Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Trader Joes wrap-up

The new products team at TJ's has been busting ass of late. Here's a few notes on some things I've found in my shopping cart lately.

Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter cups

I don't usually like peanut butter except in maybe a Thai satay context, oh, and in chocolate peanut butter cups. Trader Joes now sells high quality mini peanut butter cups. They are tiny and cute, and sold in way too big a box. This was the item that absolutely destroyed any hopes I had of maintaining my diet a few weeks ago. Unlike the dreaded Reese's product, this is quality milk chocolate and even decent peanut butter. By which I mean I didn't get the impression I was wolfing down vast quantities of chocolate - peanut butter flavored High Fructose Corn Syrup. My latest thought is that these need to be baked into brownies.

Caesar Salad dressing

There are at least two kinds of Caesar salad dressing that TJ's already sells. As salad dressings these are fine concoctions, but they aren't really what I would think of as caesar dressing. That's all been changed with the inclusion of a round jar of caesar dressing on the lettuce shelves. This stuff is the real deal. It's a viscous mix of lemony, garlicky, fishy, cheesy goodnees. It's also quite potent, you need less, so I guess that makes it diet happy too.

2000 Poggio Lontano Brunello ($20)

Yes, Brunello is a wine that comes only from one tiny hamlet in the chianti region of Tuscany. Yes, Brunello is a fabulously rich and decadent wine. Yes, Brunellos normally cost in the neighborhood of $54.00 - $75.00, not $20.00. Yes, caveat emptor is Roman for buyer beware. I got two crappy, watery bottles for Brunello for less than the price I could have gotten one good one. An item that is cheap is not necessarily a bargain.

1 comment:

Jenn said...

you know, TJ's is REALLY good about that sort of thing. If you have a crappy bottle of wine -- whether it's just inferior quality or gone bad -- they are happy to take it back and replace it for you. They do not want to sell either type of the aforementioned products. Seriously. If you still have the empty bottles, bring them back -- even at the least to tell the buyer "this is crap!"

It's a public service. :)

And you might get replacement value. :)