Showing posts with label oranges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oranges. Show all posts

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Cara Cara Navel Oranges: The Sequel

Guys, I hate to do this.  I really don’t want to, but I feel I must.

I am DOWNGRADING the rating of Cara Cara Navel Oranges originally posted almost a year ago.

We LOVED Cara Cara oranges last year.  They were tasty.  They were sweet.  They were juicy.  They were the bomb.  Here is the original review from Day 66 of 365:
Cara Cara review

So this year when we saw them in the store, we were excited!  “The CARA CARAs are back!” we practically sing songed in the produce section.

Last year I loved 'em so much I wanted to marry 'em!
Alas, we should have kept our happy memories of better crops in 2015.  This year the cara caras we got are dry, bland, and kinda sorta tasteless…

Originally they got a coveted 5 star review.  I don’t give those out willy nilly, mind you!  And I feel bad if people read that review and rushed out to buy Cara Caras, only to be duped by some little round balls pretending to be tasty oranges.

Photo circa 2015; back in the time when Cara Caras were astoundingly delicious.
So I will give them a new score today.  Sorry Cara Caras, we loved you last year, but this year you disappoint.  Sigh.


New rating – 2.5

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Day 343 - Fresh Squeeze Orange Juice

We bought this little 1 pint bottle of unpasteurized fresh Orange Juice during our shopping adventure at the Chelsea Trader Joe’s with Ttrockwood.  Since we were going to be running around New York City all day, I figured having this little bottle of juice in our bag could both quench our thirst and give us a “pick me up” if we got tired from all of the walking.  Plus, orange juice is high in vitamin C, so bonus!

This photo sort of makes it look larger than the 1 pint it actually is
I opened it and drank the first sips while riding the subway.  That was strange to me, because you CANNOT eat or drink on the metro we normally ride (Washington DC).  When I see people chowing down on NYC trains it surprises me, then I remember that there is no rule about it in NYC (or at least if there is one, they do not enforce it).

I TOTALLY drank this on the subway.  Rule breaker!!!!  :)
I busted the juice out again when we were standing around waiting to see if we won tickets to see the show “Hamilton” on Broadway.  (Note:  we did NOT win tickets in the lottery, but if you are ever in NYC and want to see a show, try the lotteries!  They are fun!  If you win, you get super discounted tickets.  Last time we were there David’s name got drawn in the “Wicked” lottery J.)

The "Hamilton" lottery has begun!  Will we be lucky???  (Spoiler alert:  we were not lucky.)

Here is the sign for the show - we saw the SIGN, just not the SHOW...
Then we drank the rest of the juice while eating our Mega Crunchy Salad with a Bite in Times Square (reviewed yesterday here ).  We sure made that little bottle of juice last!

This was not a cheap juice, but was totally worth the cost.  We like to buy oranges and squeeze them ourselves, but it is not like you have a juicer when you are standing on a NYC sidewalk or in the metro…  This bottled version was just as good as if we had squeezed the oranges ourselves.  It was fabulous.  It had a little bit of pulp but not toooo much – just enough to make it interesting.  It was extremely “orange-y” and very tasty.

Signage at the Chelsea TJ's - their artist has cool handwriting.
David – “I quite agree with Susan’s assessment.  What I normally worry about with store bought orange juices is that they will squeeze the orange so hard that you get that rind bitterness in it.  With this juice there is none of that going on.  It is just pure liquid delight.  It has a tasty sweet orange taste.  I give it a 4.75.”

Upon discussion, we were both tempted to give this juice a rating of 5, but because it was pretty expensive we dinged the score just a little bit.  It is worth the splurge though! 

This photo is from a previous trip to NYC.  It has nothing to do with orange juice, I just really like it.  David can basically jump a mile high.  As you can see here, sometimes the TIMING on our couples jumps are a bit off...
Here's another totally unrelated photo - shot in NYC on an earlier visit.  I love it.  
Price – $2.29

Rating – 4.75

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Day 66 - Cara Cara Naval Oranges

GO TO TRADER JOE’S NOW AND GET THESE CARA CARA NAVAL ORANGES.  Seriously – today!  They are a “seasonal product”, meaning the store will only carry (or should I say, “carry carry” J ) them a short time.  And you need to taste them!

This is the bag you are looking for - go get one!
They are delicious!  They are juicy, sweet, PINK inside, and amazing!  David picked up a bag and it didn’t take us long to get through it.  We do not EAT many oranges, normally we buy them for squeezing into fresh orange juice.  But these cara caras are ideal to cut into slices and enjoooooy.  They will put a smile on your face and a bit of summer in your heart.  They just taste GOOD! 

Aren't they pretty?
 Go to Trader Joe’s and get some before the season is over and they are gone.

Cara Cara Naval Oranges will make you smile - they do me!
Price - $3.49 per 3 lb. bag

Rating - 5