Posts Tagged ‘reviews’
01/07/2017
January 7, 2017
This is the kind of product that used to be found at a local bakery. It’s too bad there aren’t more local bakeries anymore.
These are surprisingly light and fluffy. The cake is slightly firmer than a Twinkie. The center of each cake is filled with a fruit jam (1 each of: apricot, apple, cherry). The cakes have a rich not overly sweet buttery taste and feel in the mouth. Each cake comes in an individual thin cardboard baking tray. They’re a nice change from the usual cakes that fill supermarket freezer cases.
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Tags:aldi, calories, deutsche kuche, food, fruit pound cake, pound cake trio, price, review, reviews
Posted in ALDI, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | 2 Comments »
12/31/2016
December 31, 2016
Lets just say, your local Italian restaurant would be quickly out of business if it served this dish. The concept sounded good, the ingredients were there, but the execution didn’t work out – just like some Sunday NFL games. The tortelloni came out unevenly cooked, ranging between tough to mushy. The cheese filling was just okay. Read that as not very flavorful. The tomatoes varied from okay to mushy. The red pesto including bits of red pepper, zucchini and whatnot was the best part. There was very little liquid to the sauce, if that’s what you’re expecting.
However, considering the price of $1.99, it’s competitive in quality with other frozen entrées in this range. If the pasta and tomatoes could be cooked more evenly, this would be a much better dish. Maybe all it needs is a quick stir in the middle of cooking?
Calories: 460, Serving: Size 1 container Price: $1.99
Tags:calories, food, frozen box lunches, price, review, reviews, ricotta spinach tortelloni, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 8 Comments »
12/31/2016
December 31, 2016
This was a gift. Really this was a re-gift, which was probably a re-gift again from someone who picked up the bag and didn’t notice it was whole beans. Whatever the tortuous path, it eventually ended with me as I have a coffee grinder. I’m not proud.
The coffee has a mild but nice aroma in the bag. The brown colored beans and oil are consistent with the indicated medium roast. Brewed, the coffee has a fairly strong earthy flavor with a noticeable lingering bitterness. There’s some acid feel and tartness, especially as the coffee cools, eventually settling (and unsettling) in the stomach.
This is a milder version of a typical Starbucks coffee. For those who like Starbucks, this should be a familiar taste. It’s drinkable black. Personally, I’d drink this with some half and half as I normally do the few times I’m in a Starbucks. Price ?? – it was a gift
Tags:breakfast blend, coffee, medium roast, review, reviews, starbucks, whole bean
Posted in coffee, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | Leave a Comment »
12/24/2016
December 24, 2016
Gingerbread on first bite, but there’s much more here. Second bite, read the ingredient label. This is a mini fruit cake without the bad reputation. It’s like eating a puzzle as you try to match the flavors in your mouth with the ingredients. Third bite, this cookie has history. It was created by 13th century monks in its present form. Where would foodies be without monks? Think about it. But before the monks the history goes back to the Roman legions. Where would men in short skirts be without the Legions? Maybe, don’t think about it.
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Tags:calories, cookies, food, germany, gingerbread, lebkuchen, nuts, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
12/16/2016
December 16, 2016
Maybe this should be labeled as half-pound cake? The cake is surprisingly light and fluffy with a consistency similar to but firmer than a Twinkie. The cakes have a nice taste and are not overly sweet. There’s a thin layer of jam, with some pieces of fruit, embedded in the cake, sometimes rising to the surface. Each cake comes in an individual thin cardboard tray. This is a quality product similar to what local bakeries might have. The only negatives are the price and calories (watch it, the box listed calories are for half a cake – really?). The regular price is $3.99 per box of three cakes. It seems many people agreed about the price as this was marked down to $1.99 when I purchased it. One of the nice things about ALDI is we get to try some imported products that otherwise we’d never know existed. For that reason alone, this is worth a try, if and when it comes around again to the ALDI freezers – especially if the price is $1.99. Calories 380 per whole cake
Tags:aldi, calories, deutsche kuche, food, german pound cake, price, review, reviews
Posted in ALDI, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | Leave a Comment »
11/19/2016
November 18, 2016
This one is different. Read on.
There’s very little aroma when first uncorked. On first pour, the wine is ruby-red and much lighter than a typical red wine. The first sip reveals a mild semi-sweet fruity wine as the bottle claims. There’s nothing intricate in the taste and at the same time nothing bad in the taste.
This wine is all about your expectations. If you’re looking for something to savor and spend the night discussing the intricacies of Merlots and where this stands in that continuum, this wine is not for you. If you’re looking for something to have at home with dinner, or just want something to sip, relax with, and not have to in any way think about what’s in the glass, this will serve that purpose. With some mild red-sauced pasta, the wine worked well.
The key difference here, if you haven’t picked up on it, is the word semi-sweet. This is a style of wine not usually found on the shelves outside of Hungary where this wine is made. The sweetness of the wine is noticeable but not sickeningly sweet like some really horrible wines. This is a nice good quality wine with a different flavor profile. Price $5.99
Tags:2015, Balatonboglari, garamvari, hungary, merlot, price, review, reviews, St. Donatus, tj, tj's, trader joe's, wine
Posted in Trader Joe's, Wine | 17 Comments »
11/12/2016
November 12, 2016
I needed to buy two bags of these chips to do this review. The first bag had very little seasoning. The second bag had more seasoning, but still on the light side. In other words, there wasn’t very much of that sour cream and onion flavor in either bag. Other than the seasoning, these are nicely done chips – thin, cooked perfectly, and not very salty. At $1.39 per bag they’re not much more than a 1 ounce bag from a vending machine. But if you’re looking for that sour cream and onion flavor, you may be disappointed with these chips. Calories 150/1 ounce (about 13 chips) Price $1.39 per 9.5 ounce bag
Tags:aldi, calories, clancy's, food, potato chips, price, review, reviews, snacks, sour cream and onion
Posted in ALDI, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | 6 Comments »
10/29/2016
October 29, 2016
If you like house white wines from an open bar at a convention or similar gathering, you’ll like this more than me. If that doesn’t appeal to you, leave this one on the shelf and look for a better white wine. In fact those past generally bad convention white wines are the main reason I avoid white wines today.
Lacking any sweetness and having a stomach churning acidity half the bottle ended up being recycled back to sea. Perhaps in a millennium it will come back as a red. We can only hope. Price: $3.99
Tags:2016, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's, Vinas Chilenas rose, white wine, wine
Posted in Trader Joe's, Wine | 4 Comments »
10/23/2016
October 23, 2016
The microwave has never smelled this good. If this was just a big bowl of the sauce, I’d be perfectly happy. Complex flavors in the sauce kept the mouth happy. Little bits of seasoning were like Easter eggs in video games, pleasant surprises that made each bite a slightly different adventure. Be aware, this is not for the squeamish. Along with the flavor is a medium heat in the mouth changing to a hotter burn in the throat.
The fish was firm and not oily. It’s hard to tell if the fish added any flavor to the dish because the sauce overwhelmed it. My dinner contained a nice large thick piece of fish. The basmati rice was also nice having separate dry grains of rice with a firm texture. The rice had a slightly different taste, most likely due to the seasoning in the rice. A bite of the rice also mediates some of the heat from the sauce.
For anyone liking good spicy food, this should be at the top of your list to try.
Calories 380 per package Price $3.49
Tags:box lunch, calories, curry, exotic, indian food, korma fish curry, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 10 Comments »
10/18/2016
October 18, 2016
This is surprisingly good for $2.89. But there are better out there for a few dollars more. A weak red color for a Cab, leads to a slightly fruity aroma in the glass changing to an aroma of a rough red table wine. Nothing bad so far. The first sip is a little fruity and slightly sweet. In subsequent sips the sweetness is gone. There are no tannins to speak of which is consistent with the semi-dry description on the label. Maybe some oak, or something close to oak in the taste. The only negative is a somewhat strange type of astringency causing excessive cheek puckering. Don’t ask for pictures. I’m not sure it’s a Cab, if you’re expecting what’s commonly expected of a Cab.
Pairing with some leftover restaurant grilled chicken and chorizo (think spicy), it was not the best companion. The spicy food added to that cheek pucker.
The problem I’ve had in the past with very inexpensive wines (like $2 Chuck) is that the quality varies widely from bottle to bottle. I don’t know if that’s the case here, I’ve only had this one bottle. Would I buy it again? If I did it would only be to see how the next bottle changes from this one. For 3 or 4 dollars more it’s possible to get a much better red wine that’s consistently good – think Italian, think Tuscany, think DOCG, think sangiovese grapes. If you’re on a tight budget or think puckered cheeks are cute or just say one day, what the heck, give this a try. Otherwise pop for the extra few dollars. On the other hand if you’re at a major retailer that “also sells wine”, looking for a $10 bottle of wine, save yourself a few dollars and buy this one. Chances are this will be just as good. Price $2.89.
Tags:aldi, cabernet sauvignon, california, cheap wine, price, review, reviews, wine, winking owl
Posted in ALDI, Wine | Leave a Comment »
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