Day 363 - European Cookie Collection and ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW PROJECT!

I HATE ENDINGS.

I hate them!!

Sure, I know most people dislike “goodbyes” and don’t like it when they eat the last bite of their ice cream sundae.  But I seriously have an aversion to endings.  Examples:

·         It is December 28^th.  David and I have not opened a single Christmas gift from one another yet.  Long into the New Year some of these gifts will remain in their pristine wrapping and eventually join the big pile of other “unopened gifts” at the Big Yellow House.

This photo is NOT taken before Christmas...  This is 3 days AFTER Christmas.

•  Remember when everyone was raving about the ending of “Breaking Bad”?  Yeah – we have    not watched the conclusion yet.  In fact, just this month we started in on the last season.  We have a couple left.  We will stretch them out…  (Same held true for another show we loved, “House”.  Everyone else knew what happened to Gregory House at the end about two years before we did.  Quite literally.)

·         I get sad at the beginning of every autumn.  I really like autumn, mind you, but I am sad because of the ending of summer…

This is the view out our kitchen window every fall - our neighbor's tree is gorgeous, yet still the season makes me sad.  Summer ENDS...

I am sure there are many more examples in my life of things that I put off ENDING.

To be clear, ending things is not the same as FINISHING things.  Finishing allows you to check the item off your “to do” list.  Finishing can be satisfying.  ENDING is different – ending is somehow much more final than a simple finish.  Ending means that thing/event/season is over.  Ending brings with it a sense of finality and often a tinge of sadness.

And so this project is nearly ending.

It is day 363 of 365.  To be honest, when I had this crazy idea and began it, I didn’t really know if I could do it.  You may not realize it, but committing to do something every single day is huge, at least for me it is!  Sure, you do things like brush your teeth every day, and most of us cook every day.   But to me those are not commitments, those are just LIFE.  This blog, these reviews, these were a commitment.  And for a commitment phobic such as myself, a huge commitment!

Have I told you that we lived together for 12 years before getting married?  Yeah, we BOTH dislike commitments...

As you may have noticed if you looked back to the start of this project, at the beginning my entries were more perfunctory – shop, photograph the product, eat it, and review it.  But as the year went on and I got more and more “into” the blog, I started to sort of share my life with you all.  That was a new experience for me, and sometimes it was a bit scary to be vulnerable, but most of the time I really loved sharing photos of details with you of “real life” stuff, not just Trader Joe’s things. 

So today is not the very last day of the project.  But I feel like I have to sort of brace myself, get myself ready, for the end, which is why I am taking time to write this today. 

Here’s the deal:  I feel like I enjoyed this project because for the first time in my life really, I had a clear beginning, middle, and end to something.  I knew exactly how many days were going to be committed to this.  Trust me, there were times when I thought I was in way over my head, but knowing the finish date kept a light at the end of the tunnel. 

And now as the days have wound down I have been getting sad, but at the same time a little piece of me is happy.  And thrilled.  Thrilled that in just a couple of days I will be able to say “I DID IT!!”.  When I started this I had no idea that “365” things were a trend.  Did you know that it is sort of “hip” now to do something every day??  I didn’t, until my sister-in-law told me about an article in the Washington Post last month where they interviewed other “every day of 2015” people.  One guy is eating a taco every day (I am glad I am not him).  One woman is making a different tiny chair every day!!  The article was interesting for me – I could relate to a lot of what the other people were saying.  (You can read it here )  

Thank you to everyone who has been commenting, “DON’T STOP BLOGGING!” and “You know you are not gonna stop, you are in too deep now…”.  Your comments have made me smile and also made me proud. 

I must stop.  I can’t write everyday anymore.  Each entry takes me on average 45 – 50 minutes to compose and upload, and that is after already spending time shopping, cooking, tasting, and photographing stuff.  I have LOVED this project, it has been such a motivation for me this year, but it has also taken a lot of my time and more importantly, my creative energy.  I promise that I will write PERIODIC reviews and post them here – like, when we run into something at Trader Joe’s that we adore (or makes us gag J ).  But I can’t commit to doing it every day.

BUT (as PeeWee Herman says, “Everyone I know has a big butt…”) – BUT – I am starting a new journey. 

In thinking about this whole Trader Joe’s adventure, one thing became clear to me – if I am putting something out there into the world – I want it to have a PURPOSE.  Sure, this blog has the purpose of informing people about stuff at TJ’s, and perhaps a “sub-purpose” (is that a word?) to entertain and make people laugh.  And maybe this is the stuff that is supposed to get talked over with a therapist J but I think I am looking for a higher purpose at this point.

So I have decided to be a KINDNESS ACTIVIST. 

Do you want to be a kindness activist, too?

“A HUH???” you might be thinking.  A KINDNESS ACTIVIST.  I am going to write about kindness.  Not “random acts of kindness”, but intentional, purposeful kindness.  And not hoity toity kindness on the religious scale, but everyday kindness that we all give and witness.

I just think I would like to spread a little kindness.  I recently realized that kindness is a heck of a lot like peanut butter, it needs to be SPREAD.  So I hope to encourage people to SPREAD the hell out of it!!

Oh it’s still gonna be irreverent.  It’s still gonna be silly.  And it’s still gonna involve the adventures of Susan and David.  But I hope it will involve the adventures of others, too. 

Wanna join?  I hope you will.  I have loved “getting to know” you through your comments this year.  I am in the process of setting up the Kindness Activist stuff (guys – there are going to be BUTTONS – I mean that is some serious stuff, eh – real-life-pin-to-your-shirt-or-backpack BUTTONS!!).  I am not committing to writing every day, but I am committing to being an activist.  And committing to encouraging others to be activists alongside me.

Let’s do it!!!!  Here are the details:

•  Blog:  KindnessActivist.blogspot.com (link here )
• Facebook:  Kindness Activist
• Twitter:  @kindactivist
• Email:  kindnessactivist@gmail.com

(I am trying to get tech savvy here – wish me luck!)

Please comment here or send me an email at the address above to nominate someone you know as a kindness activist.  And I hope it is YOU – you can totally share with me things YOU did out of kindness!  I would love to write about them!!  (And you know you want a kindness activist button...)

Enough kindness for now, let’s get to today’s REVIEW!  

European Cookie Collection – this is a special red tin of 12 varieties of cookies from Belgium.  It is a holiday/seasonal item, meaning TJ’s only carries it for a short time, and when they are gone, they are gone (until next year during the holiday season, when hopefully they will have them again!). 

This was a flyer item AND a seasonal item - double special :)

The packaging says a serving size is 3 cookies, but if you like them do not fret – there are “around 34” servings in the big a** tin!! 

We decided to buy these cookies when a Trader Joe’s employee at the Bailey’s Crossroads, VA store pointed them out to us.  He told us that he remember another customer who bought a DOZEN TINS of them at once!  I asked if they were for gifts, but nope, he loved them so much that he was going to just store them and eat them over the year!!  (Note:  I see that our tin says it is best eaten before August 2016 so that would give us 8.5 months to eat these!  Trust me, they won’t last that long.)

Aren't they PRETTY?  One variety up in the corner spot was broken, but the rest are in perfect shape

There are 12 different cookies included here.  I have eaten TWO and I really liked them!  One was the small round one with coconut on top and it was deeelicious!  They taste like “European cookies”, but in the good sense of the word.  I say that because we have eaten some European desserts that are “all about the pretty” at the expense of the TASTE.  These cookies are just as tasty as they are lovely!

A downside for us tonight is that we are eating them in FLORIDA where it has been around 80 degrees.  We have the air conditioner set to 79 degrees, so it is not, how shall I say, cool in here.  That means the chocolate is a bit melty.  But we cannot blame the cookies for that at all!  That’s all on us. I give them a 4.75.

 A cookie display on one of my favorite plates!

David says, “I agree, these are good.  The ones that are covered with chocolate, the chocolate is kind of more overpowering than the cookie that is inside.  Not that that is BAD, but for the Philistine that I am I sometimes wonder, “What is this cookie??  Is it a sugar cookie?  Is it a shortbread cookie that I am eating on the inside??”.  But some of them have hints of something or other in them and each of them is distinct I guess.  So that’s good!

And the cookies without chocolate on them are also nice.  They are all really cruuunchy.  Not in a hard way, but in a crackly, kind of CRUNCHY way which is good.  They all feel like they’ve got a lot of BUTTER in them, which is also good.  And not underdone at all – they are perfectly done.  It’s a nice collection.  I give it a 4.5.”

We were psyched to get these

Editor’s note:  I asked David if he would buy these again next year if Trader Joe’s has them, and he said he would get them again if he was certain that he would have people to share them with.   He says, “Cuz if no one else is eatin’ ‘em, I’m EATIN’ this whole collection!!”.  Well we are going to share these, because tonight we are bringing some to a luau at the neighbor’s house!  Yes siree, nothing says “LUAU” more than European cookies covered in melting chocolate!

Price – $9.99

Rating – 4.75

Day 303 - Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Gratin

The package of this dish says “An ideal vegetarian entrée and excellent side dish”.  For truth in advertising, I think they need to delete the words “ideal” and “excellent”.

This is a seasonal product, so if you want it go to your local Trader Joe’s NOW and get it, because they won’t have it for very long.  And not to worry, you will not have to fight us over it…

I THOUGHT it looked super tasty...

I followed the conventional oven heating directions and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees.  The end result was a dinner that was extremely boring with almost no taste.  We cut the Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Gratin in half and ate it as if it were a non-meat lasagna (as it is described on the back of the package).  It would be BETTER if you served this as a side dish with something else that had a good flavor that this was just trying to “play off of” instead of eating THIS as a meal. 

David agreed that it was “kind of bland.  Sort of “Midwestern” in its palate, no strong flavors.  But it is kind of “comfort foody” in its pasta-ness and the cheesiness.  When you hit a patch of vegetables those are nice (the squash a bit less interesting taste-wise). “

I should have listened to David, who was less than thrilled when I put this product in our shopping cart.

I would describe this as HOSPITAL FOOD.  The texture is soft and mushy and the taste is bland.  This is a dish I would expect someone with a hairnet to serve to me.

Host/Hostess tip:  I do not recommend that you put this out with your Thanksgiving meal and try to pass it off as something you cooked yourself.  

Maybe it is just cuz I have eaten it and know what it tastes like, but now that I look at this
photo of it on a plate it even LOOKS dull...

Trader Joe’s has a lot of seasonal products. When I saw this one I thought it looked good, so I wanted to get it and review it early while they still had it so you would have time to go get it.  But I was wrong, wrong, wrong.  My bad.  Don’t bother.  Buy OTHER seasonal products, but not this piece of crap. 

David says, “It miiiight be to your taste if you don’t like spicy or flavorful foods…”.  Sigh.  That David, always trying to put a good spin on things.  I say – IF YOU ENJOY EATING IN THE HOSPITAL, THEN GET THIS, PUT A PAJAMA SHIRT ON BACKWARD SO YOUR BUM HANGS OUT, LAY IN YOUR BED, AND EAT IT.  THIS IS YOUR DISH.

David had a perfect line for this product:  “If you want to make the argument that you don’t have to give up taste in order to eat vegetarian, this is not your dish.”

BAM!

Oh sure, it is a flyer item.  It is also overpriced and dull.

Price – $4.99 (way too expensive for this product IMHO)

Rating – 2.25

Day 285 - Pumpkin Body Butter

I was not going to buy this.  One of the premises of this blog is that I would not buy anything that I anticipated before even trying it I would dislike it – that does not seem fair to the ratings to go into with a negative attitude.  But I was curious about this body butter…  I love lotion – I use it every single day.  And I really like body butters (oh man, the unscented generic one from Sephora is amaaaazing and David often gets me a tub of it for Christmas!).  So I wondered about this Trader Joe’s one, but I was afraid I would not like the scent.

Look, it is LUXURIOUS, it says so right on the label!!!

One night recently when I was checking out at Trader Joe’s I asked my checker if he has tried this product yet.  He had a stack of them sitting at his register.  He said he hadn’t tried it (secretly I was hoping he would say, “Should we open one up and give it a whiff??” but he didn’t).  But then I overheard the cashier right behind me offering some to HIS customer to try!  Well, you don’t have to ask me twice (technically, no one had asked me once, but go with it…)!!  I turned around and inserted myself into their conversation and grabbed a blob of the body butter to rub on my hands.

Of COURSE it is a "Flyer Item" - it is OCTOBER!  Every pumpkin product is a flyer item this month.  :)

It was nice!  The texture seemed good and the smell was not overpowering (as I had feared it might be).   It seemed to smell more like AUTUMN, more like SPICE, than stinking like a PUMPKIN PIE.  It was nice.  I thought maybe I had previously just had a bad attitude toward pumpkin scented things and I should get with the program. 

In store selfie...  I was a little bit nervous about this product...

I would have picked up a tub of it then and there but my cashier was done ringing me up and had everything bagged so I finished up and left.  But the next time I went into a TJ’s I got a tub of the Pumpkin Body Butter.  I was still NERVOUS, mind you, but the little sample on my hands had gone well enough that I thought a tub might be just the thing for the autumn weather.

That charge of $4.99 for this product will soon be a refund…

I put this body butter on today after my shower.  I mean – I PUT.  IT.  ON.  Everywhere.  All over my whole body.  It is sticky going on.  Once it was all on and rubbed in it was not too sticky, however…

I SMELL LIKE A CANDLE.  I smell like a rust colored pillar candle in the middle of a harvest centerpiece on the Thanksgiving table.  David said, “You are bloody AUTUMNAL is what you are!!”.

If you like smelling like a human sized pumpkin pie this is the body butter for you.

I don’t really smell so much like – well – I smell more like a PIE than I would like.  I am not the sort of person who likes fragrances that smell like FOOD.  Case in point, you will not see BIRTHDAY CAKE scented lotion in my cupboard (even though I really like one manufacturer who mistakenly (IMHO) makes that scent…).  That is disgusting!  If I want to eat a birthday cake I will EAT A BIRTHDAY CAKE.  I don’t want my ARM to smell like a birthday cake!!!

So, to wrap this up, this body butter goes on sticky.  After you get it on the texture is okay.  And the scent is good IIIIFFF you want to walk around smelling like a big pumpkin pie (or centerpiece candle).  If you do not want to smell like a pumpkin pie, just use some from a sample jar one time on your hands when you are at Trader Joe’s.  Trust me.  Learn from my mistake.

I have to give them points for the lid.  It's quite ingenious.

Because this is not sticky after you get it on, and because some people actually want to smell like walking desserts, I do not feel I can give this product a zero score (even though I am going to return it and ask for my money back).  I mean, some people might LIKE this…  It is not HORRIBLE.  It did not make me throw up and I did not jump in the shower and wash it all off.  Oh, it also has a really cool lid , you can either unscrew it like a traditional body butter lid or you can pop the middle of the top off. 

Because of those positive, I will not give it this product a zero.  J

P.S. – lest you think I hate all things pumpkin, make sure to read tomorrow’s review of MINI PUMPKIN PIES!

Price - $4.99

Rating - 2

Day 249 - Emma Pearl Pinot Noir

I cannot believe this Pinot Noir is only $3.99.  Oh I hope, hope, hope Trader Joe’s keeps carrying it and I hope they don’t raise the price.  It is great!  

Simple label, lovely wine.  Flyer item!

Maybe it tastes so great because we have been drinking mostly white wine this summer and it is a nice change of pace to have a red.  But seriously, this really tastes good!  It is good with vegetables – I guess I think it would be good with ANYTHING.

David agrees with my assessment on this one and says, “It is a Pinot Noir, so it is light but it has some body to it!  It is really well balanced.  It even borders on a hint of “earthiness” but not too much, you know, like a heavy Cabernet Sauvignon or something.  It is really a good “go with everything” wine.” 

CHEERS - to a good, cheap Pinot Noir from Trader Joe's!

This is an all around good red to have on hand at all times.  We will be stocking up and squirreling away a few bottles as the weather gets colder. 

OH NO – before I posted this review I checked the Trader Joe’s site to see what they had to say about it.  Here is what is ringing in my ears, “When it’s gone, it’s gone…”.  NOOOOOOOO SAY IT ISN’T SO!

Holy smokes I need to get to Trader Joe's...  Gotta stock up!
 I am thinking perhaps I should not have told all of you about this one...  I should have kept it for myself!

Looks like I need to make a stock up trip even sooner than I expected.  I am coming, Trader Joe’s, I am coming!  Save me some Edwin Pearl Pinot Noir!  (Here is the link to the bad news - http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/2491 )

Price - $3.99 (insanely cheap)

Rating - 5