before moving to california, i'd never heard of Trader Joe's. now i live less than 2 miles away from the nearest TJ's, and thank goodness for that. while i'm not a huge fan of a lot of their refrigerated foods (their sandwiches, wraps and sushi are kind of meh, if you ask me...) i think most of their snackfoods are second to none, and almost always reasonably priced.

around the holidays, they bring in a bunch of cool stuff that disappears all too quickly. joe-joe's are the house brand oreo and they come in a few different varieties all year long. around christmas, they bust out the candy cane joe-joe's, which were introduced (i think) last year and they are seriously addictive: just a touch of mellow mintiness, plus some crushed up peppermint candy for a bit of extra crunch... MMM!!!

they also have a surprisingly nice collection of belgian chocolates, at only $7 for a 1/2# box. they come wrapped in luscious purple foil and would make a great hostess gift. i (of course) bought one for myself and was pleasantly surprised by the interesting flavors, including a tantalizing take on lemon meringue (milk chocolate cylinder filled with lemon curd and a white chocolate "meringue")

i'm always disappointed when the seasonal products disappear from the shelves, so i guess i'd better stock up while i can...