Truth be told, I didn't do a lot of overnight camping as a kid. I went to day camps for various sports and crafts. I went out to friends' places—people that lived on farms or acreages—and we'd occasionally have a bonfire or a campfire of sorts. And of course there were church camps and family camps, but I was usually just a daytime guest.
Even still, someone would inevitably break out the s'mores. At block party barbecues and school field days, at least one person had to throw marshmallows on a smoldering charcoal grill even if there wasn't an open flame. Once they had browned just enough, you'd tuck them in between two Honey Maid graham crackers right next to a little square of Hershey's chocolate. The heat from the marshmallow would melt the chocolate just enough to make it gooey. I always managed to get some on my clothing. But other than dark brown chocolate stains on khaki shorts, it was pure bliss downing a fresh-made s'more on a hot summer evening.
Since then, we've seen a few offerings from Trader Joe's with the moniker "s'mores" slapped on them. Not a single one has done the name justice. And this product is no different, unfortunately.
We've got a run-of-the-mill, store-bought, pre-packaged brownie as the base for these "s'mores." There's a very thin layer of marshmallow creme at the top and an equally thin layer of honey graham on the bottom. Had they beefed up the top and bottom layers, we might have been looking at a decent score on this product, but as it is, too much rides on the brownie portion of the dessert, and it's just not special enough to warrant all the calories and sugar here.
We tried them at room temperature, simply removed from the freezer and thawed for three hours. We also threw them in the air fryer as per the instructions. I liked the room temperature version just as well as the air fried one, but Sonia preferred them warmed up. Alas, in the end, we both had the same overall sentiment towards the product.
$4.99 for six bars. Kosher. Found in the frozen section. Neither Sonia nor I would buy Trader Joe's S'mores Bars again. Six out of ten stars from me. Six out of ten from the beautiful wifey as well.
Well, the title of this product is clearly a reference to the famous Beatles song. Strawberry fields forever, indeed. Do these gummy candies taste like a field of strawberries? Sorta.
You get a nice whiff of sweet strawberry upon tearing open the plastic bag. It's not overwhelming, but it is distinctly strawberry-ish. You'll note that the ingredients list makes no mention of "strawberries" or "strawberry puree" or anything like that. The closest we'll get is "natural flavors." Shoot. That could be just about anything. I think they need to pass a law that forces companies to list said "natural flavors." I mean bugs could be considered "natural flavors," right? I'm not saying that's what they used here, but I mean...who really knows?
Flavor-wise, they're similar to the way they smell. They taste like a sugary strawberry candy. Both Sonia and I want them to taste more like actual strawberry. I guess we wanted something that was made with strawberry puree or something like that. I mean, the Strawberry Doodle Cookies had strawberry puree in them, and we loved those...
There are two distinct shapes/sizes of the candy. They both taste more or less the same, but I feel like the larger pieces are a tad softer and squishier than their tiny counterparts. The texture on these candies is well above par, particularly those big strawberries.
Sonia is always pining for good sour candy. She wishes there were a truly sour version of these gummies. I mean, there is a faint tartness in them in the same way real strawberries can be somewhat tart, but by and large, these are simply sweet and sugary.
$2.29 for the non-resealable 7.05 oz bag. Product of France. Summer seasonal product. They're not bad, but we probably wouldn't buy again if they come back next year. Seven out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Strawberry Fields Gummy Candy.
