Campfire S'Mores Bar

I am guessing that this is a seasonal item, for s’more season.  The package says a serving size is 1/3 of the bar.  Here is what we thought when we tried it for dessert after a late night dinner while watching the very disappointing final episode of the Amazing Race on DVR (the wrong team won):

David when we bought this treat.  He looks not 100% convinced, which surprises me!  He loves chocolate stuff.

David:  “Very good.  The chocolate is good.  The marshmallows are very good.  I would just say it could use more graham cracker to set it off, to give it substance.  As it is, it is kinda more a “chocolate bar with marshmallows with a little bit of graham cracker”, and if it had more graham cracker then I think it would be a nicer balance.  I’m going to give this a 4.0.”

Here is the TJ's Campfire S'mores before David dove into it.

My take on it: The thing that makes a S’MORES special is a campfire.  I think Trader Joe’s knows that, or they wouldn’t have named this product CAMPFIRE S’mores Bar, eh?  The whole concept of a s’mores brings to mind camping, sitting around a fire, smelling the smoke from the flames, laughing or singing with friends, and roasting marshmallows.  On the contrary, this “s’mores” from Trader Joe’s has us open a box and cut open a little bag.  Let’s just say that, in my mind at least, that destroys the “magic” of the s’mores.  Not making it yourself around a campfire defeats the purpose.

Also, this bar is weird.  Its base is a layer of mini marshmallows coated in chocolate, where a S’MORES base is a GRAHAM CRACKER.  Am I right here??  Can I get an “amen”???  This TJ’s s’more has no graham cracker bottom, let alone graham cracker top (yes, in my world a s’mores both begins and ends with a graham cracker.)  This TJ’s product is false advertising, man!!  It is calling itself something it is not 😊 .  There are only a few wimpy pieces of graham cracker scattered on top to make it look pretty.  I’m telling you, in a REAL S’MORES, the graham crackers serve a function, to hold your treat together!!   This is a campfire fail.  Why, if I was camping and someone handed me one of these puppies and said, “Would you like a s’more??” I would say, “Are you out of your frickin’ mind?  That is no s’more!  Where are the graham crackers?”. 

David pigging out

The taste of this treat is okay.  It is not amazing.  I am not a calorie counter, and even I say this is not worth the calories.  It is not that it tastes gross or anything, it just isn’t mind blowing and it is not a s’more. 

Price tag - see, it is NEW

Pretty packaging - doesn't it look like you would
 find graham cracker as a base??

One thing this has going for it is the packaging – the faux s’more is displayed nicely.  Though that display is also part of the trick – it makes it look like there is a traditional graham cracker base (which, I know am beating a dead horse when I mention this again, there is not…).   But dude, David even went through our cupboards looking for spare graham crackers to ADD to this treat (alas, we had none). 

Lest you think we are real CAMPERS, I must confess:  we do not camp.  Growing up my family "camped" in an RV (sorta faking it I guess, I mean, we had a little tv with us (though I am so old that it WAS black and white if that makes it sound more like "roughing it"...).  David hates bugs, so therefore hates tents.  However, we went GLAMPING a few years ago and it was insanely fun and cool.  We went to Yellowstone Under Canvas and loved it.  Here are a couple of photos - there was even a campfire!  (Link to the glamping site here:  Yellowstone Under Canvas Glamping

Oh, don't mind us.  We are just enjoying morning coffee on the "deck" of our "tent".  

See, a real live CAMPFIRE!!

Gorgeous set up and stunning surroundings 

Despite all of my misgivings about this Trader Joe's Campfire S'mores, I guess I will give this thing a 3.25. 

Price:  $2.99

Rating (average of 2 raters):  3.5

Day 304 - S'mashing S'mores

This review is the work of DAVID.  He consumed two whole packages of S'MASHING S'MORES before I had one single bite. 

David says – “PERFECT.

Even before we checked out of the grocery store David was in love with these things.

These are the perfect blend of:

·         Chocolate, which is goooood chocolate.  (I clarified – milk or dark?  He confirmed – MILK with drizzles of dark chocolate on top.)

·         Marshmallows, that are not hard but not too soft and not too thick – this is kind of a “3 Little Bears” type of dessert!

·         Cookie underneath, whatever it is, it is between a graham cracker and a shortbread cookie thing, it is very nice.  (Editor's note - the package says it is graham cracker.)

They have the balance perfectly.  It is small enough to be able to pop it in your mouth if you are a “normal” person, and to provide about 4 delicious bites if you are me!  (This also called for clarification – do you mean if you are an abnormal person??  Yes…)

 I feel I must point out that as you are eating this in bites, if you eat it in bites, is that as you bite down on it little bits of crumbs fall out and you might risk dropping a crumb or two.”

Here is what the insides look like

David would pay five times
this amount for this treat

The lady in the store and the container both mentioned heating one of these S’Mores in the microwave and eating them like that.  David had been afraid to try that.  He said he was afraid that heating them would make the chocolate melt all over his hands and make the insides pour all out…  (I personally think he liked them so much straight out of the container that he could not bothered to get up off of the couch to walk to the microwave…)

I convinced him to try one heated up.  He liked it equally as well as the room temperature version.  I even got a little nibble of a heated up one and it was quite nice. 

If you heat it up it gets a bit gooey!  Yummy.

When I asked him what rating he would give this product he answered with an extremely quick and unequivocable “FIVE!!!!”.  When pressed a bit he said, “They are chocolate.  They are cookies.  What’s not to love??” .  There you have it, folks, a FIVE from the discerning David. 

Price – $4.29

Rating - 5