Two Worlds Colliding

Have you ever had the experience of two of your “worlds” colliding?  You know, like you meet someone that you only know from WORK while you are at the MALL…  Or you think no one knows you are into dressing up like Harry Potter, then you run into your neighbor at a Harry Potter convention and you are both in full Harry attire…  (Note:  that was a totally MADE UP example, I do not dress up like Harry Potter, I have not seen the Harry Potter movies, nor have I read the books.  I was just trying to get my point across about two worlds colliding J .)

Anyway, two of my worlds collided recently when a friend sent me a link to the story of a Trader Joe’s cashier in California who was super kind to a family checking out in her line.  My TRADER JOE’S world and my KINDNESS world collided smack dab in the middle!  It was fabulous!

Kindness in the check-out line

I read the article, then set about doing a bit of research.  I got to message with the mom involved in the story and talk on the phone to the cashier!  It was super.  I have named ELISE, the TJ’s cashier, a Kindness Activist.  I hope she is wearing her button at work even as I type.  J

You can read about it all here:  Cashier Kindness

And if you live in the Antioch/Brentwood, California area and happen to go thru Elise’s line at Trader Joe’s, give her a big smile and a “thanks”.  She rocks.

P.S. Now that I wrote this, I keep hearing this song in my head:  Never Tear Us Apart

100,000 HITS!!!

Guys, it is a huge day!! Today, February 24, 2016, at exactly 5:43 PM EST this Trader Joe's 365 blog reached 100,000 hits!!  

To celebrate, I tried to make a fun video that was little clips of me being happy (and goofy) all glued together. But I didn't know how to use the only equipment I had to film it, and I accidentally made it UPSIDE DOWN.   When I uploaded it, I was amused (and perplexed) by the upside down-edness of it all. But guess what? When I plugged it in HERE on the blog, it automatically righted itself! Hey! So here is me celebrating!

And hey, here is a photo of me in a hallway jumping for joy at the big accomplishment!! 100,000 hits on my blog - wheeeee!!!

Can you sense my excitement???

So yeah, it is a big day. Maybe 100,000 doesn't seem like a lot to you in this day of "viral videos", but to me, that many views of my crazy project makes me very happy (and grateful).

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE!!!!!

Love,

Susan

Tulip Bulbs in Glass Vase

IT IS SPRING!!!

Of course, this is easy to declare on a day like today:  I have the day off work, the sun is shining, and it is a glorious day.

Ask me again in a couple of days when it is cold and rainy and I might not have such a positive outlook.

In any event, for now anyway, IT IS SPRING.  And Spring means BLOOMS – trees, tulips, crocus…  Spring is LOVELY!!! 

LOOK - flowers are starting to pop up in our yard!!

The other night we were in line at TJ’s and a lady in the line next to us had 2 glass vases that I had never seen at the store before.  I asked her about them and she was happy to explain – they were glass vases with tulip bulbs in them!!!  You keep water in the bottom of the vase, leave it in the sun, and before you know it VOILA – YOU HAVE TULIPS!!!   She said she gives them to her grandmothers every year.  Can we get a collective “Awwwwww” for that??  I mean, is that not a PERFECT grandma gift??  She said her grandmothers are thrifty, too, and they always use the glass vases for something else when the tulips are done.  I have to think that the grandmas also take the bulbs and plant them outside somewhere, too.

Tulip Bulbs in a glass vase

So I sort of wanted to grab one that night, but we were already in line.  And they were $8.99, which seems sort of expensive…  Plus, my grocery store date didn’t say, “Susan, you NEED that!  Let me go grab one for you!!”.  So, I didn’t get one.

But I kept thinking about it.  So today when we went back to TJ’s I grabbed one!!  I went for PINK.  I think I would have preferred the PURPLE actually, but the pink ones were less developed, meaning I will get to watch them bloom more!  I can’t wait to see the flowers pop out.

Look - I got one!!!

So yes, $8.99 does seem a wee bit pricy for 4 tulip bulbs in a glass vase.  But they are imported from HOLLAND, so they must be fancy.  :)  And do you know what?  I am worth it – and so are YOU!  And we make like grandmas and use the glass vases for something else after the tulips die, right? 

Looky looky - 2 pink tulips are already starting to make their appearance...   

I recommend you go to Trader Joe’s stat and pick one up.  I am most certain they will not have these Spring time beauties for very long.  Splurge a bit on yourself.  And while you are there, get one for your mom.  And your grandma.  They aren’t going to be around forever, you know, and if you are lucky enough to still have them in your life, SPOIL ‘EM. 

Here are a couple of other signs of SPRING at the Big Yellow House! 

Peachy - the peach tree - is getting buds!

Mr. and Mrs. Dove are hanging out in the dogwood tree almost
all the time now!  Can eggs be far behind??

And the dogwood will be in bloom soon, too!!

Price - $8.99

Rating – 4.75

Cara Cara Navel Oranges: The Sequel

Guys, I hate to do this.  I really don’t want to, but I feel I must.

I am DOWNGRADING the rating of Cara Cara Navel Oranges originally posted almost a year ago.

We LOVED Cara Cara oranges last year.  They were tasty.  They were sweet.  They were juicy.  They were the bomb.  Here is the original review from Day 66 of 365:

Cara Cara review

So this year when we saw them in the store, we were excited!  “The CARA CARAs are back!” we practically sing songed in the produce section.

Last year I loved 'em so much I wanted to marry 'em!

Alas, we should have kept our happy memories of better crops in 2015.  This year the cara caras we got are dry, bland, and kinda sorta tasteless…

Originally they got a coveted 5 star review.  I don’t give those out willy nilly, mind you!  And I feel bad if people read that review and rushed out to buy Cara Caras, only to be duped by some little round balls pretending to be tasty oranges.

Photo circa 2015; back in the time when Cara Caras were astoundingly delicious.

So I will give them a new score today.  Sorry Cara Caras, we loved you last year, but this year you disappoint.  Sigh.

New rating – 2.5

Suzy Soup

Recently some friends invited us over for dinner.  It was great fun!!!  They made a delicious dinner (dessert to be reviewed at a later date) AND shared a recipe for a soup that they make using all Trader Joe’s ingredients!

Well, of course we had to try that out!!!  So we collected ingredients and set out to make what I have decided should be called SUZY SOUP.  Yes, I know that Suzy and Rob, the friends who had us over for dinner, like to call it Tortilla Soup, but they are wrong.  In our house it will henceforth be known as SUZY SOUP.

Wanna make it?  It is, as Suzy told me, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”.   Here is how to make it:

Ingredients

1 can black beans, drained (reviewed here)
1 can corn, drained (reviewed here)
1 box chicken broth (reviewed here)
1 jar Trader Joe’s Double Roasted Salsa (this was our first time having this product!)
Chicken (boneless, skinless) – sautéed

Combine all ingredients listed above in a pot to heat (after sautéing the chicken)

Can't you almost SMELL it cooking???

Now here is the fun part!

Fill little bowls with:

grated jack cheese
cilantro
sliced avocados
sour cream (or Suzy says you can use plain yogurt but we were too scared to try that)
tortilla chips (we used our favorite Blue Corn Chips (reviewed here)
chopped onion (we got crazy and added this!)
chopped tomato (again, Suzy didn’t tell us to have this, but it made the soup amazing!)

Then let everyone fill their bowl with Suzy Soup and top with whatever toppings from the little bowls they would like!!  (Of course, at our house, we each put in EVERYTHING!)

We were so excited to EAT Suzy Soup that I forgot to take a photo until my bowl was nearly empty... 

SERIOUSLY good soup.  Perfect for cold winter nights.  Super easy to make yet somehow looks fancy!

The only downside I can think of is that when you are done with dinner you not only have SOUP BOWLS to wash, you have lots of tiny bowls that were filled with toppings to clean, too.  But that is a small price to pay for such a delicious meal.  David reports that one other downside is that it is so tasty, that SOME PEOPLE (editor’s note – there was a bit of guilt in his voice when he reported this…) might eat TOO MUCH and then go to bed with a very full belly and have a hard time sleeping… 

I CAUGHT HIM eating a second (or third??) helping!!

The recipe made more than the 2 of us could eat but it was GREAT as leftovers.  I can’t really list a PRICE here, because it depends on what topping ingredients you buy.  But it is not expensive to make.

Rating - 5

Molten Salted Butterscotch Macarons

Well this is awwwwkward…  I am doing something unusual for me today – I am working on the blog in public.  Normally I hole up at home to write, but today I decided to pack up the computer and head to Panera to write a review.  It just so happens that the Panera I chose is a couple doors down from our favorite Trader Joe’s.  And it appears that there is a bit of a TJ’s employee meeting happening here even as I type!  Several TJ’s peeps are decked out in their TJ’s attire eating and chatting nearby!  (Not near enough for me to be eavesdropping, mind you, or for THEM to see me setting out to write what is sure to be a negative review of one of their products…)  Like I said, awkward…

So yeah – Molten Salted Butterscotch Macarons.  I mean – judging from the name alone – these things have to be FABULOUS, right??!  Nothing about the name suggests anything other than greatness.  I was excited when we saw these in the frozen food section at TJ’s.  We had been invited over for a very belated Christmas celebration with our in-laws and we were in charge of bringing dessert.  “Bam!  Dessert chosen!” I thought when we saw these.  The serving size says 1 macaron, and there are 2 to a box.  Our dinner event would have 5 guests, so we weren’t sure how many boxes to buy.  We grabbed 2 boxes, thinking we could cut them in half and people could grab at them until they were gone.

They look pretty on the box, don't they?

We needn’t have worried.  Let’s just say, there was no fighting over these puppies.

They were easy to cook – you just bung them in the microwave.  Please note that “they were easy to cook” statement, as it is likely to be the last positive statement about this product in this review. 

Reviewers were us and our in-laws, who are notoriously LOW GRADERS on this blog.  I usually take that into account, that their opinion of products is consistently lower than ours, but on this one, we were all pretty much agreed.



Photo with my hand so you can get the idea of how big these suckers are.

Greg:  “It has a…  (VERY LOUD PRETEND BARFING SOUND)…  I get a bitter, salty, BURNED taste (very ugly facial expression).  I give these a -1.  (Editor’s note – I explained that he could not rate a product less than a 0, so he changed his score to a 0.)

Chris (our nephew, a senior in high school, who eats everything):  “Well, I do agree with Dad…  The mixture of flavors in the taste aspect is a little more BITTER rather than SWEET.  And the wafers don’t add much taste to the overall effect of the fake macarons.  I think the caramel-y-ness of this dish is a little overwhelming really.  Out of a possible 5 I would give this a 1.75.”

Chris LOOKS happy to be eating this dessert, but he was faking it.  He is an actor.

David:  “I am gonna say (pause to eat more…)….  Not a lotta taste here (“Amen!” heard in the background from Chris).  The macaroons are okay.  I think they would be okay, they would be BETTER with something CREAMY like whipped cream in the middle.  This filling that they’ve got doesn’t really make it for me.  It is, as they said, rather BURNED tasting.  It is sliiiiightly sweet, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.  I am gonna give it a 2.25.”

Joan:  “I LOVE CARAMEL.  I was excited to try this dessert.  I found the caramel VERY disappointing.  And the cookie – I left that on my plate… .  (Editor’s note:  SNAP!  DAMN!  COLD HEARTED!!!  She didn’t even EAT the cookie part!) I took the extra effort to LICK the caramel out of the center, but it doesn’t taste very caramel-y.  I still found it very disappointing  I give them a .5 .”

The macaron part was unworthy of Joan's attention.

Susan:  I, like Joan, was VERY EXCITED about these.  In fact I have a picture of David with them in the store practically peeing his pants he was so excited about them.  Soooo – these definitely did NOT live up to our expectation. The size is TOO BIG.  They would be nicer if they were 6 little petite teeny bits instead of 2 big honkin’ ones.  The macarons are too thick.  I don’t taste the same “burnt” taste that the others tasted, and I also don’t taste the salt.  And Joan and I agree – it also doesn’t taste very CARAMEL-ish.  But if it all came down to it, I would rather have some caramel in a DISH and not this blob of stuff masquerading as dessert.  And Trader Joe’s makes some DELICIOUS caramels.  Those are more worthy of your money and your calories.  In fact, Chris suggests that even a Werther’s candy would be more caramel tasting and yummier.  I like that these were WARM.  I like that the inside was mushy.  But these are a big disappointment.  I would give these a 2.

See???  We were excited about them before we tasted them...

One really lucky thing happened to our belated Christmas dinner:  Joan received an edible arrangement – fruit dipped in chocolate – as a gift for helping a little old lady out during the blizzard.  So even though the Molten Salted Butterscotch Macarons were a flop, the dinner was a big success and we ate chocolate dipped fruit on sticks for dessert!!

We ended up returning the second box of these yucky macarons to Trader Joe’s and of course, they took them back no questions asked. 

Overall review:  these are over-sized, over-priced, and super yucky.  Don’t get them. 

Price – $3.99

Rating (average of 5 reviewers) -  1.5

P.S. – We also went to see the hilarious political satire group “The Capitol Steps” after dinner.  If you are ever in the DC region you should see them.  Of course, given the current political climate they have a LOT of funny material to choose from.  It’s almost too easy, really.  If you want to hear one of their songs you can have a listen here (this is not my favorite one, they had one with Ruth Bader Ginsberg that cracked me up.) Jeb song  Learn more about them here:  Capitol Steps site

P.P.S. – Sales pitch from Chris – if you are in the Northern Virginia area stop by TOBY’S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM AND COFFEE in Westover.  You can get a Salted Caramel Ice Cream for $2.65 (small).  Chris works there.  J