Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cooooold out there today. Junk Food Nation, it’s Groundhog Day.  When I think of Groundhog Day, I don’t think of Punxsutawney Phil.  How does this work again – if the Groundhog sees his shadow, then the Giants win the Super Bowl?  Something like that?

No, when I think of Groundhog Day, I think of the Bill Murray movie.  For the uninitiated, in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again, waking each morning on February 2, no matter what he does.  For some reason, the people I am friends with either LOVE or they HATE this movie.  No one seems to be indifferent about it.  It’s become my global warming, my creationism vs. evolution, my Second Amendment – whenever I bring up the movie Groundhog Day, the reaction I get is vehement and insistent.  How can a movie be so polarizing?

Personally, I think the movie is great, and if you haven’t seen it, you should – at least just once. I think the reason I enjoy the movie so much is because I always tried to imagine what the hell *I* would do if I was Bill Murray.  Go crazy? Eat junk food for hours? Jump out of a plane? Punch people at random? Spend it with my family?  Sigh. The possibilities are endless. Although it’s sad that in every scenario I can think of, pizza and ice cream are always involved.

In celebration of this movie, today’s junk food is: Popcorn, Indiana White Cheddar Chip’ins!

The Money Shot

What? What day is this? Didn’t I just do a Popcorn, Indiana review? Wasn’t yesterday a White Cheddar chip review? Are all these days running together?? It’s just like Groundhog Day!!!!!!

….Except it’s not.  And I can’t NOT review a Popcorn, Indiana snack. I will not stop until Popcorn, Indiana is in every household in America; these snacks are just. Damn. Tasty.

Stack 'em up!

Popcorn, Indiana White Cheddar Chip’ins! You take the already amazing Chip’in, douse it in white cheddar flavor, and what do you have? My potential favorite chip ever, that’s what.

You know why I think I love these so much?  Because they remind me of my white whale, Wild White Nacho Doritos.  Oh, Frito-Lay, you miserable wench – bring back my WWNDs!

Open, Eat, Repeat...repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat

I’m glad Popcorn, Indiana isn’t trying to market this like it’s a “new” flavor like Pringles tried to. White Cheddar is delicious and should be a standard flavor for all snacks RIGHT AT THE START.  Potato chips? White Cheddar potato chips.  Crackers? White Cheddar crackers.  Fig Newtons? White Cheddar Newtons. Do it.

No, YOU'RE cheesy

Cheesy, according to Urban Dictionary, means: “Trying too hard, unsubtle.” Dictionary.com defines it as: “of or like cheese.” So…don’t think we need to redefine anything here, per se, guys.  I WANT my chips to both be of cheese and trying too hard.  In fact, PLEASE try too hard. Impress me. Buy me dinner. Lavish me with gifts.

Contains cheese = contains milk

Blue cheese????  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.  I might need to get my 2% of Iron elsewhere!  (Just kidding, Popcorn, Indiana.  I could never leave you.)

Crispy shot

Mini ricecake dopplegangers

Popcorn, Indiana White Cheddar Chip’ins look like thin rice cakes. These are, in essence, corn chips, so they are not unlike Doritos, Tostitos, or Fritos.  They just trend more towards the popcorn or Corn Nuts side of the corn spectrum.  Furry with white cheddar powder, you can also clearly see the nice burn marks from the cooked corn.  I like the texturing.

Furry with cheese

One crunch and it was all over. My new favorite chip, hands down.  I’ll be brief – the chip tasted like popcorn.  I don’t know how they are able to capture that air-popped flavor so well, but they did.

The crunch/crisp was perfect.  Just crunchy enough to satisfy the soul, but my mouth never had to work too hard to get through the chips.  It’s not like when you eat Corn Nuts and halfway through the bag your teeth are throbbing.

And the white cheddar flavor?  Superb.  Round and creamy, with a sharpness to the cheddar that I’m sure is accentuated by the blue cheese powder within.  The powder stuck the chip and actually didn’t get all over my fingers, yet the first bite launched cheesy particles all over the place inside my mouth, producing a cheddar mushroom cloud.  It. Was. AWESOME.

Finally, the best part of these chips – they aren’t greasy!  You can easily plow through half the bag and not feel bogged down like you do with Fritos or even Doritos.

Popcorn, Indiana, can I marry you?  Please?

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Thoughts? Tell me in the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy

PS: Had to leave you with one of my favorite moments from Groundhog Day:

Rita: You’re missin’ all the fun! These people are great! Some of them have been partyin’ all night long! They sing songs ’till they get too cold and then they go sit by the fire and they get warm, and then they come back and sing some more! 

Phil: Yeah, they’re hicks, Rita! 

BING!