Why, you may wonder as I did when I saw this, is Trader Joe’s selling Diamond Crystal brand Kosher Salt? If you’ve watched any chef cook you probably know they frequently specify using Kosher salt which has a much bigger flake than regular sea salt and is therefore useful for seasoning and is the “go to” salt for most chef’s. What even is Kosher Salt?
I haven’t bought Kosher Salt for some time. When I saw this I got bit of sticker shock seeing how much Kosher Salt seems to be now! $9 for a 3 lb. box (or $3 a pound) Wow. By contrast Trader Joe’s sells their Sea Salt for about $1.70 for over 1 1/2 lbs.
I really liked this blueberry preserve Trader Joe’s has come out with, which uses wild organic blueberries from “the Canadian Boreal Forest“. It has a really delicious, intense flavor of wild blueberries. It’s very tasty though I found it a bit on the sweet side, borderline overly sweet. So what I did was I tamed the sweetness down easily by squeezing in about a 1/4 of a fresh lemon into the jar and mixed it in. The lemon juice did the trick to cut the sweetness and giving it some more acid. It made it even better and really improved the whole thing. So definitely I suggest don’t forget to buy a lemon when you pick this up. TIP: after adding your lemon juice cut a little piece of the lemon rind and throw that it too for extra lemony flavor. The Organic Wild Blueberry Preserve is $4.49 for a 17.5 oz jar. Not cheap but then it is Certified Organic and taste-wise I would say this stuff is certainly a Gourmet Level jam. Probably elsewhere (say Whole Paycheck?) a similar one would probably go for more like six or seven dollars. Try this on just about anything but I really think it would be heavenly on a slice of TJ’s Sliced Brioche bread, toasted with butter, spread with the blueberry preserves. Ditto on an English Muffin, toasted Crumpet or on your pancakes….
Trader Joe’s says: “Our supplier takes wild, organic blueberries, harvested from the Canadian Boreal Forest, and simmers them with organic cane sugar to complement their pleasantly tart and rich blueberry flavor.”
This is a very nice new shape pasta on offer I saw at Trader Joe’s recently. I really like it. Its a ribbon shaped flat wide noodle like a thinner lasagna, cut into short (“corta”) pieces. The pasta has a ruffled edge, which hold sauces well. I made it with a homemade ragu bolognese style sauce and we both really liked it. Its a nice hardy noodle and will be great with almost any sauce you can think of. This is a nice organic bronze die cut semolina pasta, and a good buy for $1.99.TIP: It has a recommended cooking time of 8-9 minutes. I was making my pasta Italian style, meaning under-cooking it a bit then fishing it out of the water and putting it in a pan to cook with some sauce till its done (al dente). So I fished out the pasta before it was al dente, a minute or two under than so maybe at about the 6 minute mark (2 minutes under the recommended 8). The noodles went into a pan with a 1/2 ladle of the pasta cooking water (!) and I then added about 1 ladle of my sauce. I cooked that mixing it all the time for maybe 90 seconds, and adding another ladle of sauce. Turned off, then the pasta got plated. I put some additional sauce on top as well as some fresh grated Parmesan. This “Italian pasta cooking method” imbues the pasta with your sauce so it’s way better than just putting sauce on top of pasta which is how most people cook pasta in this country. I would gladly buy this again. I think the Malfada would be a great match for TJ’s frozen MUSHROOM MEDLEY.
You pretty much can’t go wrong with TJ’s PINEAPPLE SALSA. It’s one of Trader Joe’s best selling salsas and not for nothing. It hits all the right notes to make a good all around salsa. For one thing it’s not spicy. They say Mild to Medium (I say Mild) so this salsa is good for folks who say they don’t like it too spicy. Me I like spicy but I still like this too and can add something spicy to up the heat if I want. The Pineapple Salsa gets a nicely balanced subtle sweetness from pineapple blended into a tomato based salsa. The subtle sweetness adds a nice touch and counterbalances any spiciness. I add a few Sweet Hot Jalapeneno‘s on top if I want spicy. Another good thing about this is that it’s the cheapest salsa they sell as it’s only $1.99 and all the other ones cost more now. It has no preservatives and no artificial ingredients. Tasting wise, it was quite nice on tacos and quesadillas and some black bean burritos with cheese. You can use it for things other too. TJ’s says try it with cream cheese and crackers. Interesting. I would buy this again.
You may have heard of this super popular “recipe” if you can call it that, which is all over the internet. It makes a healthy snack or dessert. Basically there are actually two ingredients: chia seeds and almond milk (or whatever “milk” you want). Here ya go.
RECIPE: CHIA SEED PUDDING
In a glass or small jar, put about 2 tablespoon of TJ’s chia seeds. Next add about 1/2 cup of any kind of milk beverage (like almond milk). Give it a little stir. There are no rules that you must use almond milk, just use whatever you like best. Me, I alternate all the time between OAT, ALMOND or SOY MILK depending on my mood. Option: Add a bit of honey or any of your preferred sweetener (agave, maple syrup) and stir that in. While optional it does add some flavor and if you have kids you must use something like that. All you do now is wait for it to thicken so put it in the fridge and let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least about 30-60 minutes but it sets up best if you let it sit for 8-12 hours or overnight. When ready to serve put some fruit on top, or even something crunchy like Granola.
Chia seed pudding is super easy to make and of course very healthy. Now there is no rule that you can’t have use more ingredients and include a few other things. I usually mix in some yogurt or kefir too with the oat milk and sometimes add a few dried fruits like dried cranberries in. Basically figure about 1/2 cup of liquid to about 2 tablespoon of the chia seeds. If that is too thick (or not thick enough) adjust with more or less chia seeds until you get the consistency you, or your kids, prefer. This is a great snack.
Amazing stuff. I had read somewhere on the ‘Net that this Ugandan coffee was one of the best coffees Trader Joe’s has offered, so I told myself I had to check it out. I had seen it sitting in the NEW ITEMS shelf but I was done shopping so made a mental note to buy a bag the next day. Well when I went back, as luck would have it there were no more bags of it! My bad luck, it was sold out. Of course by their very nature “small lot” means these coffees come in a limited batch from small producers. Think a Limited Editions.
Fortunately it just so happened that my upstairs neighbor, another big TJ’s fan, happened to have gotten some of this coffee. Yeah! She offered me some so I could review it. After grinding it I had high hopes. It smelled fantastic. After brewing it wow was I impressed. I was almost surprised at just how good this coffee tasted. Not to mention this may be the first time I’d even tried a coffee from Uganda.
So I am sold. I definitely agreed with those who gave this high marks. This must be one of the best coffees I’ve tried from Trader Joe’s, period. The Mountains of the Moon UGANDA RWENZORI coffee is just a fantastic tasting coffee, which I found wonderfully balanced. To my taste buds its just perfect, hitting all right notes. Bold and robust but not over powering, it was both a little sweet and a little bitter, both smooth and robust, tasting surely like an “African” coffee a little ascertic and winy and yes even had those “notes of chocolate” describe on the bag. This is just terrific. Also TJ’s got it right that this is actually a “medium roast” as described (sometimes TJ’s roast descriptions are off). I loved this coffee and want more. I’m crossing my fingers we see it again (might be next harvest?) If by any chance you see it, do yourself a favor and grab a bag if you can. I have a feeling anyone who considers themselves a coffee lover is going to love this. If/when I see it again, I will be sure to stock up on a few bags. ($8.99 12 oz bag, whole bean)
Wow, this is terrific. I loved it on first bite. This may be one of Trader Joe’s best New Products, maybe even a Top Ten. You will find this stuff mentioned all over Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. This spread takes TJ’s well loved, super popular Unexpected Cheddar cheese and adds things like butter and whey to make what is a hard cheddar into a spreadable pub cheese. It takes the amazing Unexpected Cheddar and manages to turn it up to 11. Trader Joe’s says: “Our supplier combines our crumbly Unexpected Cheddar with salted butter and whey to create a superbly savory, creamy Cheese Spread that’s ready to enhance sandwiches and glorify grazing boards with the simple flick of a knife. Spread this pub-style cheese on a Raisin Rosemary Crisp, and you’ve got one classy snack on your hands. You might also add it to an appetizer of puff pastry topped with chopped figs to bring out its subtle fruity notes. No matter how you use it, it’s guaranteed to be a real crowd-cheeser.” (ok a groan for the bad pun)
Search around you you’ll find pictures using this spread to make the trendy fancy “cheese boards” which are all the rage on Instagram. Here’s TJ’s idea to make one with this spread, nuts and honey
Remove cheese spread from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to assembly to help soften.
To a medium-sized cutting board, use a butter knife or spoon to spread the unexpected cheddar over the entire board, leaving a small outer rim exposed. Use your utensil to make swooping motions as you spread to help create nooks and crannies.
Top with chopped pecans, thyme leaves, and a drizzle of honey.
This flavor is the one I’m now seeing of TJ’s yummy “bread cheese“. This “pizza seasoned bread cheese” is quite good, even perhaps dangerously so! Just grilling it with some halved cherry tomatoes, basically I came up with kind of a “deconstructed pizza”. Served the cheese and grilled tomatoes with some toasted bread with a little EVOO over everything. A sprig of fresh basil completed the picture. What’s not to like? All the flavor and fun of pizza in five minutes. Eat it while it’s still all gooey and melt-y. I would say a package made roughly two portions. I’d go with “sauté” and not microwave as grilling it will brown it more and so be better that way.
Many of us butter lovers were afraid Trader Joe’s had discontinued ALL three of the imported butters they had one carried including this one, Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter. So this is to let you know I finally saw this one back at Trader Joe’s. This Irish butter had been Missing In Action off the shelves at TJ’s for months. Previously Trader Joe’s used to carry 3 premium imported butters but unfortunately that changed during the Pandemic probably due to rising production cost factors on the supply side. The other two butters, the French Cultured Butter from Normandy and the New Zealand Butter were also both excellent but got Discontinued at Trader Joe’s. Who knows if the Normandy or Kiwi butters will they ever return, but at least TJ’s has the Irish Kerrygold butter back finally. A TJ’s captain told me in this case the reason was due to a packaging problem that Kerrygold had which was now fixed. The Kerrygold was not available in any US stores for months but it’s finally back. Kerrygold Irish butter is a Very Good super premium butter. Kerrygold says its from “Grass Fed Irish cows” producing the “sweetest, richest milk in the world”. Even if that’ Blarney, this is a very good high quality premium butter with the most beautiful deep golden yellow color and it tastes great. The gold foil package of Kerrygold is their salted butter however it is very lightly salted. Its hint of salt will work well with most foods. Kerrygold also has an unsalted butter which is a silver package. I didn’t see that one back at TJ’s yet. Trader Joe’s sells the Kerrygold butter for $3.99 (for 8 oz or 1/2 pound). It may be not as cheap as it used to be, but Trader Joe’s price is less than Fresh Direct ($5.29?) and other vendors. If you’ve never tried this or any imported premium butter, give yourself a splurge at least once and try a really good butter. Spread this on a hot toasted Crumpet with some good jam. Quite heavenly combo. Link below to see what the company says…
“A FIERY snack that you may not be able to stop eating”
These snacks are made in Japan where they are serious about snacks!
Trader Joe’s CRISPY CRUNCHY SPICY RICE MOCHI snacks are (really) crunchy bite sized nuggets made from rice powder and coated with spices. A lot of spices! Now one never quite knows when Trader Joe’s calls something “spicy” exactly how spicy they mean. In this case I assure you TJ’s is Not Kidding with the spicy! These are SERIOUSLY spicy as in mouth on fire spicy (or “head on fire” spicy if you look at the the package) The cute pictures on the package are not by accident, they are warning that this Bag Contains Really Spicy Stuff! So yes while these – actually yummy – snacks are super hot, they are more than just “spicy”, they are really tasty (as long as you can handle heat). I actually liked these and I give them a thumbs up, if you like spicy stuff. They are super duper CRUNCHY bites liberally coated with spices including : Black pepper, white pepper, chipotle powder, habanero powder, red chili powder... If you read that list I’m sure you get the picture. Again these are not just fiery, they’re quite tasty with a bunch of other interesting flavors as well such as citrus peel, paprika, cumin, cardamon, ginger, cinnamon….. So we are talking fiery flavorful and yummy all at the same time. Even addictive as they say? I can eat one or two and then kind of take a break for moment before eating another one then drink something to cool down the tongue. You should have some drink near you eating these. They would probably be great with an ice cold beer. I liked them on their own. I also found I especially liked them and they were even better with a little something else to kind of balance and mellow out the heat a bit. They were good with some cheese and even with a little cream cheese and probably great with some kind of dip, especially yogurt based? Anyway, these are really something. If you like heat you will enjoy these, they are more than just hot, they’re super tasty. Oh and wash your fingers after you are done eating these, lest you accidentally touch your eyes or something.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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