Hyacinth

Normally, I would not write a review of a blooming plant like this hyacinth until it actually BLOOMED.  I mean, the FLOWERING is the whole point of it, right?

I got mine!  You better hurry, these beauties won't be at Trader Joe's very long...

But the thing is, Trader Joe’s is only going to have these for a limited time, and you need to get one.  So, I decided to go ahead and run this review now, while my hyacinth is still pre-bloom, to give you time to rush out to your local TJ’s and pick one up!

The tag shows us how pretty this bulb will be when the flowers bloom

Here’s the deal – they are CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP.  Seriously, you get the bulb and the sweet little glass vase for only $2.99.  That is cheaper than a coffee at Starbucks (or Caribou Coffee if you are boycotting Starbucks right now…).  And when this baby blooms it is going to be loooovely and the smell will be DIVINE!  (Bonus, when you are done with this year’s bloom, you can plant the bulb in your yard!  And you can re-purpose the vase or put another bulb in it and start all over!)

See?  Sweet little glass vase.  You need one.  So does your neighbor.  Hurry up!  Go now.

Please, put down what you are doing right now and just run out to Trader Joe’s.  Get yourself one, and hey, be kind and buy a couple for your neighbors!  Just put them on their front porch so when they get home from work they are delighted, surprised, and confused, as in, “Oh my!  A beautiful hyacinth almost ready to bloom!  How delightful!  And what a surprise!  This wasn’t here when I left for work this morning…  But, color me confused.  I mean, WHO PUT IT HERE??”.  Go for it! 

  

Price:  a crazy cheap $2.99 

Rating:  5

P.S. - if you DO get one for your neighbor, please comment here and tell me!  I would love to see a bunch of people get surprised by hyacinth!  :) 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Let me begin by saying, DAVID DOES NOT LET PIE GO TO WASTE.  David loves him some pie.  I mean, he loves all desserts, including pie.  This being his reality, his eyes lit up when he saw this Strawberry Rhubarb pie in Trader Joe’s this week.

Of course, he got it.  Heck, he has been working hard lately and deserves a special treat!  Only, when we served it later the same evening, it didn’t turn out to be a treat at all…

The label promised the dessert would be "mouth watering"

Here is David’s review of the pie:  “Surprisingly, I don’t like this pie.  And the CRUST is the heart of why, really.  The crust is underdone or something – it is not pleasant.  And then once you get through the crust all you have is tart rhubarb and not very strong strawberry taste.  I would like to take it back and return it, it’s that bad.  I would rather have a cherry pie instead of this, and I am not a big fan of cherry pies.  I like strawberry rhubarb pies, they remind me of when I lived in England and my friend Toby’s mom would make it.  But this pie by Trader Joe’s is not good.  I give it a 2, but those points are just because it is a PIE.”

Isn't it pretty?  Looks like something your Great Aunt would bring to the 4th of July picnic or something.

Here is what I thought of it:  “This was a beautiful pie.  It had sweet stars on the top, which gives it extra points in my book because they make the pie pretty.  😊  The colors of the strawberries and rhubarb peeking through the stars is also appealing to the eye.  I am not a “pie person”.  I would not usually choose pie from a dessert menu, but since David wanted this one, I jumped on board.  Surprisingly, I liked it.  the sweetness of the strawberries and the tartness of the rhubarb were a nice combination.  Sadly, the CRUST was underdone and sort of dough-y.  That was a turn-off.  I give it a 3.25.”

The trees are all in bloom in Washington DC!  HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

Note:  David did not end up taking the pie back.  He wanted to, but I cut another little slice out to eat for breakfast, and it seems tacky to take a product back and say, “This tastes crappy” when there is, like, 1/3 of it already eaten.  Trader Joe’s are great about accepting returns of things you do not like, and if we get a real clunker we don’t hesitate to take it back, but we don’t want to abuse their kind return policy.

Price:  $6.99

Rating:  2.5