Day 316 - Egg Pappardelle Pasta (plus bonus news about our HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!)

Before I review today’s product, let me share some super fun news: 

WE WON 2 TRADER JOE’S HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTESTS! 

When we first went to the Bethesda Trader Joe’s on October 25th we saw this sign, which of course got me excited! 

  

We had already been working on our costumes – I was going to be a big piece of BACON and David was going to dress as a sunny side up EGG!  (Of course, ironically these are 2 things that we really like from TJ’s and got great reviews see bacon review here and see egg review here .)  We checked at the Clarendon TJ’s (very close to our house) and they were ALSO having a customer costume contest!!! 

We got the costumes all finished up (easier said than done) and went into the Clarendon store to get our picture taken.  It was a blast!  Walking around the store dressed as bacon and egg was not EASY, mind you, but very fun.  Everyone kept saying, “Hey!  Bacon and eggs!!” as we passed.  We had to wait in line to pay for our purchases and that was funny – standing there in costume as the line snaked forward.

Here we are in the underground parking garage of the Clarendon Trader Joe's - you can see David was sort of TALL...

The next day we went to the Bethesda store and got our photo taken for the contest there, too!  That store was even HARDER to walk around because it is smaller and more crowded.  But it was really cool because some employees were also dressed up (like the lovely Alison who was dressed as Carmen Miranda!). 

I wish I had a photo of the Carmen Miranda costume, but I don't, so here is another BACON & EGGS costume shot!  :)

Both stores called and said we were WINNERS!!!  We won gift cards, which of course we spent immediately on more TJ’s stuff.  J  Thanks Trader Joe’s!!!

THANKS BETHESDA TJ'S!

THANKS CLARENDON TJ'S!!

Now onto the review - Egg Pappardelle Pasta 

The package said four servings, which I thought seemed wrong because there didn’t seem to be that much in the package.  Of course, after COOKING the pasta I realized they were right – those puppies really plump up!  Four servings was indeed accurate.

Here is what the package looks like - find it in the pasta section

We served this pasta with a dollop of butter ( butter review here from waaaay back on day 49) and smothered with beef stroganoff which David lovingly prepared while I was at work, and a side of TJ’s broccoli cooked perfectly by yours truly.

YUMMY!  The broccoli was a nice side for this hearty meal

This pasta was DELICIOUS.  It balanced the beef stroganoff splendidly.  The pappardelle is noodle-y.  It is egg-y.  It is everything you would want an egg noodle to be.  It tastes “fresh” and is something different rather than rice or a traditional pasta (we eat a loooot of pasta).

Mid-bite.

David agrees and said they were good noodles.  They were rich and soft and “the noodles did their job”.  The egg noodle is a little richer than just having pasta all the time.

Note – these noodles are low sodium so if you are looking for that in your diet these might be a good fit.

Price – $1.99

Rating - 4

Day 293 - Mini Pumpkins, Gourds, and Mary Day

October 20^th is a holiday on my calendar.  It is a day known as MARY DAY.  Mary was my mom, and October 20^th is the anniversary of her death.  2015 marks 13 years since she died.  Every year I spend Mary Day celebrating her life – remembering her – by doing things she loved to do.  Mostly I SHOP.  I head out to the big local mall (the one that I usually go to once a year on, you guessed it, Mary Day…).  I shop All.  Day.  Long. 

My mom holding me - 1966

I try to buy a complete outfit – socks, pants, shirt, sweater, shoes...  A complete outfit just like she used to get me.  Other Mary Day activities could include getting a massage, playing a slot machine, getting your nails done, playing racquetball, drinking wine, for sure wearing lipstick, perhaps making a dessert and give it to someone else, vacuuming the house, going water skiing, sending people greeting cards – the point is, I spend the day doing things SHE would have done.  It gives me a day to remember, to grieve, to think of her, and to celebrate.

My mom and dad.  He is probably doing his famous move where he raises his hand and shouts "Tradition!" from
"Fiddler on the Roof", and she is cracking up because for some reason that move always makes us laugh

I never work on Mary Day.  It feels sacrilegious to work on this holiday.  And I typically spend the day alone.  I talk to strangers all day as I go about my celebrating and I always blurt out hugely inappropriate things that make them feel very awkward…  Nary a Mary Day goes by that some make-up counter lady doesn’t hear my blurted, “Hi.  I need a new lipstick.  My mom is dead, and this is the day I celebrate her.  She liked lipstick.  Can you help me find one??”.  Those are the things that fly out of my unattended mouth on Mary Day and unsuspecting sales clerks really have not been training to handle them. 

Trip to Las Vegas after she was sick.  I had shaved all my hair off (as had David and my sister Sherry)
to "go bald with her", only WE looked bald and SHE looked good with a wig.  :)  She was lucky at slot machines.

I think a ton about Mary Day for the entire month leading up to it.  What should I do this year?  Where should I go?  I think maybe my mind thinks about the specific DAY, October 20^th, for the preceding month so that it doesn’t have to think back to the month leading up to her death, when my family and I took care of her in her last days.  Those times are too hard to remember and not the images of her I want to have in my head. 

I am much more deliberate on Mary Day.  I feel like I can sense everything – my steps, my breathing, my tears.  And the weeks leading up to Mary Day every year I notice my actions becoming more and more deliberate.  This is the only year I have had this blog review project, and I have been wondering (worrying really) what to review on Mary Day.  But last night I decided:  MINI PUMPKINS (and gourds).

I like these two photos side by side - they are both old, but it shows
how much I look like her, don't you think?

Old headshot - I look like Mom :)

My mom never set foot in a Trader Joe’s.  She lived in Omaha, Nebraska (where I grew up) and died before TJ’s came to that area.  So it’s not like there is a specific product at TJ’s that I look at and think, “That’s my mom!”.  But she was really good at decorating for holidays and always made sure I had a great Halloween costume, so when I saw the pumpkins I smiled and realized they were the right fit for Mary Day.

Here we go:  Trader Joe’s mini pumpkins (all varieties) and gourds. 

GET THEM. 

Teeny tiny adorable pumpkins

They are adorable.  Trader Joe’s displays them soooo well.  At our local TJ’s they were outside displayed spilling out of wooden tubs in the crisp autumn air.  They are lovely!  They sell a ton of them so there is a fast “turn over” and you never see old junky mushy ones.

So prettttty

Look how tiny!

You can find any style of pumpkin you like – white ones, orange ones, striped ones, big ones, teeny tiny ones…  You can get your fill of PUMPKINS this time of year at Trader Joe’s!  There are all sorts of gourds, too!  Ugly warty ones, nice smooth ones, different colors… 

And they are PRICED RIGHT.  TJ’s isn’t going to rip you off just because you want some gourds on your dining room table!  Why, check out the price difference on mini pumpkins when I compared Trader Joe’s prices to those at Safeway right across the street!!

                                                                      Regular ones only .69

Fancy ones - .99 at TJ's

Gourds also cheap!

Safeway rip-off - $1.50!

Look a gourd!

Gourds look like AUTUMN

Look, in my humble opinion Trader Joe’s goes way too coo-coo over pumpkin spiced this and pumpkin flavored that every autumn.  But PUMPKINS, actual real live cutie patootie tiny pumpkins, now THOSE are worth your investment.

So go get a tiny pumpkin or two.  They will make you smile.

But more importantly, hug your mom if she is still around.  And if she lives far away, CALL HER.  And send her a greeting card!  A real, honest-to-goodness-have-to-use-a-postage-stamp greeting card.  Tell her you love her.  Trust me on this one. 

Cuz she isn’t going to around forever.  So make sure you enjoy her while she is here.

Oh, and Happy Mary Day.

Price - .69 to .99 (for mini pumpkins and gourds, larger pumpkins also cheap)

Rating – 5 (that’s a “5” for the mini pumpkins and gourds, and a 5 for having a day set aside to remember my mom)