Tag: Trader Joe’s

Do you remember your first time?

Were there scented candles? Sensual music in the background?

I remember my first time. It took place right outside of Central Park. I didn’t mind the public watching. Children stared. There was whipped cream. Things got sticky. Real sticky.

Yup, I remember my first time trying speculoos spread like it was just yesterday. Like many others, my first taste of speculoos spread came atop a waffle from a Wafels & Dinges truck in New York. That sweet, slightly spiced cookie butter knocked my tastebuds’ socks off. (And my tastebuds don’t even wear socks.)

Naturally, when I found out that Trader Joe’s had combined their speculoos spread with a cocoa swirl, I jumped at the opportunity to try it. Chocolate is the only thing that could ever improve speculoos, right?

Behold: Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl.

Removing the lid from the glass jar released the heavenly scent of speculoos, an aroma reminiscent of raw sugar cookie dough mixed with cinnamon. Strangely, my proboscis was unable to detect any trace of chocolate.

The light brown speculoos base is fabulous: sweet with a light cinnamon spice, like a spreadable mixture of snickerdoodles and graham crackers. Tiny bits of cookie crumbs are incorporated into the speculoos, providing a very slight crunch. For those who have yet to experience the joys of speculoos, be warned: it is extremely addictive.

But the chocolate? Oh boy. The chocolate changes things for the worse.

The dark brown cocoa swirl is saccharine and excessively rich, almost like a chocolate syrup in solid form. Its chocolate flavor seems artificial, two-dimensional, and ultimately unappealing. There’s no way I would ever eat the chocolate portion of this spread alone.

Because it’s not as thick as peanut butter or Nutella, the cookie butter spreads easily onto bread, waffles, and anything else you can imagine putting speculoos on. (Keep it PG, kids.)

When the speculoos and chocolate portions of the spread are combined, the result is one dark brown mass, more similar in appearance to Nutella than a cookie butter. The speculoos helps to calm the overpowering chocolate flavor of the cocoa swirl. However, the chocolate equally mutes the speculoos, converting the spread in its entirety into what tastes like a cheap, knockoff speculoos spread. Essentially, the addition of the cocoa swirl smothers the speculoos base’s wow-factor, downgrading a spectacular cookie butter to mere mediocrity.

What happened, Trader Joe? There was so much potential here. You took the easy way out by cutting corners and using cheap chocolate, didn’t you? For shame!

I should have known better than to trust a cookie butter sold by such an elusive man. I’ve been to his store countless times, but I still haven’t been able to find this Trader Joe guy. He’s harder to locate than Carmen Sandiego, Waldo, and the corpse of Jimmy Hoffa all combined.

Trader Joe, I will never again purchase your Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl spread. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 Tbsp. (15 grams) – 90 calories, 50 calories from fat, 6 grams of total fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, 8 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 6 grams of sugars, and less than 1 gram of protein.)

Other Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl Spread reviews:
What’s Good at Trader Joe’s

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 14.1 oz.
Purchased at: Trader Joe’s
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: First times. Speculoos base is fabulous. Cookie crumbs mixed throughout.
Cons: Chocolate seems artificial. Combination makes spread seem mediocre. The corpse of Jimmy Hoffa.

I’ve never been good at finding things. I can’t find the metaphors in Shakespeare’s 58th sonnet. I can’t find Atlantis. I still don’t know where in the world Carmen Sandiego is.

So it was with great surprise and befuddlement that I stumbled upon these seasonal pumpkin toaster pastries crammed in the back aisle of my local Trader Joe’s. Like a rabbit caught in Mr. McGregor’s garden, my first instinct was to freeze in the middle of the aisle, causing a 5-cart pile-up behind me. The next impulse was to unashamedly shove not two, but three boxes into my cart with all the fervor of a dictionary collector coming upon a stash of 1884 Oxford English dictionaries. I may have pulled an oblique muscle in the process.

I’ve often pondered the functions and philosophical implications of Pop-Tart’s no-melt frosting, so it was to my chagrin to uncover: the Trader Joe’s surface icing melts! And re-crackles! Like the glaze of so many doughnuts, this works favorably for the pastry as a whole, adding a gentle caramel flavor on first chomp.

The act of icing meltification led me to investigate the box closer. What were these ingredients that allowed icing to actually melt? Could toaster pastries be made with something other than sodium acid pyrophosphate? Why, yes, yes indeed. To my further confundity (yes, Computer Spell Check, that is now a word), I discovered that these are organic. And made with ingredients I can pronounce. And made with…whole wheat?! Hmmm…is this genius or blasphemy?

Having finished one box in 24 hours, I argue in favor of genius.

“Brown Sugar Cinnamon! Brown Sugar Cinnamon! Brown Sugar Cinnamon!” These were the eloquent thoughts racing through my brain on first bite, and those thoughts were reinforced bite after bite as the pleasantly gritty, sugary filling reminded me of the filling of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts (one of my top 3 toaster pastry varietals). There’s also a noticeable hint of nutmeg, a kick of ginger, and just an edge of deep woodsiness that I’m guessing comes from the molasses.

While those sugar-and-spice notes lollop on the front engine of taste, the promised pumpkin makes itself known on the caboose, coming in with a gentle flick of flavor that is unquestionably pumpkin. The discretion showed in the amount of pumpkin somehow highlights the squash’s sweet, tart characteristics, thus giving due respect to the best qualities of the jack-o-lantern vegetation.

As a consequence of nature, nutrition, and an ancient Merlin curse, whole wheat flour is denser than its fluffy, all-purpose brethren, thus it takes these rectangles more ticks in the toaster to achieve the standard crispy edges often found in a non-whole grain tart. The instructions on the box recommend toasting at the lowest level on your toaster, but if you like your pumpkin-sugar pastries on the crunchity side, go wild. Turn the heat up to 3, or, if you’re really living on the edge, go to 4. These are pastries covered in what might be a NASA-approved full metal jacket of whole wheat, so no fear. Toast!

If you toast wisely, you shall be rewarded with a honey whole-wheat crust that is crackery, almost nutty. While this crust is nothing too astounding or offending on its own, it does make an excellent base for that sugary, pumpkin-ish filling inside. Finding them hearty for his morning meal, my friend and former logger suggests that these are pastries for the lumberjacks of the world*.

*They’re also really good for non-lumberjacks.

Sometimes, organic products can be expensive and filled with fluffified frou-frou in their foodie egos. Trader Joe’s seems to have broken all pretenses of that here. Not only are these original and cost-friendly, they are daring to compete with Brown Sugar Cinnamon pastries in my pantry. The honeyed crust coupled with the sugary, sweet, slightly pumpkin-y filling has won me over.

If you are looking for an entire can of Libby’s inside your toaster pastry, this may not be the rectangle for you, but if you enjoy brown sugar cinnamon, a bit of pumpkin flair, and good toaster pastries, these are definitely worth your time while they’re around. Good show, Joe, good show.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 pastry – 200 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of sodium, 0 milligrams of potassium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 18 grams of sugars, and 3 grams of protein.)

Other Trader Joe’s Organic Frosted Pumpkin Toaster Pastries reviews:
What’s Good at Trader Joe’s

Item: Trader Joe’s Organic Frosted Pumpkin Toaster Pastries
Purchased Price: $2.49
Size: 1 box/6 pastries
Purchased at: Trader Joe’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: In the running for “Top 3 Favorite Toaster Pastries I’ve Ever Eaten.” Sugary spiced filling. Highlights tart sweetness of pumpkin. Greater ratio of filling-to-crust than average Pop-Tart. Crackery honey wheat crust. Icing actually melts and reforms. Good for lumberjacks and non-lumberjacks.
Cons: May not be pumpkin-y enough for pumpkin lovers. Seasonal. Only six to a box. Pondering philosophical implications of frosting that never melts. Ancient Merlin curses. Pulling oblique muscles.

As we delve deeper into the ball-numbing coldness of winter, I have noticed that my pants fit a bit tighter and my shirts are suddenly more revealing in the nipple region. This is a terrible, terrible development for pretty much every single person on the planet. I can only assume that this is a direct result of my diet and lack of exercise. Like a hibernating bear, I have decided to forgo almost all physical activity and sleep as if my life cycle depended on it. I can’t even be bothered to walk to the liquor store when it’s less than 60 degrees outside.

Because of all of these things, I have recently decided to try to eat healthier by going to places such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I used to figure that anything organic from these places would be healthy until I checked the nutritional facts on falafels and cream sauces. As it turns out, even the most ethically grown and sold produce can turn me into a fatass. While this is discouraging, it also forces me to put more thought into what I buy.

I scanned the impeccably clean aisles at Trader Joe’s and weaved through the hipsters and nice gay couples, finally stumbling upon the pasta section. I tried my hardest to ignore the plethora of cheeses that seemed to taunt me and instead focused on the intriguing Lobster Ravioli box. I figured that I couldn’t beat $2.99 for lobster, so I gave it a shot. Even if I could find a deal that beat $2.99, I would not dare eat it out of fear that it would be horrifically contaminated.

After riding my new wave of moral supremacy and self-satisfaction home, I took a closer look at the ingredients. What I saw was promising − lobster was the first ingredient in the filling, followed by ricotta cheese. This nearly knocked me to the floor, because almost everything else I eat is made out of high fructose corn syrup and corn oil. I had almost forgotten what food tasted like.

I followed directions and boiled the ravioli until they floated. After boiling, I found that they were still a bit gummy and dense. Plus, as you can see from the picture, I was saddened, but not surprised, at the lack of lobster chunks. You get plenty of lobster flavor, but none of that firm lobster flesh that my friend so unappetizingly referred to as “muscley.”

Luckily, I am a resourceful and clever man who always keeps a frying pan under his pillow. I sautéed it with some imitation butter and garlic and it made the pasta tender and tasty. I then tried it with Trader Joe’s organic pesto and had myself a fine little lunch. As I took the last bite of my methodically rationed portioned, I felt as though I was indeed a superior person who would soon be able to fit into his clothes once again. That would be well worth the $2.99 I paid for the box. Until then, the world will have to be comfortable with my nakedness.

(Nutritional Facts – 1 cup – 260 calories, 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 mg of cholesterol, 170 mg sodium, 42 grams of carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 12 grams of protein, 4% Vitamin A, 2% Vitamin C, 8% Calcium, and 10% Iron)

Item: Trader Joe’s Lobster Ravioli
Price: $2.99
Purchased at: Trader Joe’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Made with real food like lobster and ricotta cheese. The feeling of superiority I feel when I shop organically. Great price for a lobster product.
Cons: No chunks of lobster to be found inside the ravioli. Ravioli has to be sautéed in order to taste good. Any part of me being more exposed than it has to be. The laziness I feel whenever winter rolls around. My arrogance when I feel superior because I shop organically.