…. to bring you “A Few Things Tracey Loves From Trader Joe’s.”
Proving, once again, that Trader Joe’s is the best grocery store ever. This in no way covers everything I love from Trader Joe’s. Just a few little things.
~ Trader Joe’s Just Grilled Chicken Strips. In the frozen section. Easy-peasy and yummy. For when you’re in a hurry. Or lazy. Which, to clarify, I never am.
~ Trader Joe’s Greek Style Yogurt, especially this Honey flavor. I’m eating it right now. I’m so glad you can’t see me because, in mere seconds, I plan on shoving my face into this-here container and licking out every little bit that’s left, thankyouverymuch. And if I were a skunk, this would kill me. (Well, no. I guess that’s only true with those narrow yogurt cups. So you’re safe shoving your snout into a Trader’s Joe’s Honey Yogurt, Pepe Le Pew! Woo hoo!)
~ Trader Joe’s Half ‘n’ Half. Good and cheap. We don’t need a picture, do we? It’s half ‘n’ half, for Petesake. It just makes me happy. The container is purple and white and looks kinda purty in my fridge. It’s the little things.
~ Trader Joe’s Peppermint Jo-Jos. These are a seasonal item only, but coming soon, pippa! They’re like Oreos — with crushed candy canes in the filling. (This is not what they look like out of the box — they don’t have the crushed candy cane on the top. Just a picture I found of what one mom did to her Jo-Jos when she had to bring cookies to school and wanted them to look more homemade. Good for you, mom.) These are so so good and Trader Joe’s sells out of them fast. It seems to me that whenever I shop there around the holidays, every basket or cart in line has a box of Jo-Jo’s in it. It makes me happy — it’s like a box of Jo-Jo’s is a box of joy. Sometimes a cookie isn’t just a cookie, you know. Luckily, I know the manager of my TJ’s — because she used to come to The Beanhouse every day and TJ’s was right across the street — and if I ask, she puts a box on hold for me. She makes sure I get my joy. Isn’t that nice?
~ Trader Joe’s Dried Mango Slices. I think we’ve discussed these before. I don’t want to even post a picture — it’s too much temptation. And I don’t buy them often because I become too easily obsessed with them. They are sirens singing to me from the deadly rocks. You’ve been warned.
~ Arabian Joe’s Middle Eastern Flatbread. I don’t know if the name is racist or not. But when you schmear some hummus or cream cheese on a slice and bite into its soft, chewy, almost nondescript perfection, you just won’t care.
~ By the way — and if you shop at TJ’s, you already know this — they frequently name their products like that. Middle Eastern Flatbread? Oh, that’s Arabian Joe’s Middle Eastern Flatbread, duh. Or whatever “duh” is in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu. Why, even now, in my cupboard, I have a jar of Trader Giotto’s Tuscan Marinara Sauce. So products have these regionally appropriate or possibly racist names: Trader Guiseppe’s. Trader Jose’s. Trader Yosef’s Technicolor Dreamcoat, etc. That’s just how they roll at Trader Joe’s.
~ Trader Joe’s Pinachios. This name vexes me. I don’t get it. I couldn’t find a picture of these. They are cookies — yes, again, with the cookies. I bought these for the first time yesterday because the taste-test dude passing them out forced them on me. Yes, forced. That’s what I said. I don’t really want to describe the whole ugly fracas, really. Just suffice to say that I lived to eat cookies again. Specifically, these …. these … Pinachios. They’re a butter creme cookie with white chocolate chips and pieces of pistachio, a delicious, coffee-dunkin’ combo of crunchy and chewy and mmmmm. I have no idea why they’re called Pinachios or the reason for the “n” in the name. Someone explain it to me. I mean, I get the whole reference to pistachios, but, Trader Joe’s, what’s with the “n”? You’re usually so clever with names, but this one? No. No. I think you’ve been smoking a little too much Trader Spicoli’s Cannabis. A cookie so delicious needs a much better name. Pinachios. Pinocchio. Pinochle. Come on, ya doobie smokers.
~ Hm. Well. Okay. This post slipped away from me a wee bit. Which is completely unprecedented.
Uhm. So. Shop at Trader Joe’s.
Yay.
The thought of you shoving your shnootz into a container of yogurt cracks me up. I think skunks tend to get their heads stuck in mayo jars, so you have much better taste.
The other seasonal thing I can find only there is Silk Nog at Christmas–good stuff. Is the staff at your TJ’s as happy and nice as the one I go to sometimes? I wish I could shop there exclusively. Then again, I also wish the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would loosen up, because then I could get Two Buck Chuck. (Or is it Three now, because of inflation?)
Mmm, Jo-Jo’s and some Bay Blend Coffee. Two of my fave’s from TJ’s.
I miss Trader Joe’s. We have one near us here in Virginia but it’s about an hour away.
My favorite thing currently is Trader Joe’s Coffee Ice Cream. (Not sure of the exact name). You open the top and it smells like a whole pot of brewed coffee.
It’s pretty awesome.
🙂
You know how jealous I am?
Real jealous. Real, real jealous.
I have a super-wal-mart. Which is like the fifth circle of hell what with the people talking on their cell phones and the 92 year old ladies with their 80 cans of cat food in the 20-items-or-less lane, and the parents who think the toy section is a free daycare. And what with the “Yeah, we carried that product for six months and yeah, people liked it real well, but we can’t screw the company out of cheap wholesale any more so we’re going to stop carrying it suddenly.”
There’s a Kroger’s, but it’s a half-hour drive away. I don’t think there’s even a Trader Joe’s in the whole entire state.
If I could order my groceries via e-mail and have them delivered, I totally would.
We’ve got a Trader Joe’s coming right to my town!!! I’m so excited!! I’ll think of you while I’m snorting the yogurt.
ricki — /If I could order my groceries via e-mail and have them delivered, I totally would./ Hahahahaha! I’m so sorry you don’t have one near you. That’s not right. Everyone needs a TJ’s near them.
Jayne — I think you, especially, will LOVE it. And it’s just a FUN place to shop.
I LOVE Trade Joe’s. I love the chocolate mint cookies…oh they have a cute name I cannot even think of right now, but joy is literally part of the name, like Cookie Joys or something. I am not even kidding!
Anyway, they taste like chocolate mint girl scout cookies all crumbled up and dipped in more chocolate. They are yummmmmmm.
They also have some waffer cookies that look like thin little waffles that are also very good.
Trader Joe’s is teh awesome!
I’ve never tried the yogurt. Hmmm…I’ll have to look next time.
My favorites:
1. I’m with ya on the Peppermint Jo-Jo’s. Oh my…creamy, pepperminty yumminess.
2. Masala Sauce – paired with – Nan in the frozen section – paired with steamed broccoli crowns from the frozen section.
3. Gorgonzola Gnocci in the frozen section. Ummmm…I ate the whole package at lunch one day.
4. Apple Cranberry Chutney. This was a sample find. They served a slice of french bread topped with a slice of brie cheese topped with the chutney. Yummy!
5. And, let’s not forget the doggy. He loves the peanut butter treats!
6. Finally….Bay Blend coffee. Love it!
Maggie – pizzelle, right? An Italian classic. In fact, we will sometimes spoon ice cream in between two of them and chow down. Tres yummy.
Nightfly, they are very like pizzelle’s but without the anniset (I have no idea how to spell that, and am way too lazy to look it up…you know, the licorice flavor), and a bit sweeter. But my dear departed grammy used to make pizzelles (also w/o the anniset, because I think it is yucky), and these are almost as awesome.
Perhaps someone already mentioned it, but my take on the name Pinachios was a sort of pseudo-portmanteau. Pistachios + Panache = Pinachios? This is how my mind justifies it.