Trader Joe’s is my favorite place to shop. I’ve never purchased anything there that I’ve been disappointed with (save for some concern regarding that peanut butter salmonella outbreak – but I will say they handled that gracefully, honestly, and with care for their customers) which makes discovering new items easy and fun. For example: the chicken tikka samosas and mango ginger chutney I brought home this week following an in-store sample from a friendly young bloke. Mumbles and I devoured 2/3 of the pack for dinner. Scrumptious! I guess I should say that I’m a little biased perhaps because my brother-in-law (let’s call him Trader Jim, shall we?) and niece both work there so our family gatherings always include our favorite TJ’s finds. Mumbles and I even used the Asti from Trader Joe’s in lieu of champagne for our wedding! It’s my favorite – sweet like moscato but not too sweet and bubbly like champagne but not dry and more forgiving in the drink-too-much-and-suffer-the-headache-later department, plus it’s only $5.99 a bottle (but don’t go around telling everyone)! I always keep a few bottles on hand to give as celebration gifts or to pop one open on special occasions.

Thanks for staying with me whilst I rambled on about my love of all things Trader Joe’s. ‘Tis the season of the pumpkin and I brought home a gaggle of pumpkin-flavored goods last week, purchasing double to use as gifts for some special occasions. So far, I’ve made a batch of the pumpkin loaf (substituting flaxseed meal for the two eggs because I didn’t have any – flaxseed meal is such a handy thing to keep in the cupboard for just such cases!) and indulged in the pumpkin spice roobois tea and the pumpkin spice latte. I have yet to try the pumpkin butter but if it’s anything like the fig butter I’ll be in heaven. The fig butter on toast with goat cheese is one of my most favorite snacks! The pumpkin butter is going to get its debut on some pancakes here pretty soon, I’m sure. Sounds divine!

What are your favorite pumpkin flavored finds?