The Heirloom Pan: Trader Joe's: 4 Great Finds

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Trader Joe's: 4 Great Finds

It's official. Trader Joe's is my favorite grocery store. The Philadelphia store that I frequent is actually the only grocery store in Center City besides Whole Foods. So, I usually go prepared for a mob scene. The high demand sometimes leaves the store bleak and lifeless, but I really can't complain. I always manage to find healthy, tasty treats for the low low. Here are 4 great finds from my most recent visits:

JOE-JOE'S: These were my initiation to Trader Joe's. My first visit was at their Chapel Hill, NC store where I accompanied a friend to buy a box of these naturally delicious morsels of goodness. During our brief stint as roommates in Illinois, he would drive two towns over to make the obligatory Trader Joe's run for Joe-Joe's. Yeah, I'm kind of addicted now. These babies have real vanilla bean speckles. Ooh wee!!!

SWEET POTATO CHIPS: Oh, how I love sweet potatoes! A gift from God! Seriously, I was tempted to finish the entire bag in one sitting.

PUMPKIN BUTTER: Apparently, I'm the only one in my family who likes pumpkin flavor. More for me! My palate is open, baby... Just like my mind. LOL. Don't take me too seriously... This was GOOD on homemade buttermilk biscuits.

FIG CEREAL BARS: Delish and only $1.69 for a box of 6

2 comments:

Daddy Squeeze Me!January 21, 2010 at 1:36 AM
pumpkin butter? what the hell is that?
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Brother SoulisticJanuary 21, 2010 at 5:01 PM
LOL! Pumpkin butter is a preserved spread. It's basically cooked pumpkin that has been pureed and combined with sugar and pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. I use it like jam.

You no like my pumpkin butter?
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More about me...

I grew up in the rolling hills of North Mississippi with four large garden plots directly adjacent to my home. I spent my summers sowing fields, eating fresh, homegrown produce, and steering clear of indigenous reptiles.

My first food memory is shelling purple hull peas with purple-stained fingers at our kitchen table, and most of the early part of my life revolved around food. As a family, we farmed the land. We hunted the woods. We fished the lakes. We raised our own pigs. We foraged the native foods that grew wild around us (such as blackberries, plums, muscadines, and poke salad). Quite naturally, we also did a lot of cooking. So, it's no surprise that I take the Virginia Wolfe approach to life: "one cannot think well, love well, sleep well unless one has dined well."

At age 23, I became pesceterian. Some people tell me, I've lost my southern roots. I find that absurdity pretty funny. I find solace in my buttery, delicious cornbread muffins. As I strive to live healthier and continue to expand my culinary repertoire, I build on the history and traditions that have brought me and sustained me thus far.