I don't get the relevance of the "dress circle" part of the name, so don't ask.
Trader Joe's calls these "crispy crunchy." I would call them "dry and crumbly." Also "bland."
Munching on one of these is more like eating uncooked oatmeal than like eating a cookie.
There are a few raisins, but you have to look long and hard for them.
Will I buy it again?
No. I've had just half of the tub, and I'm done with them.
The "dress circle," I have just learned, is the first level of seats above the ground floor in a theater. See, e.g., http://www.seatplan.com/uk/london/old-vic-theatre/dress-circle/.
ReplyDeleteNow, what this has to do with crispy, crunchy, bland and crumbly cookies is anyone's guess!
It does appear that the ladies on the label are seated in the dress circle. Perhaps, as in the super-expensive seats in modern American ballparks, the seats in the dress circle were discreetly served by liveried attendants, who served them little cookies to take their minds off the show. And perhaps the ladies in the dress circle amused themselves by crumbling their cookies over the railing and watching the hoi polloi pick the crumbs out of their hair.
Just a theory.
You prompted me to do what I probably should have done in the first place, which is to see if TJ's has explained this somewhere. They have: http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/1683
ReplyDelete"Their name, Dress Circle, is a reference to the level of seating in a theater or opera house, above the orchestra, where "evening dress" was generally required. But contrary to what you may be thinking, these cookies do not come with bow ties and high heels. Rather, they are just so good that they'd be right at home in that elegant environment."
I wasn't thinking that they came with bow ties and high heels...
ReplyDeleteThat's some kind of drivel, there!
I figured these were for the 10 and under crowd, tried them several times over the years (i like oatmeal cookies) and never made it past the first two servings of the bin.
ReplyDeleteTtrockwood
Ps
Be warned that the "shortbread butterscotch wreaths" cookies are ridiculous and amazing. Exactly like Walker's shortbread, just with brittle bits melted in!