Trader Joe's Yea/Nay/Meh - 2016

I got a beautiful stalk last week but yesterday the sprouts were all really small. (SoCal)

I had just bought Brussies a day earlier, so I only noted that the stalks they had here in Houston last weekend not only looked fresh but also had some of the biggest individual heads I had ever seen. I even showed my friend one in particular that looked like a stalk of green cabbages, (and was only very slightly exaggerating).

Edited to add: BTW, I prefer the small ones personally as I find them more tender. (shrug)

Yeah, it’s nice stuff. I always pick up a couple bottles when it’s availab.e

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TJ’s ginger-turmeric tea bags: just drink the hot water. These tea bags wont make a big difference. MEH at best.

YAY: blue cheese-stuffed Halkidiki olives (New Item). Mild flavor, nice in a Martini. But it looks like they may have sold out at our store–yesterday they were gone and the placard for them was gone, which if they’re no longer available that’s a big NAY.

NAY - gorgonzola pumpkin pizza. Pumpkin has zero business being on pizza, and that is all.

#neveragain

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Trader Joe’s shelf-stable Turkey Gravy. Very bland out of the box. (I did charge it up with a generous teaspoon of Mushroom Seasoning).

Soooo much holiday stuff!
I did see jars of the blue cheese stuffed olives (not my thing) as well as those giant olives with the pit which are a YAY.
New YAY find was an enormous jar of mixed stuffed olives- certainly more than enough for a party (or this olive loving household of one :wink: it’s 32oz mixed almond stuffed, pimento stuffed, and… some other kind. They’re large and firm, i’ve been diligently snacking on them this afternoon.

Cinnamon stars- what a find!!! Enormous YAY, new this year. They’re made in germany, and not so cinnamony but it’s certainly there, the cookies have ground nuts in them and are a thick soft star shape with a touch of white plain royal icing. I really wish i had bought a second box…

Rainbow of honey was a pretty gift packaged assortment of six or so different honeys for about $10, i passed on it but wish i had picked it up for myself!

I saw yet did not buy the new korean bbq sauce (anyone tried this? Is it spicy hot? I’m a wimp and it lists chilis), a frozen cinnamon roll wreath, a frozen panettone ice cream dessert thingy, the chocolate passport and a milk chocolate passport, and lots of other holiday desserts

I don’t usually buy bread at TJ so maybe it’s not new, but I have to say I really appreciated them having 8oz mini sourdough boules. Just the right size for one person to use over a few days and not get burned out on bread. I get so tired of things being family sized and share-able, glad they thought of the single people! Yay for small bread. Ok so it wasn’t the most amazing bread ever but the size was nice.

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+1. jalapeno. have to diligently stop myself eating too much.

I picked up one set of the honey today for the house, I think I’m going to go back for another to have
on hand if we need a gift in a pinch.

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Ewwww. WTH were you thinking???

It said “Harvest Pizza”, is why. I never even looked beyond mmmmmmgorgonzola. Lesson learned :smiley:

MEH for the lobster shrimp bites. The instructions call for nuking the bites before putting them in the oven, which turns them into annoyingly unmanageable piles of mush.

They also didn’t really crisp up much. Flavor was a-ok, but … eh.

YAY for the grass-fed buffalo butter. Really tasty and seems to have a higher smoke point due to a higher fat content. Nom.

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Has anyone tried the Sticky Toffee Pudding? Contemplating for Christmas Eve dessert…

I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding a while back. It was quite good. As I recall, it’s a good bit smaller than you’d think from the size of the box. If you chose to add whipped cream, you’d want it barely sweetened. Creme fraiche, as is, would also work.

What are people’s thoughts on the Tanzania bar? I couldn’t taste anything, and was wondering if it was somehow affected by whatever I had cooked that night.

I had the Papua New Guinea last night, and it’s my favorite so far. It’s complex, like something from Dandelion.

YEA upon YEA for the new-this-year Tartufi Dolci all’Amaretto chocolate hazelnut truffles with crumbled amaretti cookies in the filling. It’s $5.99 for 12 individually-wrapped truffles in a tall, gray, cylindrical can.

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Big YAY for the Dark Chocolate Mini Mint Stars. Like a Thin Mint with itty bitty sprinkles on it. So good.

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Nay-
Overly priced,salty and tiny stuffed (frozen) lobster tails. Thought it might make a nice festive treat (glad I tried it as last minute filler instead). Definitely not worth the price and really a sad end for a lobster. Definitely an item to pass on.