Aug 19, 2023

BY STEFANI DIASsdias@bakersfield.com EVAN KALMAN Courtesy of Frank's Redhot Dill Pickle Hot Sauce Travel the world via your snacks this summer with Confetti Snacks. You can choose from veggie chips flavors like green curry, tandoori curry, teriyaki barbecue and summer truffle or mushroom chips in black truffle, green curry and tandoori curry flavors. Courtesy of Confetti Snacks The new Pringles Harvest Blends collection that highlights two new ingredients — multigrains and sweet potato — to delicious effect. Courtesy of Kellogg's Experience the new Club x Butter Chardonnay Minis with the Ultimate Butter Box, which comes with the special-edition crackers and four 250 mL ButterCans packed into a cute insulated tote. Visit ButterClubMinis.com to pick up your own. Photo by Evan Kalman How do you enhance Club Crackers? How about a collaboration with JaM Cellars for the limited-edition Club x Butter Chardonnay Minis. These crackers up the buttery flavor with an infusion of the winemaker's Butter Chardonnay. Photo by Evan Kalman This may come as no surprise to local consumers but Walmart has been coming in clutch with some specialty food items. Many of the news releases I receive about new products hitting shelves note that they will be available exclusively at the big-box store or will debut there before going into wider distribution. So it may be no wonder that Walmart is looking to venture into a practice popularized at the warehouse wholesalers: in-store demos with samples. Walmart began testing in-store demos at 25 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in April and has since expanded the program to 120 stores, according to Walmart Connect, the company's media branch. The chain is set to increase free samples and demos to 1,000 stores nationwide by the end of the year, although locations have not been disclosed. Demos will occur every weekend from Friday to Sunday and allow customers to sample new or existing products offered in store. The experience will be similar to what is offered at a club store like Costco or Sam’s Club, which Walmart owns. The advantage is that it won't require a club membership. While we wait to find out if any sample set-ups are headed our way, let me share some recent samples that came my way. Anyone who has had to throw together a quick spread for a party knows Club Crackers. Some crackers, cheese and wine and you're good to go for your book club or friends' night in. Much like peanut butter and chocolate, two great tastes that taste great together, what would happen if you really combined Club Crackers and a nice white wine? The new limited-edition Club x Butter Chardonnay Minis are a first-of-their-kind innovation from Kellogg's and Butter Chardonnay by JaM Cellars. These light, flaky, buttery crackers are infused with fan-fave rich, delicious chardonnay. Promotional materials said the crackers include hints of citrus and oak from the wine along with the toasted wheat and "signature buttery notes of a Club cracker." Having enjoyed Club Crackers in the past, I wasn't sure what to expect with these minis. Upon first bite, it was clear that the flavors of the wine were front and center. If you wanted the essence of Butter Chardonnay but for some reason you couldn't imbibe (say because you were eating on the job), then these are the next best thing. I would love to see another collaboration, perhaps a chocolate cookie with JaM Cellars cabernet. If you're interested in getting your hands on these Club x Butter Chardonnay Minis, visit  ButterClubMinis.com  to purchase the Ultimate Butter Box ($30), which consists of a box of the crackers along with four 250 mL ButterCans packages in a cute insulated tote. You must be 21 years or older to purchase the box, which is available while supplies last. While on the website, you can also enter to win a weekend getaway for you and three of your friends to the JaM Cellars Wine and Music Studio in Napa. Other sweepstakes prizes include a four-pack of Club x Butter Chardonnay Minis and a $100 gift card to purchase Butter Chardonnay. Enter to win at  ButterClubMinis.com  now through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 31. People in Bakersfield like spicy things — if all the local hot chicken spots are any indication — so a new hot sauce on the scene should be welcome news. I received bottles of Frank's Redhot Dill Pickle Hot Sauce as a promotion for The Big Dill World's Largest Pickle Party, which takes place Sept. 23 and 24 in Baltimore, Md. This new sauce should fit right in at the two-day celebration of all things pickle, added some heat and a tangy dill zip to popcorn, sandwiches, pizza and more. For my maiden journey, I tried the sauce on some boxed macaroni and cheese. Since I usually pull a Sandra Lee ("Semi-Homemade Cooking") on the mac, it was easy to add the sauce into the mix. It gave the pasta a great punch of dill and a tanginess that cut through the cheese. Can't say it was super creamy because it used cheese powder rather than the real deal. The hot sauce was also good on its own and would probably sing on hot wings or in a spinach dip. A bloody mary would also benefit from a pop of pickle. It will be fun to experiment further. If you're a die-hard dill or other pickle lover, you should check it out. And if you're ready to go for the full dill, check out the festival, which will host a world pickle eating championship and brine chug challenge along with unlimited pickle sampling, concerts, attractions, contests and more. Visit bigdill.com/pages/bigdill for tickets, which start at $34.99 for a one-day pass. Another exciting package came from Pringles, which sent a sample of its Harvest Blends. The new chips offer a twist on the potato-based crisps with the addition of multigrains and sweet potato. "From our classic favorites to our sizzling Scorchin' collection — Pringles fans have long enjoyed our great taste and insanely accurate flavors," Mauricio Jenkins, U.S. marketing lead for Pringles, said in a news release. "With our new Pringles Harvest Blends collection, we're ecstatic to bring our fans an elevated tasting experience — one that is both familiar with the bold flavors our fans know and love, and completely unique with its irresistibly crunchy texture and flavorful blends of sweet potato and multigrain." The new Farmhouse Cheddar and Homestyle Ranch chips feature a multigrain-infused base, with black bean and toasted grains. Creamy aged cheddar and a hint of salt flavor the former while the latter is seasoned with "creamy, zesty ranch. " Both of these are bold additions to the Pringles lineup and the multigrain base holds up well as Pringles can get a bit flimsy the further down you get in the can. Sweet potato is used for the Sea Salt and Smoky BBQ Harvest Blends. The barbecue flavor is superior but both end up a bit muted due to the sweetness of the tuber. Pringles Harvest Blends are available at retailers now. Visit  Pringles.com  to find a store near you and for more information, Follow  @Pringles  on Instagram for the latest news. And all the way from Singapore comes Confetti Snacks. Company founder Betty Lu, an entrepreneur from Singapore, came up with the idea for the vegetable chips while on the search for healthy and lightweight snacks that also tasted good to bring along on her backpacking adventures Tapping the market of "imperfect produce" — the ones that are considered unsellable due to irregular shape, size or other visual anomalies — she was able to transform the vegetables into nutrient-dense and crunchy snacks. The chips are minimally processed and never deep-fried. Because they are baked using a low heat method, the nutrients and beautiful colors remain vibrant. Inspired by Lu's native Singapore and international travels, flavors include green curry, tandoori curry, teriyaki barbecue and summer truffle for the mixed vegetable chips that include a mix of carrots, radishes, purple sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Mushroom chip flavors include green curry, tandoori curry and black truffle. My absolute favorite was the black truffle mushroom chips. That ultimate umami bomb would be welcome on any backpacking trip or just hanging in your backyard. Confetti Snacks also earned the Upcycled Food Association's "Upcycled Certification." The on-package mark highlights upcycled ingredients and products "procured with surplus food or food by-products from manufacturing, that use verifiable supply chains and have a positive impact on the environment." The brand launched in the U.S. last fall and can be found at specialty retailers. The chips can also be ordered online at  us.confettisnacks.com . Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.