Day 216 - Boysenberry Preserves

David reviewed this product, since I have a general dislike for jelly/jam/preserves.  All opinions expressed in this review are his.

First off, they should have named it Boysenberry in the Hood.  (Susan wholeheartedly agrees that would be a very fun name – Trader Joe’s corporate please take note J .)

David, at our local Trader Joe's in Virginia, excited to get a new treat

 This Boysenberry Jam (Preserves) has some seeds in it, or, as the British call them, pips.  This is my own fault, as I prefer JELLY, but when I looked in the jar while in the store, I did not SEE any pips, as one can with raspberry jam for instance. 

Apparently it is not pip-free.  (Not that it claimed to be, mnd you, but the pips were invisible through the jar.)

If you don’t mind the pips, you are in for a smoooooth, sweet, and mellow jam that tastes like boysenberry.  It is not as tart as raspberry.  It is more like a strawberry jam, but without the texture of strawberries.  And instead of tasting like STRAWBERRY, it tastes of…  BOYSENBERRY.

Boysenberry is quite a long name for a berry.  But I guess it is only one letter longer than strawberry.  

The pips are soft and do not stick in your teeth like those mean raspberry pips.  Sadly, before the end of your piece of toast, you find yourself longing a bit for the excitement of more tartness.  But if you are in a  jam jam and need a fix, this is a jam for you (see what he did there??).

David's breakfast (see the Tuscan melon in the background?  Delicious and got a 5 star review on day 164 of this blog)

Price – $3.69

Rating – 3.75

Day 96 - Sunflower Seed Butter

Wait a gosh darn minute – I haven’t reviewed Trader Joe’s SUNFLOWER SEED BUTTER yet??  I could have sworn I did that much closer to the beginning of this project!  How can I be on day 90 and JUST NOW reviewing this lovely product?  Shame on me.

Ok.  Here we go.

This is what you are looking for - isn't it pretty?

We are not “crunchy granola” type people.  Oh sure, we eat some weird stuff, and we drive Prii (the plural of Prius, I think…).  But we are not extreme-health-nuts-never-eat-ice-cream-only-buy-organic-meat-is-evil types.  So we were not looking for an alternative to peanut butter.  In fact, we don’t even buy the organic peanut butter that gets all oily on top and you have to stir it every time you use it (ewwww).  But a couple of years ago when we saw this Sunflower Seed Butter at Trader Joe’s and we were out of peanut butter, I was like, “Why not try it?”.  So we did.  And we were happy.

Sunflower Seed Butter is lovely.  It has a smooth, creamy texture and a mighty delicious taste.  It doesn’t have to REPLACE your peanut butter, it is just an alternative to it!  Why not have BOTH – some mornings you will be all, “Hmmm, this bagel could use some peanut butter…” and other mornings you might think, “Hey, where is that SUNFLOWER SEED BUTTER – Ima spread that stuff on this toast…”.  Life is about BALANCE, eh?

So yeah - get this.  It is yummy.  And to be honest, I always thought it was sort of pricey, until tonight when I was at Giant and saw their "Sun Butter" (which is what got me to thinking about it…) – man – the Trader Joe’s version is CHEAP compared to the one at Giant!

Ouch - really Giant?  That is some PRICEY spread...

Ahhh - thanks Trader Joe's - that's more like it!

Get some.  Spread it on hot toast.  You will thank me.

Price - $4.99

Rating – 4.75