Favorite Item from Trader Joe's?

[Jazzgirl]

My favorite thing is potstickers! All ovem!

 

[Oldvine]

I agree, the triple ginger cookies.

 

[Andy M.]

For Christmas, my younger daughter brought a tray of cheeses and crackers and some marinated mushrooms. The mushrooms were from TJ's. Marinated mushrooms with garlic. OUTSTANDING! The best store-bought marinated mushrooms I've ever had.

 

[Kayelle]

Dang, I wish I'd known about those mushrooms before I shopped for NYE! No possible way I'll brave the crowds there today.

I bought a package of this cookie dough for Christmas cookies, and they were so good, on my last run to TJ's I bought every pack they had to freeze. I'm sure they are a seasonal item so get 'em quick! They are perfect in every way, right down to the crunchy sugar to roll the balls in before baking.

 

[msmofet]

Not sure if I posted these already so bear with me:

Frozen garlic cubes
Frozen basil cubes
Mesquite honey
Frozen edamame
Coconut oil cooking spray
Brie, cave aged blue cheese, gouda and smoked gouda cheeses
Freeze dried strawberries
Tart dried cherries
Espresso bean ice cream
Kalamata olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Toasted sesame oil

there are many others. LOL

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

My favorite thing is potstickers! All ovem!

You can get pot stickers all over. Lot less expensive at Asian markets if you have 'em.

Here is a tip from my Chinese friend Yashan:

Put equal amounts of white vinegar (rice vinegar will do) and soy sauce in a skillet, heat up the liquid, then throw your pot stickers in the skillet and par-boil them until the noodle outsides soften. (The insides are already cooked.) Place them on a hot plate and then reduce the liquid a bit more, then pour the liquid over the pot stickers, and eat 'em up yum!

It's sure nice to have Chinese friends. This recipe is so simple and really, really good!!!

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Not sure if I posted these already so bear with me:
...
Coconut oil cooking spray
Brie, cave aged blue cheese, gouda and smoked gouda cheeses
...

Hmmm.... Coconut oil cooking spray? I'll have to look for that. I usually get their EVOO spray when I want a spray oil.

Cheese? There are only two places in the universe to get cheese: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

My favorite coffee: Trader Joe's Colombian.

Interesting alternative: Trader Joe's New Mexico Piñon coffee. It's an interesting blend of mostly coffee beans but roasted piñon nuts added.

I usually start my morning with a pot of TJ's Colombian, then eat breakfast, then have a cup of New Mexico Piñon as a chaser. I realized last night that I had depleted all my coffee except the Piñon, so today I started (and ended with that), but the Piñon is pretty mild an I prefer to start out on the harder stuff.

So my today's travels took me into the proximity of TJ's but not close enough to detour (I was on a mission) but on the way back I passed Whole Foods Market, and of course since it was only 100 feet out of my way I had to stop, and I got some Moka Java, and some Rain Forest Blend. I get only coffee beans, so I ground all the MJ and I know that will be a strong enough of a hit to start out my tomorrow.

I can chase it with some Piñon after breakfast... The Piñon is running low and no TJ Colombian at all so you know I'll have to route a TJ visit into my near future.

By the way, WFM has a slightly better cheese selection than TJ's and I recommend WFM's Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog. It's a soft cheese that I'm told is poured twice in the same day, morning and evening with slightly different blends to account for the differing conditions (to make them the same instead of having the two layers slightly different). This is the kind of cheese that you buy to eat the crust too. Sadly TJ has nothing like this at all. But happily, many of us have both TJ's and WFM's to be able to go to both.

Meanwhile I have to restock the TJ's Colombian. This has been my staple coffee for at least a dozen years, maybe two decades. IMO for a day-in day-out coffee there will never ever be any coffee better than TJ's Colombian.

And if you are a true coffee lover you MUST have your own grinder. I used to grind daily but lately I usually ground about enough for a week.

I haven't found that refrigerating the ground coffee or not makes any difference.

I have found that you definitely do not want to talk to me in the morning before I've had at least 1-2 cups of coffee! Pity the poor telemarketer who wakes me up on my phone before I've had my coffee!

 

[cave76]

You can get pot stickers all over. Lot less expensive at Asian markets if you have 'em.

Costco has great pot stickers. Much cheaper than those at TJs or any Asian grocery I've seen.

Ling Ling Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers for Easy-to-Make Asian Meals and Snacks

I do like TJs. frozen tamales though---- easy for the MW and for a quick Mexican food fix.

 

[msmofet]

Hmmm.... Coconut oil cooking spray? I'll have to look for that. I usually get their EVOO spray when I want a spray oil.

Cheese? There are only two places in the universe to get cheese: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

My favorite coffee: Trader Joe's Colombian.

Interesting alternative: Trader Joe's New Mexico Piñon coffee. It's an interesting blend of mostly coffee beans but roasted piñon nuts added.

I usually start my morning with a pot of TJ's Colombian, then eat breakfast, then have a cup of New Mexico Piñon as a chaser. I realized last night that I had depleted all my coffee except the Piñon, so today I started (and ended with that), but the Piñon is pretty mild an I prefer to start out on the harder stuff.

So my today's travels took me into the proximity of TJ's but not close enough to detour (I was on a mission) but on the way back I passed Whole Foods Market, and of course since it was only 100 feet out of my way I had to stop, and I got some Moka Java, and some Rain Forest Blend. I get only coffee beans, so I ground all the MJ and I know that will be a strong enough of a hit to start out my tomorrow.

I can chase it with some Piñon after breakfast... The Piñon is running low and no TJ Colombian at all so you know I'll have to route a TJ visit into my near future.

By the way, WFM has a slightly better cheese selection than TJ's and I recommend WFM's Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog. It's a soft cheese that I'm told is poured twice in the same day, morning and evening with slightly different blends to account for the differing conditions (to make them the same instead of having the two layers slightly different). This is the kind of cheese that you buy to eat the crust too. Sadly TJ has nothing like this at all. But happily, many of us have both TJ's and WFM's to be able to go to both.

Meanwhile I have to restock the TJ's Colombian. This has been my staple coffee for at least a dozen years, maybe two decades. IMO for a day-in day-out coffee there will never ever be any coffee better than TJ's Colombian.

And if you are a true coffee lover you MUST have your own grinder. I used to grind daily but lately I usually ground about enough for a week.

I haven't found that refrigerating the ground coffee or not makes any difference.

I have found that you definitely do not want to talk to me in the morning before I've had at least 1-2 cups of coffee! Pity the poor telemarketer who wakes me up on my phone before I've had my coffee!

I have a Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker. I like FRESH ground just before brewing. I like Fairway fresh in store roasted whole beans. I love going in when they are roasting the beans. They have the roaster right in the little coffee and loose tea section in front of the barrels of beans so you can watch. The whole store smells like heaven.

 

[Dawgluver]

I have a Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker. I like FRESH ground just before brewing. I like Fairway fresh in store roasted whole beans. I love going in when they are roasting the beans. They have the roaster right in the little coffee and loose tea section in front of the barrels of beans so you can watch. The whole store smells like heaven.

I didn't know Fairway had its own coffee brand, will have to check our Fairway here.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I have a Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker. I like FRESH ground just before brewing. I like Fairway fresh in store roasted whole beans. I love going in when they are roasting the beans. They have the roaster right in the little coffee and loose tea section in front of the barrels of beans so you can watch. The whole store smells like heaven.

I want to say that coffee is better every morning if you grind the beans JUST BEFORE you make your coffee, but my critical judgement tells me that if I could ever tell the difference--I used to believe I could in my 30s--now in my 60s I can't tell the difference between just ground it this minute vs ground a whole week's worth of coffee.

As I implied, perhaps when you're young you can tell and maybe when you get older you can't tell the difference between fresh ground and week old ground.

Two things for sure: (1) There is NO ground coffee that tastes as good as grinding my own beans--with the sole exception of TJ's Pinon coffee, which is not available in bean form, and (2) At my age and presumably declining taste grinding every day doesn't get me anything, but I certainly still love my morning coffee! In fact a few years ago I was drinking a big cup of coffee every day, but for the last year or so I have an entire POT of coffee every day, and I enjoy it more and more. And I've had NO problems sleeping. What I mean to say is that I'm enjoying my morning coffee more than I did in my youth, I drink a lot more, and I've had no negative side effects.

And the scientific experiments continue coming in, either more coffee is good for you, or just a cup a day is good for you, but not drinking coffee at all is beneficial only if you have sleep problems that avoiding consuming coffee cures.

So I've just prepared my morning coffee pot: one scoop of TJ Pinon (the end of my supply) and two scoops of WFM Mocha-Java, enough to make one big pot of coffee, and first thing tomorrow morning (even before letting my dog out) I hit the switch! (Second priority is letting the dog out, third is turning on Fox News Network on the TV.) By then I usually can get about a half-cup out of the coffee maker and consume the day's new headlines as my pot finishes brewing.

 

[GotGarlic]

You can get pot stickers all over. Lot less expensive at Asian markets if you have 'em.

Cheese? There are only two places in the universe to get cheese: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

Really, Greg?

 

[Caslon]

Saw this on the net about Trader Joes.


A Stunning Look at the 17 Top Selling Items at Trader Joe's

 

[roadfix]

Saw this on the net about Trader Joes.


A Stunning Look at the 17 Top Selling Items at Trader Joe's

Not surprised about the Charles Shaw wine. I see people buying them by the case sometimes.

 

[cave76]

You can get pot stickers all over. Lot less expensive at Asian markets if you have 'em.

My Asian markets do carry pot stickers. But they don't carry LingLing brand--- the brand Costco (and some Safeways) carry.

I think LingLing brand is cheaper, mostly bigger and just as good or better than any I tried from my Asian market.

 

[cave76]

Not surprised about the Charles Shaw wine. I see people buying them by the case sometimes.

When I was drinking wine I used this wine for cooking.

Now that I'm no longer drinking wine, I still use it for cooking.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Not surprised about the Charles Shaw wine. I see people buying them by the case sometimes.

I sometimes buy multiple cases of Shaw. In fact I rarely leave the store without 2-3 cases of wine, usually 2 Shaws and 1 of mixed.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

When I was drinking wine I used this wine for cooking.

Now that I'm no longer drinking wine, I still use it for cooking.

]

Julia Child said never cook with any wine you wouldn't drink.

 

[Kayelle]

I don't like Charles Shaw. Does that make me a wine snob? Just checking.

 

[cave76]

]

Julia Child said never cook with any wine you wouldn't drink.

That's usually a good rule to follow---- but years ago we got gleaning privileges at the vineyard of a prestigious winery in CA.

We made our own 100% Cabernet then proceeded to store in the attic of the garage where it simmered all summer!

It had sludge in the bottom an inch thick and was murky. But it made the best (THE BEST) spaghetti sauce ever!

When we got down to the last dozen bottles friends started offering to buy a bottle from us!!!!