Monday, November 24, 2014

Trader Joe's Some Enchanted Cracker



On a recent Trader Joe's run, I decided to get some cheese and crackers to use as appetizers for a Tuesday night dinner with Nina. I didn't have any particular ones in mind, and TJ's has a large selection of both items, so it was just going to be kind of a crapshoot.

When I got to the cracker section, the above-pictured box was the first one that caught my eye. The whimsical name pleased me, perhaps in part because I've recently been on a major Rodgers & Hammerstein movies binge-watch.

Well, as it turned out, I doubt I could have made a better selection. These things are great. First of all, they're quite lovely--pleasingly multicolored, what with all the different grains and seeds. It's not like I throw a lot of parties, but they would look great on a platter for guests.

The size, texture, and taste remind me most of Breton crackers, which used to be my mainstay base for cheese and crackers. The problem with those was that they tended to shatter uncontrollably at the first bite. The TJ's, conversely, are excellent at fracturing only where bitten, with the rest of the cracker remaining intact. This prevents whatever is riding on it from messily collapsing into your hand and/or lap.

The main drawback to finding these excellent crackers is that now I'm going to be reluctant to continue trying other TJ's cracker varieties, for fear that nothing else is going to be as good. I'm not quite ready to elevate these to a Top Ten item, but they're close.

Will I buy it again? 

Yes--some enchanted evening.


Nina's View


These are very nice crackers for all the reasons that Bob so excellently outlines above. My sole point of objection to them is that they are a tad too sweet for me. But only a tad, certainly not enough to stop me from enjoying them with a nice sharp or strong cheese. And I think they would make a palate-pleasing party offering for a broad range of guests' tastes.


Addendum 

All of the above was written a few months ago. Since then, I've brought home many more kinds of TJ's crackers. I think it's safe to say that none has been as big a hit with Nina and me as Some Enchanted Cracker. So I'm reversing my earlier ruling, and enshrining these in my Top Ten list.


4 comments:

  1. Re: Addendum

    All of the above was written a few months ago. Since then, I've brought home many more kinds of TJ's crackers. I think it's safe to say that none has been as big a hit with Nina and me as Some Enchanted Cracker. So I'm reversing my earlier ruling, and enshrining these in my Top Ten list.

    ------- What is this -- Sweeps Month in the blog world? Quit holdin' back the news, man! You've cost me *months* of eating these apparently sublime crackers....

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  2. Of course, now I have "Some Enchanted Evening" as an earworm -- alternating with "Sam & Janet Evening."

    Knock, knock.

    Who's there

    Sam and Janet

    Sam and Janet who?

    Sam and Janet Evening, you will meet a stranger....

    Please release me!

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  3. Sorry about the delays. It's an inevitable consequence of having a big backlog (now four months) of posts, which comes from averaging more than one new product a day that I try. But all of the alternatives also have bad consequences. If I post more than once a day, people will stop reading. If I delay writing, I'll forget details of what I thought of the product. If I speed the best products to the front of the posting line, then there are fewer gems to be discovered later.

    So I plod along, writing a post a day or so, and mostly letting them publish in the order they were written, with some exceptions for seasonal products, or grouping some things together in consecutive days, or whatever.

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  4. So funny that you mention the Breton crackers shattering at the first bite. I love those crackers and lament the same problem. Oh the things we must endure! I do not live close enough to a TJ's to drop in for crackers, but the next time I am near one I will be sure to try these.

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