So excited!

jude

I find all these things good: Their olive oil is very good for the $$. Cartons of chicken broth. Persian cucumbers (for that matter, their produce is very good). Canned fish products (smoked trout very good).

The 'two buck Chuck' wine is now nearly $3. While no one would ever confuse it with Chateau Margaux, the Cabernet Sauvignon is the best $3 red wine I've ever had. We bought several cases of wine there, and I found that in general TJ's cheap reds are better than their cheap whites. Look for the reds that are just a little more than their cheapest, in the $4 to $8 a bottle range; I had some quite tasty inexpensive reds there. Lots of good wines from Argentina.

Bon appetit!

Even better are the ginger cookies sold in the clear plastic tub. Because I lack the discipline to eat only one or two, I simply do not buy them. But they are sooooo good. How good are they, you ask? I will get up in the middle of the night craving a cookie, if I have those in the house.

I also like the marcona almonds with olive oil and rosemary. They are a tad price-y, but just a few will satisfy you.

I am green with envy that you have a TJ's nearby.

But, I have purchased some great cheese and fish there in the past. I hope you enjoy your new TJ's!

They also have some great whole grain breads - the dense stuff.

This past week I picked up a big bottle of maple syrup, some roasted tomato hummus and I honestly don't remember what else I got but it wasn't much, maybe some bananas. You know grocery stores in TN can't sell wine so that wasn't a possibility. I was disappointed they don't carry brioche rolls...I bought them in Mt. Pleasant when we were there in the spring.

I'm looking forward to going again when it's not so crowded.

Those pretzel rolls mold pretty quickly. Eat or freeze.

Walking through the store mentally - I like their bagels, Joe's O's (Cheerios), good prices on Kashi cereal, Columbian coffee (reasonable quality for the price), egg prices, Greek yougut prices, pasta price, wasabi mayo, regular mayo, Dijon mustard (it's awesome if you like a spicy mustard), Basmati rice, rice/orzo mix (think Rice-a-Roni) expensive but good, what I call gerbil food (it's a mix of Israeli couscous and some other grains), chicken stock, corn bread mix (expensive but good), General Tso's sauce, Annie Chung's noodle bowls (good price), their version of Triscuits, water crackers (flax seed and something), most of the bagged popcorns, many of bagged tortilla chips, fresh salsa, salami (in a paper wrapper), packaged sliced or shredded cheese (good price), little mini ice cream cones, party meat balls, turkey meat balls, tamales (cheese and green chili), many of the "chunk" cheeses, Greek brine packed feta, pub cheese, many of their cookies, Valrhona chocolate at checkout.

I think the ginger cookies would make a good crust for pumpkin cheesecake around the holidays!

Two things I discovered that are fabulous are their cinnamon raisin bread and the carrot juice. The cinnamon raisin bread is full of cinnamon and sliced thick so one slice is practically a meal. I bought one loaf the first time I was there and I got one slice out of it. It got eaten by the other two members of my household in seconds flat. The next time I went I bought four loaves and marked one loaf as MINE. There is still some of that loaf left but the other three have been decimated.

The carrot juice is not something I would normally have thought to try but they were giving samples and it was delicious. It is a combination of carrot and some fruit juices with no added sugar but it is very sweet and refreshing. I can't wait to buy more in Sept.

Oh and their sweet potato chips. And their sweet potato flavored corn chips. Yum.

Once they open the one near my work, I'll be spending some lunch hours shopping there. How convenient! We have plenty of fridge/freezer space at work so I can buy anything and just store it at work till the end of the day. I can't WAIT! Between TJ's, Central Market, Phonecia and Penzey's I am set!