double trouble

i love trader joe's. i actually don't know anyone that doesn't love it. it's cheap, it's awesome and it's an exceptionally happy place to do my grocery shopping. i buy everything from moisturizer and toilet paper to produce and wine there. i also really like it when people i know recommend certain items to me because they have so many great options i tend to get a little overwhelmed at times. if only i could just sample everything. tonight i bought two new things and oh.my.gosh. i'm in such trouble...

first up? charles shaw nouveau table wine. i usually just drink mr. shaw's delicious $2.99 cabernet, but tonight this looked interesting so i grabbed it instead. in case you didn't know, charles shaw wines are made from well-known vineyards' surplus grapes, so essentially you're drinking a great wine from whomever at a much lower price. turns out tonight i learned from my very favorite cute tj's cashier, eric, that the nouveau wine is actually faux georges debeouf beaujolais nouveau. this wine, from france, is released on the third thursday of every november and is known as a popular holiday wine for this reason. it's made with very little tannins (so hey! no headache!) and while some people criticize it as immature, i think it's delicious. anyway, charles shaw's knockoff? amazing. i highly recommend.

and then there's this stuff. each christmas, i buy as many limited candy cane joe joe's boxes as i deem appropriate each trip (likely more than actually is appropriate) and eat them, well, like candy. they're like oreos on crack (or perhaps with crack). i wish they sold them year round, but then again, it's probably best that they don't. but then tonight i saw this and nearly took out an employee stocking them in my excitement. it's like cookies and cream, only better, because it's minty. what's more, trader joe's ice cream (as are all of their dairy products) is made from cows that are not treated with hormones. the only thing that would be better is if it was actually christmas right about now and i had both the ice cream and the cookies.

so...can you tell i'm feeling a bit depressed about my jobless life? i think wine and ice cream might be indicative of that. i'll argue that they both make me feel better so i don't really care. i realize that this is now the second post in a row about food. tomorrow i promise i will find something more interesting to discuss, for both our sakes.

images all via flickr