Trader Joe's Pecan Pie

I was pretty young the first time I tried pecan pie. It was around Christmas time. A neighbor and friend of the family that made some tasty nut rolls tried her hand at pecan pie instead that year. Somewhere buried in my foggy memories of Yuletide yore—somewhere in between playing with the dog outside in the snow, sledding down the steepest hill in the town, and helping my dad set up his model train and Christmas village—somewhere in there lies my recollection of that first taste of pecan pie. I remember liking it a lot, but I really can't recall the specifics other than some sweetness and lots of pecans.

From then on, I rarely had pecan pie any time other than Thanksgiving. It was always pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner. But in recent years, Sonia and I have been sampling whatever pecan pie products Trader Joe's offers. Last year, we tried the delightful Teeny Tiny Pecan Pies. They were absolutely scrumptious, convenient, and fun. In years past, we sampled the Chocolate Pudding Pecan Pie. Many of you guys know I'm not fond of slathering all the food​ in chocolate as Trader Joe's is wont to do, but that was a very interesting and unique dessert.

We even had pecan pie filling in a jar...and some other mini pies from more than a decade ago. Can't say this large pecan pie is the best of the bunch, unfortunately. It's not bad. It's just...not as good as those aforementioned pecan pie products. The crust is very...blah. Just quite...unmemorable. There's too much filling and it's just like an off-yellow gelatin. It's sweet but not very interesting.

On the plus side, there are lots of pecan halves. I don't know if even more pecans could have redeemed this dessert, but it might have helped. I think I just wanted a richer filling mix. The crust could have been a bit more buttery, flaky, and flavorful, too.

It's ten bucks and serves five people. I'm pretty sure we got more than five servings out of it. Well, let's just say you'll get eight. I'd go ahead and recommend two boxes of the teeny tiny pies if you're trying to serve eight people. The teeny tinies are five and a half bucks each. So, for just a dollar more, you'd still have pecan pie for eight people and I think those diminutive doodads are head and shoulders better than this pecan pie.

We'll be nice and give this offering seven out of ten stars. It's found with the baked goods if you're still interested in giving it a whirl. We'd gravitate toward any of those other pecan pie products before purchasing this one again. Bring back that Chocolate Pecan Pudding Pie, please! In the meantime, there's always the Teeny Tiny Pecan Pies.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Clotted Cream Fudge and Trader Joe's Hot Honey Fudge

These two British imports came out a couple months apart, with the hot honey fudge appearing over the summer and the clotted cream following a bit later. Both are still currently available according to traderjoes.com and both were available at our local Trader Joe's as of the time this review was composed. I'm not exactly a fudge connoisseur but these products sound fairly interesting, and British candy is Christmassy enough, so let's get to it.

First up, Trader Joe's Hot Honey Fudge. True to the name, there's a whisper of distinctly honey sweetness. The "hot" part of the equation isn't particularly noticeable on the front of the palate when you first bite into the candy, but rather it creeps up on you and tingles the back of your throat at the finish. I'm surprised how much I like these. The heat isn't overwhelming if you're used to spicy food, but there's enough of a kick to make it quite interesting. I like this candy just a bit better than the other one.

Next, Trader Joe's Clotted Cream Fudge. This one's creamier, sweeter, and richer, and Sonia prefers this one over its spicy cousin. It has a more indulgent flavor, and the flavor isn't a far cry from that of butterscotch. Both fudges are soft and easy to bite into, with a melt-in-the-mouth quality as you chew.

Each box contains 10-12 pieces of fudge and will run you $2.99. We'd buy either one again in the future. They'd make great stocking stuffers for the fudge fanatics in your life. We've also checked out Trader Joe's Maple Flavored Fudge and Trader Joe's English Butter Fudge, in case you're interested.

Sonia will give seven and a half out of ten stars to Trader Joe's Hot Honey Fudge and she'll give eight out of ten to Trader Joe's Clotted Cream Fudge. I'll go with seven and a half for the hot honey selection and an even seven for the clotted cream offering. In the end, they'll both average out to the same score.

Trader Joe's Hot Honey Fudge: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Clotted Cream Fudge: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Gingerbread Dude Cookie

Traderjoes.com quotes the beginning of The Big Lebowski in its write-up for this product. I tried to recreate Sam Elliott's epic voice over from the Coen brothers film to the best of my ability in the video review below, so be sure to check it out and hit like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Fun fact: I wrote my media studies final thesis on The Big Lebowski back around 1999. It was about how the film didn't have any real message or purpose and I argued that it didn't need one. It was super deep and philosophical but I don't have a copy of it anymore so you'll just have to take my word for it.

For those of you unfamiliar, the main character in the film goes by "The Dude." Apparently, it was the inspiration for this cookie. The palm trees behind the confection suggest a Mediterranean climate similar to Los Angeles, which serves as the setting for the film.

But enough about quirky late 90s cinema. How's the cookie? Well, the frosted parts are actually harder than the unfrosted parts, making them extraordinarily rigid. The taste is honestly better than I expected. It's very traditional gingerbread. It's sweet and spicy but not too strong on either count.

As long as you're not expecting anything too soft or extravagant, you probably won't be too disappointed with Trader Joe's Gingerbread Dude Cookie. It dunks fairly well. $2.99 for the very large four serving gingerbread cookie. Product of South Africa. Sonia and I give this item six out of ten stars for the food factor. Just so we don't come off too grinchy, we'll throw out a separate score for the novelty and cuteness factor. El Duderino would make an excellent stocking stuffer.

Fun factor: 8 out of 10.

Food factor: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Cranberry Pecan Muffins

So many muffins, so little time.

It strikes me that these could be considered autumnal breakfast fare just as easily as holiday breakfast fare, but judging by the time of their release, I think we'll go with the latter, at least for now. I mean technically it is still fall, but it sure feels like winter around here. Berries and nuts are great in any season. And not only do these muffins flaunt the delicious flavors of cranberries and pecans, but there's also maple syrup and brown sugar in the mix, too.

They taste and feel significantly better when warmed for a spell. You could toss them in a toaster oven if you've got one handy, but we just put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Add a dab of butter, and you've got yourself a tasty breakfast.

The muffins are quite large. In several instances, Sonia and I split a single muffin for a mid-day snack. For breakfast, a single muffin is more than enough for one person in most cases. There's a good bit of the titular fruits and nuts in the mix. The bread is sweet but not over the top sugary. The streusel topping makes the head of the muffin just a tad more indulgent and dessert-ish than the rest of the product.

Texture-wise, these are very similar to the multitude of other four-packs of muffins we've seen from Trader Joe's throughout the years. And like some of those others, there is just a hint of grittiness or coarseness in the breading. That's really my only complaint. I think I like the texture of Trader Joe's gluten free muffins just a tad better than the texture of these glutenful ones.

$5.49 for four muffins. Kosher. Would buy again. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Cranberry Pecan Muffins eight out of ten stars. I'll go with seven and a half out of ten.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sleigh Ride Cookies

Some of you are going to look at the 7/10 score at the bottom of this review and be like "I can't believe Nathan and Sonia actually liked these cookies" and others of you are going to be like "Seven out of ten?? These are at least an eleven on a scale of one to ten!" To be fair, we've reviewed over a hundred different kinds of Trader Joe's brand cookies over the past 15 years, the vast majority of which have been crispy, crunchy cookies. So it takes something extra special to get an extra special score on this blog.

So you're saying Trader Joe's Sleigh Ride Cookies aren't extra special, Nathan? Huh? Is that what you're saying?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Unless you absolutely love rock hard, rigid cookies and were pining for ones with bits of smashed up Peppermint Joe-Joe's and candy cane pieces baked into them...in which case, I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that you'll think these cookies are extra special. I wouldn't have asked for such a cookie in a million years. But if Trader Joe's sells it, you bet we're gonna try it.

On the plus side, these cookies are pretty good when dunked in coffee or hot chocolate. They're sweet and minty, crunchy, chocolatey, and you get a lot of cookies for four bucks. Fun packaging design, too.

Negatives? They're too hard, there's too much peppermint, and the overall flavor just isn't that memorable in my opinion. Sonia agrees.

Me? If you want a recommendation for extra special crunchy cookies, there's always the Italian Amaretti Cookies. Oh wait. Trader Joe's didn't bring those back this year. Bah humbug. If you want a rec for peppermint cookies, Sonia and I were both pleasantly surprised with this year's Peppermint Brookie. Hopefully some of those are still around.

So yeah. Four bucks for about 16 cookies. Kosher. Shelf stable for a good six or seven months. I wouldn't buy again. Sonia thinks they'd be nice to take to a party. I guess. Seven out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey and me for Trader Joe's Sleigh Ride Cookies.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Mini Filet Mignon en Croute

Ten bucks gets you ten miniature puff pastries here. Obviously there's some French culinary influence but they are not imported, in case you were wondering. That's a steep price tag in my humble opinion, so let's take a look and find out if they're worth it.

They come frozen, of course. 400°F for 25 minutes will have them piping hot and golden brown on the outside. They smell pretty decent but not particularly pungent.

What's working: the delicious buttery, flaky pastry puff breading outer shell. It's similar to the crust on countless other hors d'oeuvres we've tasted from Trader Joe's throughout the years—the Mini Brie en Croute comes to mind in particular. The overall flavor including beef, mushrooms, garlic, green onions, and salt is complex and savory. Tastes like something a legit Parisian chef might come up with.

What's not working: there's not enough filet mignon, and what little is there is unpleasantly chewy. When I see the words "filet mignon," I'm expecting something tender and soft that will melt in my mouth like butter. Even if they'd have simply called this "beef en croute," I'd have been somewhat disappointed. To call it filet mignon seems downright deceptive.

Sonia isn't as critical of the texture as I am. She's also a bit more fond of the overall flavor. She does agree that Trader Joe's Mini Filet Mignon en Croute contains a very small amount of food for ten dollars, however, and wouldn't be particularly keen to purchase it again simply for the two of us. She would, on the other hand, consider buying it to take to a large holiday party for the benefit (or detriment) of many others.

There are many other appetizers at Trader Joe's that are just as tasty as this one with a better texture and cost less money. I wouldn't buy it again. I give Trader Joe's Mini Filet Mignon en Croute six out of ten stars. Seven and a half out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey.

Sonia's score: 7.5 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pasta Festiva

Numerous readers have noted that these Trader Joe's refrigerated pastas and raviolis are "too much for one person" yet not enough for two or more. I concur. Although, if you're serving them with sides, they're just about adequate for a couple.

The "servings per container" is officially 2.5 or 3 on most of these products. It's three in this case, although I really don't think it's realistic at all that three adults could share this one package for dinner without copious quantities of sides, toppings, and/or fillers. If we're talking light lunch, then pairing this entire package with a decent salad would probably suffice for two normal folks.

But odd serving sizes aside, this is a decent product. We like the festive red and green colors, courtesy of all-natural tomato and spinach powders. We like the generous amount of ricotta cheese, and we both like the seasonings and pesto flavors involved. We've got basil, parmesan, and even nutmeg in the mix.

We boiled the pasta for six minutes or so. Traderjoes.com recommends serving it with their Rosatella Sauce, but we were unable to obtain that on our last TJ's run. Alternatively, you can serve it with olive oil and grated cheese. We went with avocado oil and parmesan. Honestly, these would probably even do just fine with a traditional marinara pasta sauce.

We polished off the package in a single sitting, devouring the majority of it during the recording of our eight and a half minute video review. We decided that it must be a pasta optimized for Festivus, the fictional winter holiday made famous on Seinfeld. It's probably just the Italian way to say "festive," but I can't think of anything more appropriate for dinner on December 23rd than Trader Joe's Pasta Festiva.

$3.99 for the 9 oz package, found in the refrigerated section. Sonia would buy again and I wouldn't stop her. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. I'll go with seven out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Pasta Festiva.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Cranberry Sauce

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving week already? Man, 2025 has absolutely flown by. It's a great time to remind yourself that no matter what you're going through, no matter how hard things have been, even if things in the world don't look the way you want them to, there is ALWAYS something for which to be thankful.

I could wax poetic about the holiday ad infinitum and name all the things I'm grateful for, but this here is a food review, so let's get to it. We're looking at Trader Joe's Cranberry Sauce. I'll give you the TL;DR up front: I LOVE the taste, and I'm not a huge fan of the texture.

$3.29 gets you a 12 oz glass jar of sauce made with nothing but cranberries, sugar, water, and pectin. That's it. That's the entire ingredients list. Love it. It's very sweet, very tart, and is absolutely bursting with real cranberry flavor.

Unfortunately, the cranberry skins are left intact to the point that certain bites are somewhat chewy. There's a grittiness to the texture, too. Although I grew up with the ultra-smooth Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce at most of my Thanksgivings, I don't mind a bit of fruit pieces floating around in the condiment, but this is too far in the opposite direction.

I really love the taste as well as the texture of Trader Joe's Cranberry Orange Relish. It's got like a...well, like it's a similar texture as pickle relish but obviously not the same taste. That's still my favorite "cranberry sauce" from Trader Joe's and gets my full endorsement as a Thanksgiving Day fare recommendation. This offering is just a tad too chunky for my preference. If it were pureed a bit more, I think it would be great. Some folks will love the "au naturel" style sauce complete with cranberry skins, seeds, etc. Others won't.

I like this better than Trader Joe's Cranberry Ginger Chutney which has too much vinegar flavor for both Sonia and me. We both love Indian food and enjoy the vast majority of chutneys, but that sauce was a thumbs down for us. And of course, if you're looking for something similar to this shelf-stable product but refrigerated and more recently produced, there's always Trader Joe's Fresh Cranberry Sauce which comes in a tub rather than a glass jar.

We'll be having the cranberry orange relish again this year for Turkey Day. This one will be great for some folks and just okay for others. Watch our video review for more thoughts and commentary. Seven and a half out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's Cranberry Sauce. I'll go with an even seven.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Crunchy Sesame, Sunflower Seeds & Pepitas Salsa Macha

"Salsa macha" is another delightful condiment from our neighbors to the south. It's spicy, nutty, garlicky, and in this case at least, it's quite oily. My mother-in-law (mi suegra) is quite familiar with the sauce, and she's a big fan of this offering from Trader Joe's. We actually decided to pick it up thanks to her recommendation.

From what I've gathered, there are many iterations and varieties of salsa macha—some with peanuts, some with seeds, some with chili peppers, some with vinegar. Most are at least a tad spicy and most have some amount of garlic. Although "macha" is pronounced just like "matcha," as in green tea leaves, to the best of my knowledge nobody puts matcha in their macha.

The nuttiness from three different types of seeds is what makes this product special. If you like the taste of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, it's a safe bet you'll enjoy this salsa. It is a bit spicy, but it's not off the charts. There's a nice warm ambient heat that creeps up on you after several bites thanks to "dried pequin chile pepper." Sonia says it's about a 5 out of 10 on her spice-o-meter. The garlic flavor is nice. If anything, I'd ask for more garlic, but I'm kinda weird like that.

The whole thing is floating in a generous pool of oil. TJ's used olive oil this time, which we're very happy about. It's on par with Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch and the Chili Cranberry Orange & Onion in terms of overall texture and oil content. It's packaged very similarly, as well.

$4.49 for the 6 oz jar. Product of Mexico. The container says to "store in a cool, dry place" and does not mention refrigerating after opening. Is it as good as Trader Joe's Pepita Salsa? No. No, it's not. But we'd both buy it again just for variety. Seven and a half stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Crunchy Sesame, Sunflower Seeds & Pepitas Salsa Macha.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix

How in the world do we keep coming up with things to say about pumpkin spice breads, pies, cookies, and cakes year after year, fall after fall, product after product? I have no idea. How many different combinations of breading, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice can Trader Joe's offer? It seems like the possibilities are limitless.

And here we are with another baking mix that can make cakes, loaves, or muffins. We opted for muffins. Why? Well, first of all, I found a fun music track of that "Do You Know the Muffin Man" song in YouTube's audio library which I used in the background for our video review. It's a children's song, I know. But Sonia and I are still kids at heart after all.

Second, we opted for muffins to complete our 2025 pumpkin spice trilogy, consisting of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix, Pumpkin Loaf, and Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies. We've already eaten plenty of pumpkin spice cakes and loaves recently, but it's been years since we've had Pumpkin Spice Muffins.

Anyway, they're good. I like them a little better than the above-mentioned pumpkin loaf and a little less than the pumpkin snickerdoodles. They're less sweet than either of those other two, but still contain some sugar and pumpkin spices to keep things interesting. They've got real dried pumpkin flakes and plenty of carb-o-riffic goodness.

We made one dozen plain and another dozen with walnuts. I think Sonia and I both prefer the walnut version. Pecans would definitely work, too. The flavor isn't overwhelmingly spicy or sugary or indulgent. It's just a nice lightly sweet pumpkin bread vibe. You can add cream cheese or icing on the top along with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice if you want to make them extra sexy.

$3.49 for the mix which made 24 muffins. Kosher. Just add eggs, oil, and water. They used to have a gluten free version for a buck more, but I'm not sure if that one is still available. We'd buy this one again. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. I'll give Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix seven and a half out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Harvest Chocolate Collection

So this is basically just the Chocolatissimo Harvest Collection, but now it has Trader Joe's brand name on it. Straight outta Belgium, we've got nine fun fall-themed candies with different combinations of chocolate and fillings. Let's take a look at each one.

Yellow & Brown Corncob - This one's a milk chocolate shell with crispy hazelnut praline filling. Good. The middle is like Nutella but with tiny crunchy bits. One of the better ones.

White Apple - I'm a fan of white chocolate, but I thought this specimen was weird. The filling is milk chocolate we think, but for me, the odd flavor of the shell kinda ruined it. Sonia thinks the whole thing tasted more like milk chocolate than white, but she was okay with it overall.

Orange Pumpkin - Milk chocolate shell with a creamy hazelnut praline filling. Pretty good.

Dark Walnut - This one looks like a real nut. I think the filling here is almond praline. It's a nice dark chocolate shell. It's not too bitter and it mixes well with the filling.

Brown Leaf - Milk chocolate shell and a gooey caramel center. The filling is very smooth and runny—almost wants to be a liquid. It's nice and salty, too. I think this one was our favorite.

The Black and White Walnut - It's two races of flavor living side by side in harmony. Both white and milk chocolate shells, both white and milk chocolate fillings. Decent. Sonia thinks she tastes the white chocolate more in this case than in the white chocolate shelled apple. Crispy filling.

Dark Brown Pumpkin - If you like dark chocolate, you'll like this one. Both shell and filling are smooth dark chocolate.

Dark Apple - It's just milk chocolate filling inside a dark chocolate coating. Not bad.

Green and Orange Corncob - Almond praline filling inside chocolate—not sure if it's milk chocolate or dyed white chocolate. This one's okay.

$5.49 for nine imported chocolate candies. Might buy again if I needed a fun contribution for a fall get-together or party. The quality of the chocolates isn't the best I've ever seen, but they have a cute fall theme and you never know what filling you'll find inside your candy. Seven and a half stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Harvest Chocolate Collection. Seven out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini

I certainly don't think this is the finest representation of pumpkin spice that I've ever sampled, but as far as coffee plus pumpkin spice goes, it's definitely up there in my book. The competition hasn't exactly been stellar by my estimation, but that's just me. People love their pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin coffee, and pumpkin cold brew. Am I missing something? Even Sonia seems less than impressed by many of Trader Joe's pumpkin spice + coffee offerings.

But let's look at this pumpkin spice espresso martini in particular. Sonia and I both enjoyed this beverage a little more than we enjoyed the original Trader Joe's Espresso Martini. It seemed sweeter to both of us—just a tad more dessert-esque than its predecessor. The pumpkin spice flavor was pretty decent, neither overpowering nor underrepresented.

We both thought the actual coffee flavor was less pronounced than the original espresso martini since pumpkin spice is the main event in Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini. In my humble opinion, that's a good thing. Sonia would have been fine with more coffee flavor, but she's also a big fan of pumpkin spice, so she was okay with it as well. There was no actual pumpkin or squash flavor as far as I could tell. It's a pumpkin spice product rather than an actual pumpkin product.

Like Trader Joe's regular Espresso Martini, we both wished this one had some kind of cream or milk flavor. Of course, we could have added our own cold foam or creamer or whatever, but the beverage seems to lack creaminess just straight from the bottle. It lacked the foamy, frothy fluff on top that some espresso martinis seem to have, no matter how much or how hard we agitated the bottle before pouring.

$9.99 for the 375mL bottle. 20% alcohol by volume, made with vodka, espresso, vanilla, and pumpkin spice. My guess is that it's only sold in Trader Joe's locations that sell hard alcohol, and it will be done for the season soon if it's not already. We would maybe buy again in the future at fall time. Both of us will score this one a little higher than the plain espresso martini. Seven and a half stars from Sonia. Seven out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Mousse Pumpkins

Not much needs to be said about these happy morsels. They're better than most pre-packaged vending machine snack cakes, but not like worlds better. People rave about them online like they've never had chocolate candy or chocolate cake before. Available only during the fall season, these pumpkins have been around year after year for quite a while—at least a decade, if not longer.

If you miss them this autumn season, have no fear. The exact same product reappears for the holiday season in the form of chocolate mousse presents. And then again around Easter as Chocolate Mousse Eggs. And then again later in the spring as Chocolate Mousse Flowers. There's also a larger cake version around Valentine's Day called For The Love of Chocolate Mousse Cake.

The BEST product in this line by far, however, are the Raspberry Mousse Cakes, available in the spring and summer. That raspberry buttercream gets me every time. I, personally, think they're head and shoulders better than all these chocolate mousse cakes.

That's not to say these are bad. They're perfectly tasty, noshable, and fun. I think they're better when the ambient temperature is warm. I've eaten them plenty of times when it's super cold outside, and I feel like you really want them to be soft, moist, and supple. I haven't tried microwaving them for a couple seconds yet, although I'm tempted.

I've heard some people actually freeze them and eat them cold and solid. I can't see how that would work, but I guess I'd try it at least once. They're usually best when you eat them immediately after purchase. Don't wait until the best by date. Don't refrigerate them. Just pop 'em in your mouth in the car on the ride home and wash 'em down with some chocolate milk.

$3.99 for six little pumpkin shaped chocolate mousse cakes. Found with the baked goods. Kosher. Would probably buy again. We've been all over the place when scoring these things. I feel like they're worthy of seven and a half stars today. Sonia agrees.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Thai Style Red Curry Soup

Those of you who've been reading for a while know Sonia and I both love our Thai food. Trader Joe has had his hits and misses throughout the years, but in general, if it's Thai, we'll try it and usually like it. This product is no different.

We like it—but, unfortunately, we don't love it. What's working? The overall flavor profile is nice. The assortment of veggies is decent. The spice level is just about perfect. There's pumpkin, chicken, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green beans in the mix. There's plenty of lemongrass and ginger flavor, too.

What's not working? The veggie pieces are quite small. Most aren't large enough to be considered "chunks." Oddly, there are a few relatively large sections of green beans, some of which are a tad stringy in texture.

The chicken is finely shredded, not very bulky, and the pieces are far and few between. I'd almost prefer a vegetarian curry with "meatier" veggies than the meager wisps of poultry in this product. I also think the curry itself is too thin. I feel like I've had Thai curry that's much richer and thicker, with a more indulgent coconut essence. I know red curry can be a bit more liquidy than, say, panang curry, but I still feel like coconut milk and red curry paste usually yield something a tad denser than what we have here.

The tub is $4.99 for 20 oz. It's considered two and a half servings. Kind of an odd size. You'll find it in the refrigerated section. It keeps more than two months if left unopened in the fridge.

We heated ours on the stovetop and ate it with naan bread. Adding rice, bread, and extra meat or veggies would help out the soup considerably. It's gluten-free as it stands. We'd probably not buy it again, but if someone served it to me as a guest, I'd happily eat it without complaint. Seven out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Thai Style Red Curry Soup. The beautiful wifey will go just a bit higher—seven and a half stars from her.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkins Sugar Cookie Dough

These are pretty commonplace sugar cookies in most regards. The pumpkins are cute, but they're just there for decoration. No pumpkin or pumpkin spices here. And honestly, the pumpkins aren't even all that distinct once you bake the cookies. They're like a faded shade of orange on a golden-brown background.

Flavor-wise, there's nothing wrong with these cookies. They taste like every other sugar cookie I've ever had. Particularly when they're fresh out of the oven, they're pretty scrumptious, both taste and texture-wise. They're nice and soft, warm, and the sweetness just melts in your mouth.

Unfortunately, after an hour or so, these cookies lose almost all of their charm. They get oddly hard and crunchy. They still taste fine, thankfully, but they're not the type of snack or dessert that I'm craving with any regularity. If you have a big family, it wouldn't be any problem at all to finish them within a few minutes. If you're just an individual or a couple, you might struggle to finish the dozen.

Check out the video review embedded below to see me (Nathan) refer to myself as a "culinary idiot," use a tape measure to space the cookies exactly three inches apart, and find out what the only class I ever flunked in school was. Madcap antics ensue when Sonia accidentally hits the time lapse button to record most of the video. It's five minutes of fun you don't want to miss.

$3.99 for 12 sugar cookies, each one about 2.5 inches in diameter, found in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes (ours took closer to 15). 

Nothing particularly wrong with this product, but nothing particularly memorable either. Probably wouldn't buy again. Seven out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Pumpkins Sugar Cookie Dough. The beautiful wifey will go with seven and a half.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Icelandic Style Skyr Yogurt

Never had Icelandic yogurt before. "Skyr" sure sounds like an Icelandic word, though. I bet Björk eats a lot of skyr.

It's very thick. It's on par with Greek yogurt in terms of thickness. It's not an unpleasant texture by any means, but I almost want to compare it to the texture of paste. Not that I've ever eaten paste. I mean, some kids did, but I wasn't one of those kids. I was pretty weird as a kid, but not like paste-eater weird.

Sonia wanted to say the texture was slightly "gritty." I think that's primarily from the berry base, which might contain some faint whispers of raspberry seeds or something along those lines. I don't know that I'd call it gritty. It was pretty smooth to me. Thick. Tacky. But not particularly coarse.

The flavor is unusually subtle. In both cases, there's just a faint fruit flavor behind the tangy yogurt essences. It's slightly sweet—and I mean very slightly sweet. It's almost like what you'd get if you mixed plain Greek yogurt with a spoonful or two of berry flavored yogurt. Color-wise, the product is an extremely faint shade of pink, just a hair on the reddish side of plain yogurt white. Both flavors look remarkably similar.

On the plus side, calories and fat are very low. Protein, on the other hand, is very high. Each cup boasts 15 or 16 grams, about a third of your recommended daily allowance. This skyr yogurt is quite filling.

$1.19 for each 5.3 oz cup—40 cents to one dollar cheaper than leading brands of Greek yogurt in the same size container. Kosher. Found in the refrigerated yogurt and cheese section. Trader Joe's also sells a vanilla skyr flavor, but we weren't able to get our hands on that one this go around. Despite its health benefits, Sonia and I both think we'd stick to more familiar, more palatable yogurts before buying Trader Joe's Icelandic Style Raspberry and Cherry Skyr Lowfat Yogurts again. Still, we're very glad to have tried this interesting product. Seven out of ten stars from both of us.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tangerine Vanilla Sparkling Water

My parents always had Perrier water on hand for some reason. It only came in glass bottles back then as far as I know. They let me try it as a youngster, and I actually loved it. It was hard to go back to traditional flat water after getting used to Perrier. I remember my old babysitter-slash-adopted grandmother Minnie used to call it "Pierre water." Bless her heart.

For years, I was a soda freak. I drank more Dr. Pepper than water as a teenager. Then I switched to diet sodas as a young adult. In my thirties, I started drinking these flavored sparkling waters in a can. I'm a pretty big fan of all the sparkling waters: Bubly, La Croix, Polar, Waterloo, you name it—and my favorite right now is Topo Chico. So good.

We've reviewed a bunch of these flavors of Trader Joe's sparkling water. See: Green Apple, Winter Sangria, and Cranberry Clementine. And of course, we looked at their old school lemon and lime mineral waters back in the day. This one's not bad, but I do have to say it's my least favorite of Trader Joe's flavors so far.

The tangerine taste isn't nearly potent enough. It's there, but it's very faint. You can taste vanilla, but it's such a strange vanilla. As much as I love vanilla flavor, it doesn't really lend itself to water. It needs a bit of creaminess or sweetness to work. Citrus flavors like tangerine make excellent additives to water, sparkling or otherwise, but this one simply doesn't have enough of it.

$3.49 for 8 cans. Kosher. Zero calories. I'd buy any of the other flavors I've tried again before this one. Still, I'm sure some folks will enjoy it just fine. Sonia and I will both go with seven out of ten on Trader Joe's Tangerine Vanilla Sparkling Water.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Apizza Gouda Cheese

If you do an internet search for "apizza gouda" this product is the only thing that comes up. Not sure why we're adding an "a" to the beginning of the word "pizza" because this is essentially just pizza-flavored cheese. Maybe it's there for searchability purposes? Trader Joe's offering pops up if you search for "pizza gouda," but so do many other products and recipes.

At any rate, we paid $5.85 for our wedge of cheese. It's about 13 bucks a pound. Not a bad value, considering it's imported from the Netherlands. You'd think it's Italian, right? Nope. It's Dutch. The striking color and unique name has raised more than a few eyebrows over the past month or two. I know we're not the first ones to review it, but if you read on, I'm sure you'll feel enlightened.

Tasting the cheese straight out of the plastic wrapper, I must admit I wasn't impressed. It was very tomatoey. The spices were quite potent, too. I tasted oregano, garlic, and a faint bit of vinegar. The gouda flavor didn't shine through the veggies and seasonings as much as I would have liked it to.

So we decided to experiment. The beautiful wifey made a grilled cheese sandwich first. Wow. What a difference. When placed on bread, the apizza cheese emulated the flavor of pizza. Imagine that. Nothing but a bit of butter for grilling, some nice thick slices of sourdough, and this apizza gouda, melted, made an outstanding snack. I didn't even whine about not having soup. If I eat grilled cheese, I almost always want soup. In this case, I just inhaled the sandwich with reckless abandon. What kind of soup would go with it? Your guess is as good as mine. Tomato, I suppose.

Then we tried some quesadillas. Not bad. I preferred the grilled cheese since the bread is much thicker than our tiny corn tortillas. Sonia, on the other hand, liked the quesadillas better. She is Mexican, after all.

Finally, we made some flatbread pizzas. We used Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Lavash Flatbread as the base and topped it with this cheese, canned white meat chicken, olives, spinach, and onions. Sonia added a little pesto to hers. We both agreed that one was the best of all. The apizza gouda served as both the tomato sauce and the cheese and all the flavors blended together beautifully. For pictures of the pizzas, simply click on that review of the lavash flatbread or watch the video embedded below.

It's not a great standalone cheese in my humble opinion, but there's a lot you can do with it. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Apizza Gouda eight out of ten stars. I'm torn. It's interesting enough, but it's just so weird and funky unless you heat it up and add it to something else...I'll be nice and give it seven and a half stars.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.