Way back in 1920, Fred and Ethel Ballreich had stumbled upon their own private gold mine. The couple were making potato chips in a shed with a dirt floor. The demand was high, everyone loved Fred and Ethel's chips. It wasn't long before Fred recruited his brother, Carl and his wife Emma, to help with the growing business. They lived side by side and began to produce chips on a grand scale. Their potato chip empire is still going strong.
Fast forward to the 1960's, the era of my youth. Potato chips were becoming a common household staple. There was nothing better on a sunny summer day than a bologna sandwich and a pile of chips. Mother and I used to stack the chips on top of the bologna and crush them with the top layer of bread. That produced an even better way to savor the flavor. The sandwich with the crunch built in.
Fast forward to the next century and suddenly the reality of eating all those chips begins to sink in. Body parts are just not where they used to be. Yes, gravity does play a part, but I believe the real culprit is the potato chip. It is hard to pass up those tasty, salty, loaded with bad carbs, thin crispy fried slices of the potato.
Trying to watch out for those regrettable carbohydrates has led me on a search. The search for the perfect healthy chip. I have tried to make chips with the good carb tater, the sweet potato. So far my trials and errors lean more toward the latter. They are available in the grocery store, but they're pricey and they are fried and that kind of defeats the purpose, twofold.
Then I came across kale, a leafy green vegetable that although resembles lettuce, is more closely related to cabbage. Kale is like the new super food. It is loaded with vitamins, protein, calcium and low in carbohydrates, but the real kicker......folks were making chips out of it. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Finally, the perfect chip.
The recipe for making kale chips was surprisingly easy and I did not melt any utensils, or fill the house with smoke. I was elated and anxious to try this new alternative. Kale, fresh kale, straight out of the bag, or bunch, is not what I would consider tasty. It looks nice, all green with curly edges to the leaves, but it has a bitter flavor. I suppose the taste is one that is acquired over time, like cooked cabbage, but at this stage of the game, time is of the essence.
Kale chips are very thin....thinner than the parchment paper they were baked on. The first taste test was similar to eating air, albeit, crunchy air, even though they were seasoned with olive oil and a bit of sea salt. I came to the conclusion that in order to get the equivalent of a potato chip crunch, I would have to stuff my mouth completely full of kale chips before ever starting to chew.
Runtly, the dog, thought they were wonderful and I could not find any information that said kale was not healthy for dogs. Since I purchased a huge bag of kale, I will try again and maybe add a few more flavors such as onion and garlic. With kale being related to cabbage, most people know what happens somewhere in the digestive system after eating cabbage....if you get my drift. Runtly has proven this also happens with dogs, so it might be a good idea to add some vinegar to the next batch.
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