Nancree, Your gift arrived today!!! Trader Joe's opened this morning
at nine and I was there. There were hundreds more waiting for the
store to open, so I know you will be glad to hear that you made so
many happy with your generosity. :o)
The store is fabulous. No wine department, at least not yet, but
wonderful fresh foods, some quite unusual. Today being St. Patrick's
Day, there was a corner of the store set aside to offer toasted Irish
Soda bread slices and coffee, all you wanted, the coffee either
regular or decaffeinated, with cream, milk or soy milk. Now that I am
back home, I am sorry that I did not buy a loaf. :o(
There were taste samples for many, many things. As a matter of fact,
if you asked one of the dozens of employees who were on the floor to
help the shoppers, what something was or tasted like, nine times out
of ten the person would bring the item, open the package and let the
people who were interested taste it.
I tasted bittersweet chocolate covered espresso beans (the best ever),
three or four different kinds of cookies, each very, very good,
Vegetable chips, fresh and crisp and addictive and too many other
things to remember.
My only problem was, that I had to schlepp the purchases back home on
the bus and all I had was a small folding shopping bag with wheels.
Therefore, I bought a fraction of what I would have liked to buy.
Here is the list:
3 pounds unsalted Cabot butter @2.99 a pound, about half of what I
usually pay
2 pounds Usinger's Bratwuerste and Knackwuerste @3.99 a pound, about
half what I pay for Schaller & Weber Wuerstchen, which are the ones I buy
Chocolates and Fudge and such, much less than gourmet shop prices in
Manhattan
TJ's 8 fresh Ciabatta rolls for $2.29 the package, instead of 60 cents
each at Citarella
TJ's Vegetable chips, 7.5 ounces for $2.49. I do not know how much I
would have to pay for them in the super market, as they were always
too expensive to consider buying.
Nancree, Thank you, I hope that you have a Trader Joe's near you. I
hope that all who read this have access to one, too. Hugs, M