Key Lime Pie

Full disclosure from the get-go:  I am not a key lime pie kinda girl.  I don’t know why, as far as I know key lime pie never did nuttin’ to me to make me hate it, but for some reason it is just not on my list of favorite desserts.  So I am recusing myself from reviewing it (that wouldn’t be fair, would it, to average my number in, since I know from the get-go I am not going to rave about it…).

We tried this key lime pie at our local Trader Joe’s one time when they were tasting it.  I thought it was good as far as key lime pie goes (see paragraph above…) but David really liked it.  Sadly, it is just the 2 of us at home, so unless it is a product we both like, it normally doesn’t get bought (which is the reason I forego okra and David foregoes lamb…). 

David hit the jackpot when my sisters came to visit us in Florida, though, cuz it turns out they like key lime pie!  And while I was out of town on a work trip and he was in Orlando picking them up from the airport, they swung by Trader Joe’s Winter Park and got a bunch of goodies, including one of these pies.  They “prepared” it by just taking it out of the freezer for a bit.  I would say that is easy peasey key lime squeezy! 

Oops - I forgot to snap a photo before the pie had basically been devoured...

 Here are the reviews:

Annette (my middle sister):  When I asked, “Annette, what do you think??” she replied, “I think I would like to have another piece, please!!  It is absolutely delicious.  It is probably the first time I’ve ever had key lime pie.  I love it!  The graham cracker crust is sooo yummy.  It is delicious!   Just when it gets a little too sour, that graham cracker crust kicks in. I give it a solid 5 stars.”

Two thumbs up from Annette!!!  :)

David:  “I agree with Annette.  I think it is a GREAT version of key lime pie!  It is sweet, it is tangy, it is sassy (editor’s note:  he likes his key lime pie like he likes his women…).  It is set up and laid out perfectly by the graham cracker crust.  It is a great balance – a great double act – at work.  I don’t usually go for key lime pie or lemon meringue (its down-market cousin…).  I agree with Annette – I give it a 5.”

The intrepid team of reviewers!!!  

Sherry (my oldest sister):  (When we started reviewing this pie I asked Sherry if she had tasted it yet so that she could form an opinion to review it.  She had to confess that she had indeed been eating a little bit of it every morning before going off to the beach for her solo walks!!  Sneaky sister!)  “I have always loved key lime pie, but I only get it when I am in Florida, where key limes are from.  I never really ate it until I lived in Florida.  I think this Trader Joe’s version is very good.  It is tart, it is a little sweet, it is not messy to eat.  I would give it a 5, but I like key lime pies.”

Bonus photos:  We worked hard to get a good JUMPING photo of all 3 sisters on the beach.  These are what I consider 2 very funny outtakes.  In photo one, Sherry is sailing in the air, eyes closed in concentration.  Me?  I am smiling ear to ear and am actually off the ground!  Annette??  Oh, she is in the middle - CRACKING UP.  Annette, you can't JUMP if you are LAUGHING!!

And here in outtake #2, again, the oldest and youngest sisters have followed instruction and jumped together.  Sherry is somber again, perhaps she cannot smile and jump at the same time...  And Annette, the middle child, looks like she is squeezing every muscle she has (including her eye muscles) to get off the ground.

Honestly, there are much better jumping photos of the sisters, but these 2 crack me up.  :)

There you have it, folks.  This pie gets a solid 5!!  You should definitely get one to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Price:  $5.49

Rating:  5

BONUS PHOTO - CHECK THIS ONE OUT!  Annette is getting some serious AIR!  Sherry, too!  I, meanwhile, have my feet firmly planted on the ground...  #TimingIsEverythingInLife

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Apparently, this new Cauliflower Pizza Crust from Trader Joe’s is all the rage.

But let’s be clear – like other things that are “all the rage”, this does not mean it is a wise thing to rush out and buy.  And to prove that point, may I present, the come-back of the jumpsuit for women. Here is what H & M says about jumpsuits for women on their website:  "Jumpsuits are effortless, chic and fun. In our selection of women’s jumpsuits you can be both bohemian and classic chic – just alter your accessories and heel height."  To that I say - BWAHAHAHAHA!

A Google search for "Women's Jumpsuit" led me to this, a "bridesmaid jumpsuit".
Oh sure, she looks all classy NOW.  Just wait til she has to pee...

As anyone who has ever made the ridiculous decision to wear one of these “must have” all in one outfits on a long distance flight will tell you, DON’T.  Peeing in one of these contraptions in a public restroom, ANY public restroom, is a nightmare.  Now couple the grossness of a public restroom and pieces of your outfit scraping the pee-stained floor with the NYC-studio-apartment-sized-ness of an airplane bathroom.   You get where I am going with this, right??  Just because something is “all the rage” doesn’t mean you should JUMP ON BOARD.

But I digress.  Back to the TJ’s Cauliflower Pizza Crust…

It comes in a box, frozen

One of my Facebook friends mentioned how great it was, so while at TJ’s I sought one out.  Only, it was suuuch the rage that they were sold out of them…

Fast forward a couple more shopping trips, and we “snagged” a cauliflower pizza crust of our very own.  We topped ours with A LOT of stuff – homemade pesto, red onion, green pepper, garlic, TJ’s grilled balsamic chicken (which is great and I need to review!), TJ’s kumatos (which we eat a lot of, the review of them can be seen here: kumato review ), TJ’s feta in brine (which is the BEST grocery store feta you can get (outside of Greece… 😊  ) and whose review can be seen here:  feta in brine review ), and TJ’s mushrooms (plus salt and pepper).

David:  “It is nice.  What can I say?  It has got carbohydrate crunch but vegetable tastiness.  Then when you pile it high with all of the vegetable and meat and cheese and olives that we did, it’s great!  The one downside is that it is really hard to cut.  What a pizza!  I dunno – I will give it a 4.”

Photo of David BEFORE eating this product.  He looks very hesitant.
But, as you can read in his review, he actually liked it when we ate it.

Susan:  I don’t read other TJ’s blogs and reviews because I do not want them to influence my opinion before I taste and review something, but I DID get a glimpse of something before eating this product that basically said, “TJ’s Cauliflower Pizza Crust is the BOMB and you MUST get one!”.  To that I say:  I DON’T GET IT. 

It took 24 minutes just to cook the CRUST.  Then you put the stuff on it and broil it.  The taste of the crust (to me) is grainy, I guess because of the corn flour in it?  The texture reminds me of a bad polenta.  The texture definitely leaves something to be desired.

Here is our Cauliflower Crust, loaded down with goodness.  The burned bits tasted a little better than the rest of the crust.

And sadly, I do not get any of the CAULIFLOWER taste, I just get a BAD CRUST taste…  I confess that we piled ours high with too many toppings, so maybe they are masking the cauliflower?  I tried a bit of burnt crust, and I liked it better…  But still, overall, if you are not on a gluten free diet or something where you need to avoid gluten, I say go with a regular pizza crust.  Trader Joe’s has a terrific one that you roll out (which garnered a coveted 5 star review and only costs $1.19!  Review and photos here:  pizza dough review) – get that instead!  It is more fun to prepare, doesn’t feel grainy when you eat it, and is much tastier than this cauliflower contraption.  I give this 3 stars.

Price: $3.99

Rating (average of 2 raters): 3.5

Secco Grapefruit Pompelini

MY SISTERS CAME TO FLORIDA TO VISIT US!!!

We have a little beach house in Ormond Beach (it is a vacation rental home when we are not crashing in it).  It is rare that friends and family come when we are here, so this was a treat.  And what made it even MORE fun is that my 2 sisters and I all have summer birthdays, so we decided to whoop it up while they were in town and celebrate one birthday a day by doing whatevvvver the birthday girl of the moment wanted to do.  It was super fun! 

But because the closest Trader Joe's is 90 minutes away, we needed to stock up on a few essentials before leaving DC.  And by essentials, I basically mean WINE...

David displaying our boatload (ok, cartload) of TJ's wine -
 ready to hang out in Florida for a while!!

Oh sure, there are grocery stores and liquor stores in Florida where we could pick up wine, but it just wouldn't be the same as ol' TJ's wine, now would it??  So we loaded up a cart of wine (plus other "staples" we needed for the visit).  Then we happened on Irene (at the Bailey's Crossroads, VA Trader Joe's).  Irene quickly became my new BFF.  This is because, a mere 10 days before my 51 birthday, she CARDED ME TO SAMPLE WINES!  

Me and my new buddy, Irene!  

Basically, after that compliment, I probably would have bought anything Irene was peddling.  But it turned out that what she was peddling, Secco Grapefruit Pompelini, was actually tasty!!  So into our cart went a bottle.  Then another one, for good measure...

Even the bottle is pretty, don't you think?

One of the items on my sister Sherry's birthday wish list was "sunrise on the beach with mimosas".  We figured this Secco Grapefruit Pomelini was just as fancy as any mimosa, so we chilled it and packed it in a beachbag, along with 4 of the finest plastic champagne flutes money could buy!  Then off we went to watch the sun rise!!

Sunrise at Ormond Beach, Florida - Mother Nature at her finest, no filter needed

We busted out the Secco Grapefruit, toasted to birthdays, and had a lovely day.

A TOAST!!

Here are the reviews of the drink (reviewed while we swished our feet around in a blow up swimming pool :) ):

Sherry:  "It is kind of tart, bubbly, and refreshing.  It is perfect for a hot summer day.  It would be great at a brunch.  I give it 5 stars."

Susan:  "I also think it is great for a hot summer day.  It should be served well chilled, and if you want to be fancy like us, you need to serve it in champagne flutes (though the plastic of the flutes does make it tend more toward redneck than fancy...).  It would be good with fruit - maybe strawberries.  It would also be good with salad.  I think this is an all-around nice drink and worked well as a substitute for mimosas.  The frosted glass bottle is very pretty.  I also give it a 5."

David:  "This is a perfect balance of grapefruit, refreshing-ness, with the slightest hint of wine/alcohol, but nothing overpowering in the least.  It is not too sweet.  I give this a 5."

(David's comment of this only having the slightest hint of alcohol made me curious so I checked - it is 8%.  Fair warning - it does seem like the type of thing you might just sip and slurp and knock back until you were a bit tipsy...)

Annette:  "I rate it a solid 5!!!  It was so delicious!  I don't really care for wine that much, but that was delicious!!"

Sunrise toast from my sisters and me - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

My sisters helped review several other products while we were all together - more of those reviews to come!

Price:  $5.99
Rating (average of 4 raters): 5