher, and the Kettle site features a “Kosherized chip,” by a consumer named Azarya F. from New York.) [UPDATE: Not Kosher, see UPDATE section above.]

Still, for my gentile readers, it sounds very cool. The kit comes with four 1-ounce bags of unseasoned chips and seven packets of flavorings and seasonings, including lemon butter, caramelized onion, roasted tomato, cheddar, vinegar, sweet chili, and sour cream and chive. You can add your own flavorings. The Kettle Create a Chip site says that the kit also comes with a few bags of some of the best original flavors consumers have created.
You can purchase the potato chip kit online at KettleChipChallenge.com. The site features a number of interesting and unusual recipes for flavored potato chips that Kettle kit users have created in the Kettle “Create-a-Chip Challenge”. The one that sounds coolest to me is “Louise’s Choc Chili,” which is chili chocolate potato chips with a hint of lime.
Perhaps the chips you create will be worth the calories.