Well, this product was released around Valentine's Day and for some strange reason is still around. It's an unusual mix of nuts, cookies, pretzels, and mini peanut butter cups. At first, neither Sonia nor I were particularly enamored with it. It seemed dry and kind of boring.
But over time, it grew on both of us. I think for me it was the uniqueness of the elements and the plethora of almonds and cashews in the bag. For Sonia, it was the absence of "milk chocolate gems" which seem to make an appearance in nearly all of Trader Joe's snack mixes that put this blend over the top into winning territory for her. Let's break it down ingredient by ingredient, as we've done in the past.
First up, Trader Joe's Tiniest Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're probably the most unnecessary element in the mix. At least at one point, TJ's sold these by themselves in a resealable bag. They got a 6.5 out of 10 on this blog. So...they're just kinda "meh." Plus, this is a chocolate and peanut butter lover's mix, not a chocolate chip cookie lover's mix.
Next, let's look at the pretzel sticks. Also somewhat pointless, but some type of pretzels generally get thrown into every trek mix/trail mix/nut mix/snack mix in existence. They add crunch and saltiness, but again, do they really have a place in a chocolate and peanut butter mix?
Mini Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Okay, now we're talking. With plenty of milk chocolate and peanut butter in every little cup, these things are great. They make up for the humdrum cookies and pretzel sticks. In fact, if there were too many of these guys in the mix, it might be a bit too much chocolate and peanut butter.
Almonds. Whole almonds, roasted, covered in sea salt. Very nice. I guess you have to love almonds in addition to chocolate and peanut butter. Fortunately, both the beautiful wifey and I do.
Cocoa dusted dark chocolate almonds. More almonds, but with a twist this time. They have a layer of dark chocolate on them. A bit of dark chocolate in the mix is interesting. It provides a slightly richer flavor and a bit more complexity to the overall taste of the snack.
Cashews. It's getting pretty nutty in here now. Gotta love cashew halves. They just bring even more rich, nut-tacular flavor.
Finally, peanuts. Wait. There are no peanuts in a peanut butter lover's mix? Version 2.0 should totally have peanuts. If I were the mix master, I would lose the little cookies and throw in peanuts, for sure.
$5.49 for the 12 oz resealable bag. Kosher. In the end, the lack of peanuts and inclusion of a couple of superfluous elements will put me in the "not bad" territory. I'll spring for seven and a half stars out of ten on Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Nut Mix. Sonia will go with a full star more than me: eight and a half out of ten stars.
When I do reviews like these, I'm always torn over how to handle my prep for the post. On one hand, I can do a bunch of research and learn as much as possible about a particular offering, maybe read another review or two about the product at hand, particularly ones written by folks who are familiar with the dish, find out the history of the item and get a nice brief but broad education before I sample the food and share my thoughts.
On the other hand, I can just dive in with no expectations and no preconceived ideas about what something is or is not supposed to be. I think I sound a little smarter when I go the former route, but I might be a tad more honest if I go the latter route.
All that to say, I know nothing about Italian wedding soup and have never had it to the best of my knowledge, and I've decided to go the no-prep route on this fine occasion. The first thing that jumps out at me: this Italian wedding soup hails from Canada rather than Italy. That's fine. I'm sure there are plenty of Italian-Canadians that have carried on their proud soup tradition in the great white north just the same as grandma used to make in the old country.
The soup: it's a typical chicken broth with teeny tiny round pasta balls, carrot bits, beef meatballs, and little green flakey things I assume are parsley. The heartiest and most flavorsome of the elements are, of course, the meatballs. They're nice and soft, and their flavor is pleasant, but they're still not the most pungent meatballs I've ever had. They have egg whites, sheep's milk, and Romano cheese in them, but they don't taste quite as robust as their ingredients might make them sound.
The carrots and acini di pepe are even less potent, but they do add a nice selection of textures to the overall mouthfeel. The parsley adds some additional visual appeal and does...you know, whatever parsley is supposed to do.
So, I mean, this isn't the greatest soup I've had from Trader Joe's, but it's not the worst, either. It's vaguely like many chicken noodle soups I've tried in terms of overall taste and comfort food value, but with small beef meatballs instead of chicken.
In the end, I would turn to an Italian and ask, "Did those Canucks do your soup justice?" Because I honestly don't know myself. It's decent soup, but I would not seek it out again.
$4.99 for the 22 oz glass jar. Refrigerate after opening. It has come to my attention that this soup is not necessarily served at actual Italian nuptials. Go figure. The "wedding" part has something to do with a marriage of flavors or something silly like that.
Six and a half stars out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup. Sonia's had Italian wedding soup from Progresso at least once. She liked it a bit more than this selection, flavor-wise, but notes that it has significantly more sodium than this soup from TJ's. Sonia will go with seven out of ten stars.
