Ghost Pepper Potato Chips (Lattice Cut Kettle Cooked)

The Ghost Pepper Potato Chip package says:

“If spicy flavors bring you joy,

More than any game or toy,

Then try these chips with loads of heat

find crunch that simply can’t be beat. 

We’ve used a chili called the ghost,

providing heat which we can boast

Is hotter ‘n jalapeno or habanero. 

And so we issue you a dare-o

To grab a bag and take a bite

Of chips packed full of ghostly fright.”

I mean - GET OUT…  Any product that has a great poem on the bag is off to a good start, no???  We tried this at the Fairfax, Virginia Trader Joe’s when they were sampling them and can I just say:  TRADER JOE’S FOR THE WIN!

After sampling, David is obviously happy to be snagging a bag of these chips!

This is an excellent new product.  I was a bit nervous about tasting them because the sample lady warned us that “These are the hottest peppers eveeeer.  They are hotter than JALAPENOS!”.  In my opinion, they are not super spicy.  I mean, they have a kick to them, they are hot, but they are not TOO spicy.  Normally when I eat spicy things I do not want to pair them with anything else because the spicy flavor “ruins” the taste of what you are pairing it with.  But for these chips we paired them with Trader Joe’s Onion Dip (to be reviewed at a later time) and the two worked really well together. 

These chips are GREAT to eat on their own and super to eat with a dip!  I have never eaten “lattice cut chips” (that I can recall) but they are a good invention!  They make grabbing and holding onto dip easy – you don’t get any of that “dip slide off” that you sometimes get with other chips.  These chips also do not bust when you plunge them in the dip, no chip bits plop off and mess up your dip.

These chips really "grip your dip" (that's a good thing)

Here is what David thought of this product: “I agree with a lot of what Susan said.  The taste is good.  These fill a niche for people who would like more taste with their potato chips – they are very nice!  The taste is light enough to not be overpowering, like some kinds of BBQ powder poured on chips.  They really go lovely with TJ’s Onion Dip.  The lattice cut thing is good, too.  They are great for dipping – they don’t SNAP OFF like regular potato chips."

Reasonably priced - not only do you get CHIPS, you get a POEM!

David continued, "The only thing is – I got ONE that was a “pile-on” of about 6 chips melded together.  That is a minor inconvenience, because they are so tasty, but it would be nice if their processing of making these allowed them all to dry separately so they were individual in the bag.  I would give these a 4.75.”

Susan here again with one more thing – these DO make your fingers a tiny bit dirty.  You might imagine they would make them RED (since they are “ghost pepper” and all) but they are not red.  And they do not coat you with a thick goo on your fingers like if you indulge in Cheetos.  Plus, the goo comes off if you LICK YOUR FINGERS.  J

David usually doesn’t like kettle chips, and he LIKES these!  So Trader Joe’s, I hope you don’t stop making these.  Don’t say these are just a summer product, ok?  These will taste yummy in the middle of winter, too.

Bonus photo - READ THE SIGNS David...

I agree with David – these chips are a 4.75.  GET SOME!

Price – $2.29 (well worth the price)

Rating – 4.75

Day 271 - Mike's Hot Honey

You can’t imagine how thrilled I am. 

First off, this whole blog...  I started this as a “project” – one of many that I do.  Most of my projects are local – stuff around my neighborhood.  For example, I turned the “do not cross” red hand on the crosswalk sign next to our house into an “I Love You” ASL sign (black tape, shhhh!). 

Our crosswalk.  Shhh, it has been this way for 2 years. Sharing some love in our hood.

For another project I hung digital cameras (in Ziploc baggies to protect them from the weather) on our front and side gates for a couple of months and put up signs asking people to use them to photograph what to them was “Inspiration, Beauty, and Joy” (if you want to read about that project and see more photos from it, I wrote it up here: Inspiration, Beauty, and Joy )  Here are some of the photos that random strangers who walked by our house took, aren't they great??

Dogwood tree in bloom - mystery photographer at side gate

Mystery shoes

Selfie?  Mystery kid at front gate

Who isn't inspired by iced coffee on a hot day?  Side gate

Peace and roses - beautiful (side gate)

Night time image captured by someone who left a note for the project, too - guy from Brazil.  Cool eh?

So this Trader Joe's blog was one of THOSE types of projects.  Something to let me express my creativity and explore.  But it has turned into so much more!  Today (or tomorrow) I will hit 30,000 views!  30,000 views on my Trader Joe’s reviews!  That seems remarkable to me (maybe in this day and age of stuff “going viral” 30,000 doesn’t sound like a lot to you, but to me, the person whose projects normally only reach people who walk by my home, 30,000 is a lot J ).

This blog has given me a sense of a wider community.  Visiting Trader Joe’s in 10 states (and one District…) so far has been a blast!  We have met cool people in all of those locations.  And so many people are reading this blog - people from all over the world, which is insane to me!  There is someone reading in Bangladesh, in the Ukraine, places that certainly do not have a Trader Joe’s (blog analytics show me the countries which is how I know).   Maybe those readers just end up on the blog through a Google search, maybe they have a friend shipping them TJ’s stuff from the USA, who knows.

And some people take the time to COMMENT on my blog posts.  I LOVE THAT!  Whether they agree with my review or have a different opinion, I love when people comment!! 

One person comments frequently.  I do not know them.  I did not know where they lived.  Just knew that they were reading, enjoying the blog, and sometimes commented.  And every time they DID comment, it made me smile so big.  Well, when I published the review of Turkish Honey (Turkish Honey Review ), they commented:  “  I don’t have this at my Trader Joe’s!  L  Honey on Greek yogurt with fruit is like the perfect breakfast.  I’m sure you’ll use it in hot tea and oatmeal this winter.”  

This stuff is delicious!

Well, I replied to that comment and told them I would be happy to SEND THEM some Turkish Honey!  Heck, I felt like we had commented back and forth so much on the blog that we were friends of a sort!  Cyber friends. 

So we switched the comments over to email and guess what?  THEY OFFERED TO DO A HONEY SWAP!!  If I sent them Turkish Honey, they would send me a special honey that only their Trader Joe’s in Brooklyn carries – Mike’s Hot Honey!  Well you didn’t have to ask me twice!  They could have offered to send me a lump of dirt in exchange for the Turkish Honey and I probably would have accepted cuz I was so excited!!

Mike's Hot Honey, infused with Chilies...  Intriguing, no??

Fast forward – the Turkish Honey arrived in NY, they love it!  J  And the Mike’s Hot Honey arrived at my house this weekend.  I was SO EXCITED!   I opened it last night.  Guess what?  Not only did they send HONEY, they sent a TRADER JOE’S NYC BAG!  You may not know this if you do not shop often at TJ’s, but most states have their own reusable BAGS. They feature something special about that state/city.  This NYC one is great!!!  I love it and will feel very fancy carrying it this afternoon to my local TJ’s.  (Note – the Ohio stores do not have special bags, and their staff was sad about that when we were there.  Corporate, I said it before and I say it again, OHIO NEEDS BAGS.  Please get on that.  J )

Awww, there is a TJ's CARD in the package!

What the what???  A cool NYC TJ's bag, too????

Honey that is HOT??  I am a little worried...

So I opened the Mike’s Hot Honey (honey infused with chilies).  Let me just say that from the get go, before even tasting it, I loved this product.  I loved that it is LOCAL – most Trader Joe’s have one or two local items (often local beer, sometimes wine) but the rest are standard across the stores.  I love finding the local stuff.  I think it is SO COOL when local companies get their products into Trader Joe’s.  I think it must be a great move for them.  I like the PACKAGING of this product – the artwork on the label is really good and the sort of old fashioned plaid pattern on the bottle is so in conflict with the concept of mixing HONEY with CHILIES – definitely NOT an old fashioned thing to do…  I love the COLOR of this honey – it is a golden amber.  And last (but probably most importantly) I loved that it was given as a gift from a reader of this blog!  A cyber friend!!!

So all that was left to do was TASTE it!

Isn't is a gorgeous color??

I made (not from scratch) pumpkin cookies this morning.  David and I both have the day off and we are in slow motion, so breakfast wasn’t until 11 am.  Grapefruit, kefir (to be reviewed soon), espresso, and pumpkin cookies.  But wait – how about PUMPKIN COOKIES DIPPED IN MIKE’S HOT HONEY??  I thought the spice (like nutmeg spice, not hot spice) of the cookie might be a perfect combination with the SPICY spice of the honey.

Please let this mystery Honey Swap Honey be good...  (This is me in the morning, got my hair pulled back and robe on...)

And I was right!

IT IS GOOD!!!  What a combo!

Oh man! 

This is a 12 oz bottle of awesomeness.  The first taste you get when eating this is HONEY.  Followed shortly by spice…  After that you get a huge kick in the ass of CHILI.  It is; HONEY, WARM, ON FIIIIRE all within a millisecond.

The label says you can enjoy it on “pizza, chicken, ribs, salads, cheese, yogurt, fruits, ice cream, roasted veggies, in cocktails and many other foods”.   I can imagine if you had chicken for dinner and had hot biscuits – put a glop of butter and some of this hot honey on the biscuit.  Oh and dipping fried chicken in it would be amazing.  Or drizzling it on CHEESE – maybe a hard cheese.  But I cannot imagine putting it on yogurt, that doesn’t sound yummy to me.  But PIZZA crust dipped in it I think would be good!  The person who sent it to me told me that a local pizza place has this honey for just that use. 

David, a careful dipper

Here was David’s take on it:  “Nah.  This is an example of cramming two things together that don’t belong together in a desperate effort to create a new product to sell.  You need this as badly as you need a formal ball gown that comes complete with a parachute harness.  I will take my honey sweet, thanks.  I like my honey like I like my women – nice and sweet.  I give this honey a 1.”

Not a fan.

Susan:  THIS IS FUNKY AND COOL.  I, as the author of the blog, completely override David’s lame review and give this a 5. 

David:  “Now you are just being spiteful…”

So this entry was a bit long, but I wanted to share with you the joy I get from writing here, from meeting people in the stores, and “meeting” some of you virtually.  Thanks for being so supportive of this blog.  And if you want to get this Mike’s Hot Honey (you should try it!) and do not live in Brooklyn, you can order it online at:  http://mikeshothoney.com/

Price - $6.99 (which is crazy, cuz ordering the same size bottle from the company that makes it is more expensive…  I guess this is a deal TJ’s cut with them to sell it at a discount and do a high volume)

Rating - 5

Day 190 - Punjab Choley

This is the second Indian Fare dish to be reviewed in this blog (the first was Punjab Eggplant on day 151).  Truth be told, we always have some of these Indian Fare boxes in our cupboard.  They are very quick, very easy to make, and tasty.  But I can NEVER remember which of them we like best.  So I hope these reviews help me keep them straight!

Here is the RED BOX, Punjab Choley

This one is made of chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, ginger, and a “spicy aromatic sauce”.  Normally we just plop it over rice, but tonight I am “fancy-ing” it up by topping it with raw chopped red onion and green pepper.  Maybe I am feeling the need for fancy because we are eating this on the 4^th of July.  Yup – nuttin says HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA like a good Indian dish!

See how I fancied it up???  Under all of that is rice.

Ok, so after I wrote that intro, dinner was ready and we ATE IT.  I can now clearly say – PUNJAB CHOLEY IS NOT OUR FAVORITE INDIAN FARE.  So for my future reference, not the red box, Susan!  I thought this was the one we didn’t buy often, but I thought it was out of respect for David’s “not love” of chick peas (though he adores hummus…).  But no, I think this is not our normal Indian Fare dish because it just isn’t all that great.  For starters, it is TOO SPICY.  And I do not say that often – in fact I don’t think I have said it one single time throughout this already more than half over review project.  I came to the dinner table with TABASCO last night in case this was not “hot enough”, but no hot sauce was needed.  It might have been because I put those red onions on top, but I really think the dish itself was super spicy.  I tried some bites without onion bits and they were still hot, hot, hot. 

But other than the taste of HOT, all you really get is CHICK PEA. 

We served it over basmati rice (to be reviewed tomorrow) and had a side of asparagus.  The box mentions naan or pita, but to tell you the truth it just wasn’t saucy enough for even the basmati.

This meal is cheap and fast to prepare, but not all that good to eat.  And isn’t EATING what a meal is all about? 

Price – $1.99

Rating – 2.75

Day 173 - Sweet and Spicy Pecans

The first note you get when you pop one of these pecans in your mouth is SWEET.  So you think, “Spicy?  The label says SPICY.  These things are not spi… Hey…  Wait a gosh darn second…”.  Cuz, see, that is when the SPICY hits ya!  And the spicy is what stays with ya!

I like these better than David does.  He would prefer more SWEET less lingering SPICY I think.  They are not my ultimate Trader Joe’s nut favorite, and I can’t eat more than a handful (of nuts…), but they are pretty good. 

Looks like lots of people were buying these the day we were there!

The package mentions putting them on a salad.  That is something I really should try.  I never think about putting NUTS on salads, even though I make and eat a lot of salads.  When I buy a salad at TJ’s or order one in a restaurant that includes nuts, I am usually quite happy.  So why I never remember to put them on homemade salads is beyond me.  Anyway, I shall try that with a few of these and see how it goes.

I think these would be good to put out in a pretty little bowl if you were throwing a cocktail party.  Especially if you had a lot of beer you wanted to get rid of, cuz peoples’ mouths would be hot from the spicy nuts and they would be slamming back brewskies. 

These pecans look GIGANTIC in this photo.  It is because this is a little Barbie sized bowl :) .

I think these are a bit overpriced for the amount you get (5 oz).

Price – $3.99

Rating – 3

Day 45 - Sriracha

Here’s the deal – if you like sriracha, you LIKE sriracha!  There was a huge stink (literally) about it last year in the media, apparently neighbors were complaining that the manufacturing of it at a nearby plant was making their eyes water (understandable really – I have made my eyes water and made myself cough often by cooking with a wee bit too much of the stuff!).  Here is a HuffPo article on the situation:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/sriracha-odor-lawsuit-stinging-stench_n_4172997.html

Sriracha, though very difficult to spell, is addictive.  It is a traditional Thai hot sauce/chili sauce and it is delicious.  Sriracha has a huge following – why, a large number of websites will even sell you TSHIRTS proclaiming your love for the stuff (one example here:  http://www.cafepress.com/mf/85672169/got-sriracha_long-sleeve-tshirt?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=1212705353&utm_source=msn&utm_campaign=sem-cpc-product-ads&utm_content=search-pla&productId=1212705353 )! 

If you have not tried sriracha, you should!  It is a great on a variety of food.

18.25 oz of flaming goodness

But here is the deal – the “real” sriracha, the one most people know and love, is made by Huy Fong Foods.  It has an iconic rooster on the label and a loooovely little green squeeze tip. 

Huy Fong Goods Sriracha - 17 oz

HOWEVER, Trader Joe’s also sells their own brand of sriracha…  Now, you purists may be wiggling in your chairs at the thought of eating a “knock off” sriracha, but TRY IT!!  It (to me) tastes just as good.  In a price comparison with a local (cheap) grocery store (Shopper’s Food Warehouse) the famous brand sold for the same price ($2.99) as the Trader Joe’s variety, but was a smaller container (17 oz as compared to 18.25 oz).  Sure, the Trader Joe’s bottle doesn’t have a ROOSTER on it, but it does have a really awesome fire breathing dragon!!!  The thing I miss is the little green pointy tip.  I know this might be totally uncool to do, but I think I will try to see if a Huy Fong bottle cap will fit on a Trader Joe’s bottle of sriracha!!  (If you have already tried this and have the answer, please tell me in the comments section.) 

Rooster Sriracha - same price but smaller bottle

So, that’s sriracha.  If you are already a fan, please try the Trader Joe’s version and let me know what you think.  If you have never tried it (and like hot stuff), GET A BOTTLE!

P.S. – Posting this on Valentine’s Day, cuz love is 

H-O-T. 

Price - $2.99

Rating – 4.75

Day 25 - Hot Pico de Gallo Salsa

This stuff is like vegetable crack.  Once I open a tub of it, consider it g-o-n-e.  I mean, sure, it SAYS a “serving” is 2 tablespoons, but that is an outright lie.  I have eaten a whole tub (with blue chips) in one sitting.  I am not proud of that fact, but I must put it out there to warn you.  Once you start, you cannot stop eating this salsa.

Find it near the cheese, hummus, pizza dough section

First off, the veggies in it are fresh.  And cut to just the right size.  I usually eat it by dipping in a Trader Joe’s blue chip, and the size of the veggie chunks are just right to jump up and sit on a chip.  But you need to know – when the label says “hot”, it ain’t a kiddin’!  This stuff is hot, which is just the way I like it (and also means I get to eat the whole tub myself because it is too spicy for my partner - yes!!).  You will find tomatoes, green peppers, onion, cilantro…  Is your mouth watering yet because mine is…

2 tablespoons?  You must be freakin' kidding me

Because it is fresh, the expiration date will come quickly after you open it (which is not normally a problem for me, given my propensity to suck it all down in one sitting).  If I didn’t always eat it all up with chips I am sure it would be delicious on a taco or enchilada. 

This also comes in “mild” or “medium”, but that is only for wimps.  Go big or go home!  Find it in the refrigerated section near the cheeses.

Price – $2.99

Rating – 4.75 stars