Friday, July 31, 2015

Day 212 - 5 Cheese Greek Spiral

We bought this one night when we were shopping while hungry, which we always tell ourselves we should never do.  If you go to the grocery store, any grocery store, on an empty tummy you will always walk away with heavier bags than if you shopped after dinner.  But when you eat dinner after 10:00 PM every night and Trader Joe’s closes at 9:00, well, you see our problem…

Anyway, we grabbed this one night when we were strolling down the frozen food aisle.  When we got home I unpacked groceries and put it in the freezer (we got a new fridge this year and it has a bottom freezer, which is amazing!) and promptly forgot about it.

Here is our new fridge - IN OUR ENTRY WAY!  They carried it through the dining room and living room to get it to our kitchen.  Anyway, here there are no doors on it, so see how big the bottom freezer is?  Holds lots of TJ stuff!
So it nice a nice discovery in the freezer the other night!  “Hey, we got this cool Greek thing, let’s have it!” I said.  It was really easy to cook – just popped it in the oven.  It is a cool looking spirally thing – a bit snail-ish (and, for the immature among us, the end of it looks a bit, well, poop-ish…). 
Here is what it looks like on the front of the packaging

And here is what it looks like in real life after you cook it.  See how the end is, well, a bit, umm...
But it doesn’t taste poop-ish!  It is good.  The flakey filo bits are oh so flakey and the cheese is super cheesey.  In other words, all parts do their jobs very well.  Here is what the package tells us are the cheeses you will find inside this dish: “gouda, kasseri, kefalotyri, semi-hard cheese, (huh?  Isn’t “semi-hard” an adjective describing a cheese – like, don’t we need an actual NAME of a cheese?), and blue cheese”.  The mix of cheeses is quite good.  It tastes like you are on a Greek island, but without the cost of airfare and without having to try and read menus in Greek… 

This is not a MENU, but this is what it looked like when I tried to read Greek when we went to Greece is 2007....
This would be fun to serve at a dinner party as an appetizer.  It is a little messy to cut into – flakes fly – but it’s cool.  It is something a bit unusual and fun.

Bonus photo of GREECE - has nothing to do with the 5 Cheese Greek Spiral but here is David jumping into the blue water of Greece!!  Isn't is gorgeous?
Price – $3.99

Rating - 4

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Day 211 - Shepherd's Pie

The box for this Shepherd’s Pie says that serving size is 2 – I believe that is accurate.  HOWEVER, the photo on the box also implies that this is going to be a delightful, hearty meal.  Thaaaat, in my humble opinion, is a stretch… 

Here is what one would EXPECT the final product to look like....
We cooked this in the oven as opposed to microwave and here is what I think –the mashed potatoes on top are way too runny.  They taste ok, but the texture is almost like instant potatoes.  They have no “form” to them, nothing to give them substance.  Because of this, the whole pie just doesn’t hold up at all.  It is a soupy mess.  And do not believe the photo on the box – there is way more potato than anything else in this dish.  In fact, this was totally reverse of the photo on the box, which had a thin layer of potato and a THICK hunk of meat and veggies.  This was POTATO and meat/veggies, not MEAT/VEGGIES and potato like the box would have you believe.


This is after cooking it but before splitting it onto plates...

See?  Runny mess with a piece of corn...  Not a lot of substance.  Far from hearty.
We used to live near a Cheesecake Factory (the one on the Plaza in Kansas City, MO).  To exercise, we would ride our bikes to the restaurant.  Then we would share one of their huge Shepherd’s Pies, then ride our bikes back home.  Let’s just say we probably burned about 1/1000th of the calories we consumed.  But this Trader Joe’s pie doesn’t hold a candle (even a birthday candle…) to the Cheesecake Factory’s version of this dish (and I am not implying that the Cheesecake Factory makes the world’s best Shepherd’s Pie, either).  


Also, the TJ’s pie has way too few veggies – would it kill them to throw a few more vegetables in there?     

Here is David’s opinion (given before he heard any of mine, so not influenced by my negativity):  “This is not very appealing visually.  The potato is a little bit too runny.  The taste is “okay”.  I would give it a 3.5.”

Granted, pairing it with a Guinness on a cold night like the sign suggests would have been better, but still...
Overall, I think this would be better in winter, but still wouldn’t be great.  I am not going to waste room in the freezer with this again.  This dish is dull and needs a lot of pepper to jazz it up.  I would give it a 2.75.  But I will average my rating with David’s to give this one the benefit of the doubt and pull the score up a bit. 

Price – $4.49

Rating – 3 (I could have rounded up, but really, that is tooooo high for this item)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Day 210 - Fireworks Chocolate Bar

I picked this wacky chocolate bar up a while back, then we kept putting off eating it.  Other treats jumped in line in front of it.  But yesterday was the day.  And boy what a day it was.  J

The drawing on the package is old fashioned, but ain't nuttin' old fashioned about THIS chocolate bar.
First, let’s examine what the wrapper of this bar says:  “Rich dark chocolate with a touch of heat and a popping sensation that will ignite your senses.”

HUH?  Better check the ingredients…  Ahhh, here are the ones that “don’t belong” in a chocolate bar:  “popping candy” (aka POP ROCKS!), chipotle chili, pasilla chile, and cayenne pepper!! 

A CHOCOLATE BAR WITH POP ROCKS AND HOT STUFF?  Mamma mia! 

As you can see, David, a lover of chocolate, was nervous when we bought this one...
Instead of reviewing this myself, I decided to invite David (as I often do) and also our nephew Chris to share the experience with me.  So the 3 of us arrived early to see Cirque Italia, settled into our seats, and busted open this Fireworks Chocolate Bar.

Reviewers Chris and David pre-Circus and pre-chocolate.  David looks nervous, Chris is psyched.
Here is what we thought:

Chris (teenager):  (Before tasting) - Smells good.  Fruity.  (Took a bite) – WOAH!!  I was chewing it and it was fine, then I swallowed and it started FIZZING (points at throat)!!!  What an odd sensation.  It’s good though.  Kind of kinky.  Weird.  Would be good in a s’more.  Don’t tell your friends what kind of chocolate it is and they would eat it and go, “What IS THIS??”.  
Rating:  3.5

David:  (Before tasting) – smells very dark, almost like cooking chocolate.  (Took a bite) – I thought it was all over after the Pop Rocks and it was a little disappointing.  Then the HOT STUFF HIT.  That was a surprise!  And I was worried.  But in the end I think it was a good balance.  I like the chipotles.  I don’t really need the cayenne.  It would be good with espresso and a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 
Rating:  3.5

Susan:  On first bite, the Pop Rocks feel more like Rice Krispy bits than Pop Rocks.  Then bam – the hot hits your throat hard!!  The Pop Rocks stick in your teeth and linger on – popping after the chocolate is gone.  Kinky!  I think this would be a fun treat for a first date.  Impress your date by sharing one of these with them.  This is not a chocolate bar I would ever really want to sit down and enjoy, but it would be very fun to break it into the tiny little pieces and serve it on a pretty plate at a dinner party. 
Rating:  3.5

None of us really wanted to FINISH the chocolate bar, so I packed it up and brought it with us to our next event for the day – seeing “Brouhaha” at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC.  Karen Beriss, a friend and reader of this blog, was seated in the row in front of us.  So I asked her and the woman seated next to her to join in on the tasting and reviewing!  Here is their take:

More reviewers!  Karen and Denise.  THANKS for helping!
Karen:  Note – Karen was well aware of this chocolate bar as she had bought and eaten it before and reallllly liked it. 
(After tasting) – I LOVE IT!  Suck on it!  I love everything about it.  I prefer it when it has been refrigerated (this was the first time she had one not cold), but it POPS more when it is not refrigerated.  Rating:  4

Denise:  Note – I had never met Denise.  It was fun to have a stranger review a product! 
It has Pop Rocks in it…  I just won’t stop…  My teeth are vibrating!  It’s in between my teeth, it is almost like it is going up to my gums.  Now it is dissipating.  I am scared to eat another piece.  (At this point I thought she hated it, but she was game and took another square.)  I LIKE IT!  I would buy it as a GIFT for someone.  It is a fun food. 
Rating:  3

Go ahead - splurge.  Spend $1.99 on a novelty chocolate.  
There you have it!  I will average all of the ratings together for the final score.  I still have a few squares left – wish I could give it to one of you out there in blog land to try.

Price – $1.99

Rating - 3.5

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Day 209 - Girasoli Ricotta and Lemon Zest (Ravioli)

Yum!  We served these ravioli with homemade pesto (we grow basil and try and have a big pesto making event at the end of every summer then freeze it in heat sealed bags.  It takes quite a few hours but it is well worth it – the pesto we unfroze tonight was from 2013 and it was fantastic!).  Our side dish was baby bok choy (reviewed way back on day 38).

Yummy dinner!
First impression – lemon zest!  Not overpowering though, very calm, well behaved lemon taste.  Then ricotta.  For David, there was a bit too much ricotta, so he added more pesto to balance things out.  But for me, good ricotta level. 

These make for a good, simple dinner.  They only take 3 minutes to cook.  I think they would be fine to serve if you have guests over.  You do not want a heavy sauce with them – I would like them with just olive oil but I fear my date would not. 

Even before we brought them home and cooked them, David guessed these would be Italian good
Speaking of my date, here is what David has to say about these ravioli:  Tasty.  Great mouth feel.  Filling filling (that is adjective then noun – see what he did there?).  Serve with a flavorful sauce because ricotta doesn’t have much taste on its own (see!  I TOLD you he wouldn’t want these with just olive oil!).  They cooked just fine following the directions and that is good, none exploded.

Hard to spell name...
 The package says this is 3 servings.  I would say it is 2.5 servings.

I will buy these again.  Good summer dish.

Price – $2.99

Rating – 4.25

Monday, July 27, 2015

Day 208 - Fig Bites

Let’s put this on the table from the get-go – these seem to be the Trader Joe’s version of Fig Newtons.  I propose a new name – FAUX NEWTON.  Don’t you think it is great?  Or or or!  Wait.  They could go with “Fewton”.  YES!  Fewton.  I like calling stuff that is copying other stuff the name of the thing, but replacing the first letter with an “F” (for “faux”).  It works well in this instance, no??  So for the remainder of this review, I will call these Fewtons (though if you go into a TJ’s to buy them, look for a bag that says Fig Bites, cuz the corporate office might not have had time to read this review, redesign packaging, recall all the bags with the old dumb name on them, and replace them with the shiny new FEWTON bags!!!).

This is the current bag - before Corporate reads and implements my great new name
So, I had never had a Fewton before, nor had I had what I presume is it’s name sake, a Fig Newton.  I always thought I would not like Fig Newtons, so like an idiot, I didn’t bother to TRY them.  Seriously, don’t NOT EAT something because you THINK you will not like it.  Only a three year old should do that.  Go ahead and TASTE it.  Then, if you really DO NOT LIKE IT, don’t eat more of it.  But for goodness sakes at least taste it!

So I thought Fig Newtons would be yucky, and I didn’t try them.  For 49 years.  In fact, I never had a FIG until last year!  A guy gave us a little tiny sprig of a fig tree the year before that, and we planted it, and it grew, and wouldn’t you know it it gave us real live figs!  And we ate them.  And they were delicious!  (Note:  there are small green figs on the tree now!  Not ready for eating yet, but aren’t they cute??)

Our adorable figs growing on Pudding, our fig tree.
I think my assumed dislike of Fig Newtons maaaay have gone back to my mother.  I remember hearing her tell the story of working in a Fig Newton plant in Omaha, Nebraska when she was pregnant with me.  The smell of cookies and figs and the heat, on top of her morning sickness, got to be too much, and she simply could not make another Fig Newton so had to quit.  So you see, I came about my distrust of Fig Newtons very organically.  You could say it was genetic!!  (FACT CHECK – I checked in with my two older sisters before publishing this review, and they have corrected my version of the story.  My mother was pregnant with my oldest sister, not me, when she worked in the Fig Newton plant.  But I prefer my version of the story, so let’s stick with that.)

Old school photo of my mom, wasn't she beautiful?
But back to the Fewtons.  Like I said, I have never had a Fig Newton, so I cannot actually compare this TJ’s Fewton to the cookie I presume it is a replica of.  It LOOKS just like the Fig Newtons I have seen.  But to do a taste test, well you will have to do that yourself.
Four Fewtons on a little plate
I can tell you that the Fewton is good!  I was surprised how “unsweet” it was.  The little cookie/cake “wrapper” thing around the fig paste is very neutral tasting.  And the figs are figgy tasting, but not really sweet.  The first one I ate I found to be a bit bland.  But after the 2nd, and 3rd, I realized I like them!  They are interesting.  They go well with coffee.  Would be a nice pairing with tea.  You can eat a couple mid afternoon for a pick me up without feeling guilty.  They are nice for breakfast.  Fewtons are cool!

Even the signage doesn't say "Just like Fig Newtons!!" :)
One thing I would recommend (besides the official name change) is a packaging update.  The Fewtons want to be soft.  And the current packaging makes it tricky to reclose them after they are opened.  We have rigged up a big clippy to try and hold the bag shut, but it is tough to get it to stay on.  Trader Joe’s needs to design a package with a zip top seal for these cookies.

Price -$1.99

Rating -3.75

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Day 207 - Javier San Pedro Rioja (Viura 2014) (wine)

Wow, it has been 34 days since I have reviewed a WINE!  I better fix that, stat!

Today’s review is a white wine – Javier San Pedro Rioja.  We picked it up at a TJ’s in Arlington, VA because we had not tried this wine before.  Last night we drank it with dinner (dinner was a Greek Cheese Spiral Thing-a-ma-Bob from TJ’s, to be reviewed soon, and yellow squash).  This wine was a good fit.  Tonight we are drinking it while working on computers and nibbling – right now we are pairing it with a paper thinly sliced ham (basically we are chomping on naked lunch meat and slugging wine – don’t judge).
  
Wine and computer work - ahhhh
Here is what we think:

David – I like it.  It’s got some substance even though it is light and fresh.  It’s got some cojones.  It’s not one of your fruity little mincing Pinot Grigios.  You can taste the Spanish Civil War in it.

Susan – fruity, though I am hard pressed to tell you WHICH fruits…  Perhaps a bit of citrus.  A dry finish.  Summery.  (Note –unlike my drinking mate, I do not taste war in this beverage.)


Nice label, eh?
I think it would pair well with pasta, fish, or a cheese plate.  David says he would pair it with roast pork, which we never have, so I am not sure how is gonna do that… 

(Or you could always pair it with naked lunch meat.)

Not a bad price.  Exclusive - doesn't that sound better than saying "store brand"?  Exclusive is FANCY!  :)
Price - $7.99

Rating - 4

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Day 206 - Butter Croissants

As mentioned in an earlier review on this blog, we have never found the “perfect bread” for us at TJ’s.  By that I mean bread as in LOAF of bread.  We do have a couple of bread products that we like – mostly the plain crumpets (which I THOUGHT I had reviewed earlier in the year but I just checked and they have not been reviewed – shame on me!).

Recently we made our RETURN TO TRADER JOE’S after being away a long time in a non-TJ’s city.   One of the new (to us) items we picked up was this package of butter croissants.   

Look at the letter "C" in "croissants" - "c" what they did there?

I cut one in half this morning and had it for breakfast.  One half number one I slathered Dulce de Leche (which got a glowing review on day 182, the half way point of the year for this blog).  On half number two I put butter, which sadly was hard from being in the fridge as opposed to soft and spread-y because I forgot to take it out of the fridge when we got back to town.  My bad. 

Dang it, I forgot to let the butter warm up overnight...  But I DO get to each a fresh peach from our tree!  HAPPY SUMMER!
Half number one was decidedly tastier than half number two.  I attribute this to the yum factor of the Dulce de Leche.  The main issue I had with the croissant was the lack of flakiness.  It tasted more BREAD and less CROISSANT.  Does that make sense?  It didn’t taste bad, per se, but the texture was not croissant-y enough for me.

David also had a croissant for breakfast (there are three in a package).  He cut his in half and toasted it in the oven and reported that his, though not FLAKY, was apparently MORE flaky than mine.  He used butter and jam on his and said it was a tasty breakfast.

Overall, I prefer a more flaky croissant.  I guess I like my croissants like I like my men, nice and flaky J.  I think because these are not freshly baked it is difficult for TJ’s to get the flake factor just right.  At .90 cents per croissant they are a fine price, but I would prefer to pay a little bit more and get a fresher one somewhere else.

Look - the sign specifically says "Rich and FLAKY!" - hmmmm...  
Price – $2.69

Rating – 3.25

Friday, July 24, 2015

Day 205 - Kale and Cauliflower Curry Salad

I picked this one up because sometimes, when I know I am going to have a challenging work day, I squirrel away a tasty Trader Joe’s salad to have as a mid-day treat.  I was happy when I sat down for lunch today with my CNN on, an ice cold San Pellegrino Limonata in front of me (reviewed on day 141 of this blog – one of the most frequently read reviews, probably because of the shopping comparison “event” that happened at WalMart…), a fresh sliced tomato from our garden, and THIS KALE AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY SALAD.

Healthy lunch!
 The first thing I thought when I opened the container was, “Would it have killed them to cut the cauliflower florets up a little bit more??”.  They were some very large cauliflower hunks, I’m tellin’ ya.  Because of that, I recommend having a knife with you when you eat this salad.

Maybe the cauliflower hunks don't look huge here, but in real life they did.
The kale in it was quite good.  And there was a big surprise!  At least to me, who had not read the ingredient list but only the name of the product, it was a surprise.  Not only does this salad contain kale, curry, and cauliflower, it has WHEATBERRIES hidden on the bottom.  SURPRISE!  And then there was a single plump golden raisin, too.  (I could have done without that, but I can hardly complain when there was only one of them…)

The package says the recommended serving size is half a package – oops, didn’t read that until after I had devoured the whole thing.  It didn’t seem extravagant or piggish to eat it all, so if you are having it for a meal and not an appetizer then I think the recommended serving size is a bit off. 


See?  The wheatberries are not mentioned.  Shhh - they are a secret!
Taste wise it was good.  The kale was the best part, followed by the wheatberries.  I added a bit of freshly ground pepper and that was it.  It is not a strong curry flavor but the curry does add a nice touch.

Overall, it is a fine salad.  Not my very favorite from TJ’s but certainly not the worst.  J

Price – $3.99
Rating - 4

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Day 204 - Organic Woodfired Sicilian Style Pizza

Look, we pulled into home around 1:15 AM.  When we got here, our grass was a mile high (we had been gone three weeks) and the fence in our front yard had been hit by a car and knocked over.  We unloaded the car, futzed around in our hot and musty smelling house, and finally got around 5 hours sleep before getting up and working a very hard day.

So FORGIVE ME if I wasn’t in the mood to actually cook something for dinner tonight, ok???

We went to a local Trader Joe’s (the Clarendon store in Arlington, VA) to get something easy to make for dinner.  This pizza seemed like just the thing.  The box boasts of red pepper, provolone, and pearl mozzarella.  Sounds good, no?


Here's the box.  Looks good, doesn't it?
Sounds good, but doesn’t TASTE good.  It tasted like a cracker with some crap on it.  Not literal CRAP, mind, you, but crappy food.  The tomato sauce was not luscious.  The red peppers were not amazing. Heck, even the two types of cheese were blah. 

Ready to cut and eat.
This pizza came with a little packet of olive oil with red pepper.  The box explains, in large letters, “Unlike a Sicilian Summer our signature style pizza let’s* (sic) you choose your level of hot-ness.  Drizzle the pizza with all of the oil for a spicy boost or use just a little for a milder flavor.”

HOWEVER, if you read the very fine print on the little olive oil packet, you are supposed to drizzle said olive oil on half way through cooking the pizza.  OH SNAP!  I wish the box would have told us that so we were have done that.  Instead, we drizzled after cooking.

Good ingredients, bad pizza
Crust – super duper hard (cracker-esque)
Sauce – boring
Red peppers – dull
Cheeses – not inviting

Half way through one piece David gave up and went into the kitchen to remake his pizza into something more edible.  He added olives (from another store), fresh tomato from the garden, and mozzarella balls (from TJs).  He says, “The “pearls” were smaller than oyster pearls, given the effect on the original pizza”. 

David, before he gave up and totally doctored his pizza trying to add flavor
I say - If we wanted to make our own pizza we would have done that from the get go!

Crappy, dull pizza.  Not worthy of the $5 or the calories.  Skip it and get something better.

*        Trader Joe’s corporate – grammar alert on this box.  Misplaced apostrophe.
 
Price - $4.99

Rating – 1.75

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Day 203 - Giant Peruvian Inca Corn

In our house we have a word for when something is not interesting.  It is not bad, per se, but it is not good.  The word is BOF.

And after eating these Giant Peruvian Inca Corns, I say BOF.

Bof.
They are corn nuts on steroids if you ask me.  Crunchy but a bit “empty” – just a shell of a crunch.  They are NOT good to snack on while you watch tv, I will say that.  The crunch is so darn noisy in your head that you cannot hear the television. 

The bag talks about how they are from Peru and there are llamas involved – yada yada yada.  I say – these are big ass corn nuts, nothing more.  Less salt than corn nuts, too.
  
Here is what they look like in a small glass bowl.  See - nothing special.
If you want a really yummy treat that is reminiscent of corn nuts but actually tastes amazing, get Trader Joe’s Partially Popped Popcorn (Day 74).  Now that is good!  It is worth the loud crunching!  These, not so much…

Here is one with a penny so you can see the size.
David is sick with a bad cold.  He just tried these too, and I asked him what he thinks.  He said his opinion may not be objective right now, what with being sick and all, but here is what he thinks: 
·         These are big corn nuts.
·         Nice.
·         Crunchy.
·         Kind of like natural fried/crunchy Cheetos (not the puffy kind), but without the cheese.
·         Roasted corn taste and salty.
·         Nice. (He said that twice. See, he is sick.)
·         I am not sure I can taste the Peruvian provenance, but good corn.
·         I would give it a 3.5

No thank you.  I will keep my $1.79.
So David gives them a 3.5, but I think his illness is confusing him.  I give them a 2.5.  I think instead of averaging the two scores exactly, mine should count a biiiit more (I mean this is my blog after all, and achoo, he just sneezed again so can he be trusted??).   So the final rating is higher than I would have given, but lower than a mathematical average.  Fair?

Price – $1.79
Rating – 2.75


Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Day 202 - Black Beans

A can of black beans is a can of black beans, right?  I mean, how SUPERB or CRAPPY can a can be?  Maybe I just have never bought a super bad brand of black beans.

That being said, these are fine black beans. :)  They are black.  They are beany.  They are good.  As I have mentioned in previous reviews of canned vegetables on this blog, before buying Trader Joe’s brand, I always thought I “needed” to stick with name brand canned vegetables.  I clipped coupons and bought them on sale.  But now that I know TJ’s are just as good as the fancy name brand vegetables that pay for advertising (and coupons!), I will stick to TJ’s!

Not only are they tasty, they are an excellent source of fiber (insert fart joke here)
I served these over rice and topped with chopped green pepper, chopped onion, chopped tomato, and sliced avocado.  YUMMMMMM.  I added salt, pepper, and Tabasco to mine.  Sometimes I do the black beans over rice and kale (also with Tabasco) and that is also a really tasty meal.


See those black beans hiding under all of those tasty toppings???
If you have never tried a store brand canned vegetable, do it.  Cheaper and just as reliable. 

Price - .89
Rating - 4

Monday, July 20, 2015

Day 201: Capellini

Look, either you LIKE capellini or you don’t.  It’s a super skinny Italian pasta.  I would say it is like angel hair.  So it is not a HEARTY type of pasta- it is delicate, quaint, and capellini-ish! 

Capellini meal 1 - served with olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, snow peas, and delicious shrimp
But if you like capellini, this is a fine one.  It is in the pasta aisle of Trader Joe’s alongside the other varieties.  I saw someone online worried that Trader Joe’s might have discontinued it, but I just called our local store to check in and make sure they still have it – Sally said indeed THEY DO. And it's pretty cheap, too.

Capellini meal 2 - served with a red sauce enhanced with onions, green peppers, and mushrooms with sides of zuchinni and snow peas
 Because it is so darn skinny it only takes 3 minutes to cook, which makes it a speedy little pasta! 


We recently served it with shrimp, olive oil and garlic for a delicate little dinner.  It is also good with pesto.  And we just had it AGAIN tonight with an Alfredo sauce (which I added mushrooms to). David really loved it and gobbled it up (well, he gobbled it slowly, he is a super slow eater).  In fact, he added butter and salt to the naked leftover capelli and gobbled that up, too.  This is a flexible pasta.

Capellini meal 3 - served with Alfredo sauce enhanced with mushrooms, fresh corn, left over Brussels Sprouts, and left over chicken (this was a "trying to clean out the fridge" meal)
I sort of wish this was a bad pasta, cuz you know I would love to write something about it being “crapellini”.  But I cannot do that.  So I won’t.  But I still got to say crapellini, so I am cool with it.

This is a good one to keep in your cupboard.

Price – $.99

Rating – 4.25