Recently I have become enamored with Trader Joe’s.  Here are my top 10 T.J. favs.

1. BBQ Teriyaki Chicken – serve with veggies and organic brown rice.
2. Organic Brown Rice- this rice goes great with just about everything!
3. Mandarin Orange Chicken- I love this stuff!  It reminds me of the Crispy Honey Chicken at Pei Wei.  Thanks to Mae for the suggestion.
4. Pumpkin Waffle Mix – Very Yummy! We have breakfast for dinner sometime.
5. Sweet Potato Fries- AWESOME!
6. Soy Orange Carrots-   Great with gilled pineapple and chicken.
7. Fire Roasted Veggies- Great addition to any side dish.
8. Peppermint Jo Jo’s – Like Oreos only with a peppermint twist!  They only have them at Christmas time so get them before they get gone.
9. Pepper and Onion Mix- Great to use with Chicken Fajitas.
10. Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds- These are so yummy!

Hope you enjoy these good eats!

College football, cooler temperatures, leaves changing color and pumpkin imbibed treats are all hallmarks of fall.  There is something about the flavor of pumpkin that makes you immediately drift all the great things of fall.  And no – not the vegetable itself but the combination of the vegetable and the subtle flavors of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and a little brown sugar sweetness.

Anyway – this fall I will be blogging from time to time on good Pumpkin finds.  The first one is an old favorite this time of year – The Fresh Market’s Pumpkin Spice Coffee.  Described on their site as – “With a creamy flavor and subtle notes of spice reminiscent of pumpkin pie, our Pumpkin Spice coffee captures the essence of autumn. This popular, creamy coffee has well-balanced body and a wonderful smooth finish. It’s absolutely perfect for a cool autumn morning or as an after-dinner treat.” That is why you hire a writer – who wouldn’t want to have a cup?

Special thanks to the dynamic duo of Amber and Lila for bringing me a bag of coffee (not to mention some of her dad’s eastern style bbq) to the office today.  I enjoyed smelling the coffee this afternoon while I worked and will enjoy it more tomorrow when I am headed off to work with it in my stainless travel mug and thermos.

If you find something you think I should try post it here or email me and I will try and find it.

Rumor is this commercial was banned from the Super Bowl. I am guessing basic cable vegetable porn is a no-no when selling ads at the game every one watches just for the commercials. Remember when you had to watch something like this through snow and with no sound? Wait – I really was the only kid in middle school without Cinemax wasn’t I? Conservative parents create warped kids 9 out of 10 times. Congrats to PETA for making a commercial worth watching and then ruining it with a “message.” Congrats to NBC for realizing the Beef – “It’s what’s for dinner” people had more money and more effective lobby. More ads from this series after the jump.

I know – its a couple of days past Thanksgiving but before the heartburn completely left I wanted to share a couple of shots I took of our Thanksgiving Turkey. This was Cara’s first Turkey and I’ll have to say the bird couldn’t have been much better. The quick run down on the process – 3 day thawing the fridge, overnight brining in a salt/spice mix, herb butter rub-down and 4 hours carefully monitored in the oven. At the end of the day it was relatively easy to watch it all go down and easier to eat when it was done. Our Thanksgiving was great and we got to share it with pastry chef extraordinaire BobG who made from scratch Pumpkin and Key Lime pies.

And now for the pictures at various points during the cooking process.

How good is this Pumpkin Pie? It won second place and $250 at the Triangle Town Center’s Pumpkin Pie Bake-Off. I know – the recipe is so good we should charge for it. Since we already got paid we’ll just go ahead and share. If you make one feel free to email us a slice.