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...
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
huh, i lied. it's been another two weeks since i posted anything at all. and this is prime candy-eating season, OMG!!! but i'm bored here at work (read: lots of work to do, no motivation) so i'll post about chocolate instead.
my friend steve brought this back from his most recent trip to vegas. it's a box of "American Pop" chocolates from the semi-famous Ethel M's. Ethel has a bunch of shops and 'chocolate lounges' in vegas and chicago. stop in for a sample, hang out with a cup of hot chocolate, buy a box to take home...
i gotta say, first and foremost, their chocolates are GORGEOUS. they're rather small compared to, say, my dear sweet See's or even Godiva. but they are beautifully tempered, incredibly shiny and lustrous and often colored in bold jewel tones. the chocolate shell offers a nice snap, hiding a smooooooth and rather loose filling. just look at this picture... this is the Ethel M fruit collection, another good choice-- i mean, have you seen lovelier chocolates in this price range?
on some occasions i have been less-than-impressed with Ethel M's chocolates. the flavors can be a little insipid, or maybe it's the cost that is coloring my perspective (they're not even THAT expensive, about $1.50 per piece). but for whatever reason, i found the chocolates in the American Pop collection to be mostly delightful. a few of my favorites:
pb&j: just as the name implies, it's a milk chocolate filled with peanut butter and a little squirt of strawberry jelly.
cinna-swirl: mild cinnamon ganache inside a milk chocolate/white chocolate swirl
say cheesecake: white chocolate shell, white chocolate cheesecake innards (VERY mild, doesn't have much of a cream cheese bite) and topped with a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs.
i went through the 12pc collection in a weekend, so ... well, i guess either i'm a horrible glutton (true) or these are pretty delicious (also true). if you're not in vegas or chicago any time soon, take a look at their website and order some for yourself!
my friend steve brought this back from his most recent trip to vegas. it's a box of "American Pop" chocolates from the semi-famous Ethel M's. Ethel has a bunch of shops and 'chocolate lounges' in vegas and chicago. stop in for a sample, hang out with a cup of hot chocolate, buy a box to take home...
i gotta say, first and foremost, their chocolates are GORGEOUS. they're rather small compared to, say, my dear sweet See's or even Godiva. but they are beautifully tempered, incredibly shiny and lustrous and often colored in bold jewel tones. the chocolate shell offers a nice snap, hiding a smooooooth and rather loose filling. just look at this picture... this is the Ethel M fruit collection, another good choice-- i mean, have you seen lovelier chocolates in this price range?
on some occasions i have been less-than-impressed with Ethel M's chocolates. the flavors can be a little insipid, or maybe it's the cost that is coloring my perspective (they're not even THAT expensive, about $1.50 per piece). but for whatever reason, i found the chocolates in the American Pop collection to be mostly delightful. a few of my favorites:
pb&j: just as the name implies, it's a milk chocolate filled with peanut butter and a little squirt of strawberry jelly.
cinna-swirl: mild cinnamon ganache inside a milk chocolate/white chocolate swirl
say cheesecake: white chocolate shell, white chocolate cheesecake innards (VERY mild, doesn't have much of a cream cheese bite) and topped with a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs.
i went through the 12pc collection in a weekend, so ... well, i guess either i'm a horrible glutton (true) or these are pretty delicious (also true). if you're not in vegas or chicago any time soon, take a look at their website and order some for yourself!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
well well well... looks like it's been a while since i've updated this thing. fact of the matter is, i haven't had a lot of new or interesting candy in the past few weeks. but the days after halloween are prime for a CHEAP CANDY EXTRAVAGANZA, so let's see if i can't put up at least a half-hearted effort...
the first of my post-halloween acquisitions is Brach's Caramel Apple Candy Corn. this is something i've honestly wanted to try for some time, but just never seemed to get around to it. i found a bag at Long's Drugs for just $.50, so i figured now was as good a time as any...
the candy corn is rather attractive in white, red and brown stripes, and smells quite strongly of caramel apples; much like Hershey's Caramel Apple Kisses, there's a nice tangy twinge of green apple to balance the expected overwhelming sweetness.
the texture is really quite nice: not too firm, not too soft, and NOT TOO MOIST. i hate wet, sticky candy corn and this stuff avoids that pitfall. the taste is surprisingly nuanced for a cheap ol' bag of candy corn. at first, you get the standard hit of sugar/honey that you'd expect from candy corn. this is followed almost immediately by a subtle hint of apples-- not nearly as strong as the Kisses or the Caramel Apple Lollipop, this is more of a faint background flavor. finally, as the candy corn melts away, you're struck by the mellow roundness of caramel. not too sweet (but not salty, either) it's a rather pleasant finish to a pretty good candy.
i don't know if this will fully satisfy my craving for standard candy corn, but it's a pleasant enough variation and i hope it sticks around.
the first of my post-halloween acquisitions is Brach's Caramel Apple Candy Corn. this is something i've honestly wanted to try for some time, but just never seemed to get around to it. i found a bag at Long's Drugs for just $.50, so i figured now was as good a time as any...
the candy corn is rather attractive in white, red and brown stripes, and smells quite strongly of caramel apples; much like Hershey's Caramel Apple Kisses, there's a nice tangy twinge of green apple to balance the expected overwhelming sweetness.
the texture is really quite nice: not too firm, not too soft, and NOT TOO MOIST. i hate wet, sticky candy corn and this stuff avoids that pitfall. the taste is surprisingly nuanced for a cheap ol' bag of candy corn. at first, you get the standard hit of sugar/honey that you'd expect from candy corn. this is followed almost immediately by a subtle hint of apples-- not nearly as strong as the Kisses or the Caramel Apple Lollipop, this is more of a faint background flavor. finally, as the candy corn melts away, you're struck by the mellow roundness of caramel. not too sweet (but not salty, either) it's a rather pleasant finish to a pretty good candy.
i don't know if this will fully satisfy my craving for standard candy corn, but it's a pleasant enough variation and i hope it sticks around.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)