Beer Bread Mix AND Charlottesville, VA Trader Joe's

We went on a road trip recently, and if you know me, you know what that means:  EXPLORING NEW TRADER JOE’S LOCATIONS!  This time we went to the TJ’s on Bond Street in Charlottesville, Virginia. I believe it was the 31^st Trader Joe’s location (in 14 states) that I have set foot in since I began this project.  😊

Wheee - Trader Joe's in Charlottesville, Virginia
(and me in a new scarf I bought earlier on the road trip)

The Charlottesville store is a little hard to get to because of its placement in a chichi outdoor mall.  Once you make all the necessary twists and turns to arrive, it fits right in with the upscale environment.  There is free parking, always a plus.  We were there on a Friday afternoon and it was a bit crowded.  The signage (each store has their own sign artists) was alright, not my favorite.  One thing that was really good (that I haven’t seen in other stores) was that right in the foyer they had a sign telling you what they were sampling today.  That meant you could start dreaming about what you would get a nibble of as you meandered the aisles doing your shopping!

Sign right when you enter the store telling you what is being sampled, cool!

Some of the store artwork.  As always, very appropriate subject matter for the location.

Every time I visit a new store I ask if they have a local item that is not sold nationwide at other TJ’s locations.  Some stores have no idea what I am talking about (and explain that all TJ’s stores carry identical items, which you know is not true if you have followed this blog as I have discovered cool regional items).  This store did not have any local things, though they did mention that they carry the big tin of Virginia Peanuts over the holidays (those are now in all TJ’s stores as seasonal items, and as a Virginian I think that is pretty cool).  We did find one local wine (from Horton Winery).  Speaking of wine, a great thing about this location is that they had some wine CHILLED.  Our usual TJ’s does not do that.  But if you live in Charlottesville, you can pop in for a bottle of white wine and pop that puppy open as soon as you get home!  Sweet.

Need some already chilled wine?  They've got you covered!

I believe this is the first Trader Joe’s I have ever gone into where I left empty handed.  Yup, we didn’t buy a single item.  Granted, we were on a road trip and had a car full of Trader Joe’s snacks and had already munched on some before we got to Charlottesville, but still, strolling through a grocery store and not coming out with something is rare for us. 

But just because we didn’t purchase anything in Charlottesville doesn’t mean there won’t be a product review today.  I will review something we bought at our local store – BEER BREAD MIX.  Have you tried it?  If not, you are seriously missing out!!

David looks a bit funny when considering the purchase of Beer Bread Mix

Here is what I think of it:  The worst thing about this bread is that it tastes so good when it is fresh and warm is that you might eat so much of it (because it is soooo tasty) that you won’t be able to eat the rest of your dinner.  And really, is that such a bad problem to have??

It is super easy to make – you just need the bread mix and one bottle of beer, plus some butter to put on top.  We used a Pills beer and the bread was delicious!  You can also add cheese, which we did not do since we were serving it with a homemade cheesy potato soup. 

Just add beer and butter!  Easy peasy

It tastes like a soda bread and I think it would be great with chili.  It is not sandwich making bread, but it is great alongside a meal.  It doesn’t taste too much like beer, but there is a hint of the flavor.  I don’t know how well the bread will hold up – it seems like something you will want to snarf down the day you make it. 

A warm piece of Beer Bread?  Yes please....

In all honesty, our box of this mix sat in the cupboard a looong time before I baked it.  Ours expired February 16^th and I made it 11 days later, but it still turned out great!  I am not sure if it is still on the shelves at TJ’s, I think it is/was a winter seasonal product.  If you see a box, grab it.  And if you do not see a box now, do not fear.  It should come ‘round again next fall!  I will give this product a 5!

David:  “It is like Irish soda bread and also a bit like cornbread.  It is delicious and hearty.  It is good to put butter on it even though there is already a lot of butter on it when you bake it.  I think it is a good idea not to add cheese to it because it is so tasty without it.  it is quick and easy to make.  It might be interesting to see what it would be like baked in tiny pans or like muffins.  I will give this a 5.”

Price:  $2.79

Rating:  5

And here is a bonus photo for anyone still reading.  On the same day of this road trip we also stopped at Cox Farms.  A photo of one of their signs, it says RESIST WHITE SUPREMACY, recently went viral.  We saw that sign along with several others.  This one was my favorite :).

But SRSLY....

French Onion Soup AND Reston, Virginia Trader Joe's

GUYS!  We visited ANOTHER TRADER JOE’S!  I think this was our 27^th store to visit since January 1, 2015 (in 14 different states, well, 13 states and one District). 

The newest store (new to us) was on Killingsworth Avenue in Reston, VA.  The night before Halloween I surprised David by driving us out to a house I had found online that was all lit up for Halloween and had the lights danced to music!  Anyway, when we were done enjoying that, we Googled and saw that there was actually a TJ’s nearby that we had never visited, so off we went!

Here is the Halloween house!  See those jack-o-lantern lights?  THEY SANG!  It was cute.

The Reston, Virginia Trader Joe's is very nice!  It is big, well stocked, well lit, clean, and has wide aisles.  They also have something that I have not noticed in any other Trader Joe’s around the country:  a little play kitchen for kids!  We got there shortly before closing time, but this little girl was enjoying the play area!  Isn’t it adorable??  I bet kids love it (parents, too).  I talked to a super friendly, really nice employee named Kimberly who didn’t know that her store was SPECIAL by having the play kitchen J.  I was like, “Kimberleeeeeey, no, not all stores have those!  It is amazing!”

LOOK!  A little kitchen to play in!!!

Another really cool thing this location has is MULTIPLE STUFFED ANIMALS TO HIDE…  Do you know about the TJ’s stuffed animals?  Each store has one (at least I thought they only had one!) and they hide it on the shelves.  Kids that are shopping hunt for the animal, and if they find it they report it to the customer service area and get a treat.  But Kimberly explained to me that she feels like it shouldn’t be too hard for kids to be successful in this adventure, and that is why she deploys MULTIPLE ANIMALS!  Isn’t that kind (and smart)??  I love it!  Lucky Reston kids.

Shhhh, one of the animals in hiding in the coffee department in Reston!

Oh, and get this…  The store captain is named SUNSHINE HAVEN!  With someone named SUNSHINE running the place, how could it NOT be glowing and lovely??  I hope to go back sometime and meet Sunshine.  And hey – Sunshine – Kimberly is a great representative of your store and the TJ’s brand.  I don’t know if it is within your realm of power, but if it is, give that lady a raise, she is great. 

The Reston, Virginia store has a very nice feel

We picked up several items while we were at this location, one of which was the luxurious advent calendar I wrote about recently Super Amazing Fancy Advent Calendar Review .  the item I am actually reviewing today did not come from this particular store, but I am sure they carry it. 

French Onion Soup.  David, who lived in Paris for a few years, has eaten some French Onion Soup in his day.  Here is what he thought of this version from Trader Joe’s:

“Very, very good.  I have had me some French Onion Soup, and I love it, but it is often a disappointment.  This one is FULL of flavor, very rich, although we should point out that we ended up cooking it 15 – 20 minutes longer than the insructions said to, so I think it reduced a little bit.  But still, the balance of the onions, the soup, and the cheese (which is not overdone but which is very flavorful) is, I would say, perfection.  The only downside is that you have to think about cooking it about 40 – 45 minutes before you are actually going to EAT, and that is usually outside our zone.  But, IF you can remember to do that, and go do something else for half an hour while this cooks in the oven, I think this is a winner.  I give it a 5…  Well, I have to give it a 4.75 because of the TIME it took.”

Oh my…  This is embarrassing…  My sweetie and I normally agree on stuff, but on this one, not so much…  I do not think this soup is that good…  It is more like a GRAVY than a soup (that could be because we cooked it too long…).  We ran out while it was in the oven (one of the places we ran was to Trader Joe’s, so that should count for something!).  But this soup is too “beefy” for me. 

Plus, there is not enough cheese.  I like French Onion Soup like in PARIS – you put your spoon into a big ol’ GLOB of cheese…  Then it kinda bloobles on your spoon.  That is what I was HOPING for, but this isn’t it.

You can tell even when it is still frozen that there isn't going to be enough CHEESE on it.  Not enough for me, anyway.

The packaging is sort of weird.  The soup comes in two little frozen “blobs”, which you put in your bowl and then cook in the oven.  I personally don’t think this one was worth the time to cook.  The thing I liked most is that cooking this gave us an excuse to use these delightful little Le Creuset dishes we inherited from David’s mom.  We keep them high up in a cupboard and always forget we have them, but they were perfect for this soup because you need an oven safe bowl to cook them in.

I wouldn’t buy these again for me, but David really love it, so we probably will get them again.  I talked to a woman in TJ’s recently who adores these (she microwaves hers because she doesn’t have an oven).  I don’t think this product is horrible, it just isn’t as good as French Onion Soup should be in my opinion. 

I like that it came in two easy serving sizes, but I don’t like the taste.  I sadly give it a 2.75.

Price – $4.99

Rating (average of 2 raters) – 3.75

Day 279 - Southwest Chicken Poppers

I went to a “new to this blog” Trader Joe’s this week.  It was not new to ME, mind you, I had been there before, but not since I began this blog.  It is the one in Tysons Corner, VA (on Leesburg Pike in Falls Church) – which, to those of you not from the Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland area – is a suburb of DC basically.  J

Anyway, it is right off a busy road, which makes getting out of the parking lot a bit tricky.  One exit has a stop light and that is the best one to use, but the set up makes it tough to get in line to get out.  The shopping complex has, among other things, a Peet’s Coffee, so you can grab a latte to sip while you shop.  I think it is strange that there is a Whole Foods right across the road, too.  I am not sure which one came first but they sure are close to each other.

Artwork in the TJ's lobby - Tyson's Corner THEN and NOW.  :)

This store was fine.  Nothing really special about it – no employees smiled at me or greeted me or asked if I needed help.  It was clean.  Signs were okay.  I saw a stuffed frog wearing a TJ’s nametag hidden amongst some products, so they must have the program for kids to find it.  That always makes me smile.  It seemed like the store might be having an inspection of some sort when I was there because some people with clip boards were standing out on the sidewalk lamenting about the lack of lights. 

What I found to be the worst about this store was what appeared to be a distrust of shoppers.  Either they have some really jerky people who shop there, or someone in management thinks people can’t return carts to the store, because there is no curb cut in front of the store to roll your cart down to bring your groceries to the car and load them.  Not only that; even if you are willing to “off-road it” and barrel your cart down a curb, they went to the trouble of placing BARRIERS all in front of the store that are not wide enough for a cart to fit through.  Look – I am a responsible, trustworthy citizen.  I RETURN MY SHOPPING CARTS after delivering my goods to the car, people!!  And you should, too.  (That is a pet peeve of mine – people who leave shopping carts in parking lots are rude.)  I realize not everyone returns their cart though, and I hate door dings as much as the next guy.  But REALLY, it feels unwelcoming to be blocked in with my cart and forced to carry heavy bags to the car.  Once I lugged my big bag to the car I noticed that if a shopper walks quite far down to the next store, they could bring their cart out into the parking lot THERE, as they have a curb cut and no barriers. 

I took this photo before I walked into the store. I didn't even notice this unfriendly curb/barrier combination as I was taking it!

Enough of my rant.  Onto the review.

Southwest Chicken Poppers.  What is FUNNY is that by the time we sat down to eat these I had somehow convinced myself that TJ’s had named this product CHICKEN BALLS.  Understandably (to me at least) I found that name very funny.  I worried about the chickens…  And as part of this review I was prepared to explain to Trader Joe’s why a name change was in order.  Only now I look at the box and see CHICKEN BALLS was only in my mind!  The real name is Southwest Chicken Poppers (but in our house they will continue to be called Chicken Balls).  J

Chicken Balls - errr - Poppers...

These were good.  I like the breading on the outside and the stuff on the inside is really tasty!  I tasted  black beans, corn, spices - and I didn’t even taste the chicken!  They are a little spicy but not hot at all.  I dipped mine in Hatch Valley Salsa (cuz I love that stuff and could eat it all day) (if you STILL haven't read the Hatch Valley Salsa review click here. )

These took 20 minutes to cook in the oven – not bad at all.  A serving size is 3 which was the right amount for our 10:00 PM dinner.

They don't stay together all that well, but they taste good.  Here they are served with baby bok choy
(dipping choices of Hatch Valley Salsa and TJ's Cowboy Cavier were off to the side)

David said the coating on these was nice.  The inside was moist but “not so gooey” that the stuff ran out.  He agreed that it tasted very nice because of the vegetables.  He also didn’t taste the chicken but wanted to be clear that he didn’t REGRET that.  He decided it must be “chicken paste” that is somehow “infused through the whole thing” because the balls don’t taste like they lack the ”body that proteins give”.  He says it is more like a CROQUETTE.

David, like me, got the giggles over calling these things chicken balls.

They are easy to prepare.  They would make good appetizers for a party.

Price – $3.99

Rating - 4