Trader Joe's Dried Tart Montmorency Cherries

I think this is the first time I've ever heard of a "montmorency" cherry. Apparently they're a fairly common variety of sweet-tart cherry widely available throughout the US and other countries. Who knew?

This dried fruit is very flavorful. Trader Joe's Montmorency Cherries are not unlike Craisins® or dried cranberries in terms of size, color, and texture. Flavor-wise, they're similar, too, but I think these are slightly sweeter and more robust.

The bag says you can use them in muffins, salads, and trail mixes, or as a component in a meat glaze. We mostly just ate them straight out of the bag. Balsamic glaze, Brussels sprouts, walnuts, red onions and these cherries together was an oddly good combo.

We also got in the habit of dropping a few of them into different beverages. We found they gave whatever we were drinking a little sweet-tart essence and the cherries, likewise, would absorb a bit of the flavor of the drink. Think: orange juice with a twist of sour cherry and then citrus flavored dried cherries at the bottom of the glass. Tasty.

They were really handy to snack on here and there for a between meal pick-me-up, and they come in a resealable bag. One drawback: they're slightly oily and you need a wet nap after eating a bunch of them.

$4.99 for the 8 oz bag, which lasted us a good long time. Kosher. Would buy again. Four stars from me, four and a half stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Dried Pitted Tart Montmorency Cherries.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Shrimp Pouches of Many Colors

As a kid, I was much more into "grazing" than eating big sit-down meals. My family ate together on Christmas Day, Easter...and that's about it. The rest of the time I would forage around the pantry or the freezer eating random things I found a la carte. Sonia largely grew up in the same manner, although family meals were somewhat more common in her case. Oddly, we're both only children, as well. You'd think three people would be easier to gather around a table than five or six or more, yet it seemed those bigger families were more tightly knit and ate meals together almost every day. Oh well.

Our grazing habits have followed us into adulthood. Since it's just the two of us, Sonia and I have gotten into the habit of eating Trader Joe's appetizers as a mid-day snack from time to time. Somewhere in between Elevensies and Luncheon, these little pouches of shrimpy goodness started calling my name from the back of the freezer, so I fired up a pan and got to steaming.

They're easy enough to heat, going from frozen to hot in just over 10 minutes. The pouches are very similar to the outside of a typical Asian dumpling—soft and slippery, supple and squishy. Inside, there's a clump of shredded shrimp meat mixed with radish, ginger, and spring onion. Along with some spices and oils, there's a very nice savory flavor to these super small sacks of seafood.

$4.29 for 12 little shrimp appetizers. Product of Vietnam. The beautiful wifey and I both wanted more shrimp in each pouch. We also wanted more pouches in the pack. Plus, you have to provide your own soy or sesame sauce. You don't get a ton of bang for your buck with this product. 

On the other hand, the quality is there...and I freaking LOVE shrimp.

Four stars a piece for Trader Joe's Shrimp Pouches of Many Colors.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.