Friday, December 13, 2019

Trader Joe's Orange Cardamom Muffins


These were just so-so. A little too dry. Orange flavor was present, but muted rather than prominent. After eating two, I couldn't detect anything that I thought might be the cardamom. But I had never tasted cardamom in isolation, so I didn't really know what to expect. So I sampled some from Nina's spice rack. Even with that experience freshly in mind, I was unable to taste any cardamom in the last two muffins.


Will I buy it again? 



via GIPHY

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Trader Joe's Cornbread Bites


Loved these. Loved both the flavor and texture. Loved each component: cornbread, cheese, peppers.


Will I buy it again? 

Enthusiastically. They might even be a Top Ten candidate, but I'm going to try another round of them before I decide.

Regular readers might notice that this is three reviews in a row with a strong thumbs-up. How often has that happened?

Monday, December 9, 2019

Trader Joe's Rose Fingerling Potato Chips


Nina spotted these at Trader Joe's yesterday, and we had some before dinner at her house last night.

If you've never heard of "Grey Guerande Sea Salt," I'm with you. Here's a bit of the history.

These chips are fabulous. They're flavorful. They might possess the most perfect crunch I've ever found in potato chips. They're pretty, with rings of pink. They're salted just right. Of course, being made from fingerling potatoes, there aren't any huge chips. On the other hand, we found relatively few sad, broken pieces. They were maybe a tad too oily. But other than that, they're extraordinarily good.

They were so good, in fact, that I eschewed the hummus Nina offered as part of the appetizer, and just kept digging into the bag for more chips; I didn't want to change the experience by adding in another factor. They're even better than the Dark Russets from my last review. I'm tempted to slap them directly onto my Top Ten list--but I think it would be better to wait until I can buy a bag of my own and try them a few more times.


Will I buy it again? 



via GIPHY

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


Trader Joe's announces recall of certain seafood products due to Listeria contamination

12 best new holiday products at Trader Joe's

18 Trader Joe's hidden gems

5 things real-estate pros always buy at Trader Joe's

9 peppermint items from Trader Joe's you need this Christmas

Trader Joe's is selling everything you need to make your house a winter wonderland

Trader Joe's stocking stuffers you should buy for yourself



Best tweets of the week:











And finally, because of the sudden proliferation of such photos on social media after release of TJ's first-ever advent calendar for cats, my weekly concluding feature, "cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag," will temporarily be replaced by "cute cat with its Trader Joe's advent calendar," until I run out of them:

Friday, December 6, 2019

Trader Joe's Dark Russet Kettle-Cooked Potato Chips


This is now the fourth variety of kettle-cooked potato chips in the Trader Joe's lineup. See here for reviews of the other three.

I liked these a lot. The appearance is a bit weird at first, because, well, everyone knows that potato chips are supposed to be yellowish-white, and these are as brown as can be. But get past that (or eat them with your eyes closed, if you must), and they taste great. Excellent crunch. Neither too thick nor too thin, neither too dry nor too oily. Salted just right. They're pure, in the sense that the bag lists just three ingredients: potatoes, peanut oil, and salt. What else do you need?

My main complaint was that the bag I bought had way too many small, broken chips, and not enough large ones. They taste just as good, but they're not as satisfying to eat, and they're no good for scooping up hummus, which is how I was using them last night.

Of TJ's "Organic Potato Chips Kettle Style," I wrote, "I think they're the best potato chips TJ's sells, and among the very best I've ever had from any manufacturer." With that, I put them on my Top Ten list. I stand by my assessment. I think these russets are not quite that good--but they're only a notch behind.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes. They deserve a place in the regular chip rotation.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Trader Joe's Organic Savory Vegan Gravy


What do you get when you combine water, onions, tamari soy sauce, coconut milk, and starch? If you ask Trader Joe's, the answer is "Savory Vegan Gravy." If you ask me, the answer is "Weird glop that looks like gravy but doesn't taste like it."

Of course, there's a lot more in there than those five ingredients, but they head the list. I suspect the it was something in the combination of onions and tamari that threw the whole thing off for me. I found it actually unpleasant to eat. Nina thought it was unexciting, but fine.


Will I buy it again? 


via GIPHY

Monday, December 2, 2019

Trader Joe's Focaccia Bread



Pardon the photo; I forgot to take a picture of this until it was half eaten.

This was acceptable but not great. I liked the cheese and tomato toppings, but the bread itself was pretty bland and lifeless. It would be better with more tomatoes and if the cheese were more evenly distributed, instead of being clumped all in the middle.


Will I buy it again? 

No.