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Over the years, I’ve had many people ask me about my favorite products at Trader Joe’s.

A much simpler question would be to ask what products I don’t like.

From the moment you walk in the door, the beautiful variety of fresh flowers, potted plants, and seasonal items awaken your senses. They are there for the taking, at prices that make them irresistible.

It sets the pace for the rest of the shopping experience. For me, that experience is quality items and deals that only Costco can compete with. The difference between the two is the variety – Trader Joe’s wins on that front. Then there’s the quantity. I don’t always want to buy a 5-pound bag of pine nuts, sometimes an 8-ounce package does the trick.

I’ll take you on my tour of “My Favorite Things – Trader Joe’s Edition” the same way I walk through the store when I’m actually shopping. The fresh produce and cheese/deli cases are next to the flowers.

I won’t buy Belgian endive anywhere else and I use it all the time for appetizers.

These are the teeny tiny potatoes I use for my Caesar Dip. Love them!

I can’t begin to tell you how many boxes of their basil I’ve bought over the years. You can buy regular, organic, or even a potted plant of basil.

Speaking of options, when I posted this recipe, the TJ’s in my area weren’t carrying shishito peppers, now they are!  On to the cheese…

I prefer white cheddar. The selection is great  – and I’ve tried them all. By far, the best is Trader Joe’s very own Unexpected Cheddar. You can always find it at the ready at my house.

Fontina, Mozzarella, Iberico, Manchego and Chevre are my other must-haves.

Where else can you find so many choices of smoked salmon?

… and prosciutto?

Pancetta is hard to find… except at Trader Joe’s. This cubed pancetta is always in my refrigerator!

There are more varieties of hummus than you could try in a month!

Across from the produce is the bread. I don’t usually have bread in the house. I only buy it when I need it for a recipe. The three types I usually end up with are the baguettes and Challah.

And during the holidays, I always need buttery brioche.

If it’s a crazy day and I don’t have time to make either lunch or dinner, the Field Fresh Chopped Salad or the Veggie Wrap is my go-to.

We’ll turn the corner and get my “only buy at Trader Joe’s” items found in the dairy case. Butter and heavy cream.

Only one time (during the holidays a few years back) did I run into a situation where the store was out of their “pink lid” heavy cream. I had heart palpitations and ended up driving to the next closest store because I will NOT buy it elsewhere.

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Last Friday, I answered a question that a follower emailed to me. I said that if any of you had questions for me, I’d answer them on future Fridays. Today is future Friday #1.

The only questions came from my dear friend and former neighbor, Lori, who is now living in Tokyo, Japan with her husband, Jonathan. In fact, Lori asked four questions and I will tackle one the of them today.

Here is Lori and Jonathan with their beautiful daughter, Kylie. I swiped this photo from Kylie’s Facebook page, I’m hoping none of them mind. 🙂   Lori’s question:

“You and I talked about this before. If you were going to take me shopping @ Trader Joe’s . . . . . . what are their top products in your mind, that you use all the time and are consistently delicious and versatile? Basically what are your “go-to’s” that you simply can’t leave the store without?”

That is an easy question to answer but so extremely hard to narrow down. Girl, I could go on all day! We shall start with these frozen garlic cubes. I panic if I don’t have at least 2 boxes in my freezer at all times.

Right when you walk into my neighborhood Trader Joe’s – you run into the produce and cheese area.

In my opinion, Trader Joe’s is the numero uno place to buy cheese. It is inexpensive, it doesn’t sit on the shelf long because everyone knows TJ’s is the best place to buy cheese, so it’s always fresh. And there is great variety.

Two of the produce items that I will only buy at Trader Joe’s are arugula and

Belgium endive.

Raisin Rosemary Crisps. They taste exactly like Raincoast Crisps, but are less than half the price. TJ’s Crisps are $3.99 a box, whereas a box of Raincoast costs $9.99!

Actually all the crackers are yummy and inexpensive.

Here’s my favorite aisle in the entire store. It has…

Fire Roasted Red Peppers…

Olives…

Beans…

Mustards…

Grains and pastas…

Olive oil, and so much more! And on the opposite side of the same aisle…

Dried fruits and…

Nuts. So many kinds of nuts.

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We shall begin with “a dollar short” – Do you ever buy something that you want to keep all to yourself, even though it really needs to be shared? Oh, you say that do it all the time? Yup, me too! Last week, I discovered another one of “those” things! As silly as it sounds, “that” thing is a box of crackers. Not just any box of crackers, but really expensive and amazingly decadent crackers. How expensive? How about $6.99 (at Whole Foods) for a 6-ounce box! That is about $1.17 an ounce or about $18.50 a pound! How many food items are you willing to pay $18 a pound for? Maybe something like jumbo shrimp, prime rib or beef tenderloin. But crackers?

Raincoast Crisps are the most amazing crackers on earth. I have to thank, and then loudly curse, Gwen Ashley Walters for turning me on to them. And when I say me, I mean that I shall be purchasing these ridiculously expensive crackers and hiding them from family and friends while carefully rationing them out for myself.  (This post was written in 2010 – by now, I hope you all know that Trader Joe’s sells knock-offs of these crackers for a fraction of the price!)

Next, let’s address, “a day late” – Two days ago, I posted a recipe in which I used a smokey marinade from Gwen. At the end of that post, I said that the next day I’d put up another recipe of Gwen’s, that I adore. Well, I forgot and put up a lentil recipe yesterday instead. Sorry, here is Gwen’s scrumptious and “easy-breezy” party spread recipe that she made last week for the Les Gourmettes cooking class and served atop the Raincoast Crisps.

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