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[this-isnotatraderjoesfanblog]

Week Two

I'm almost done with barista training at Beans Bros. So let me tell you about it. It's the cutest little coffee shop that's been open since the early 90's, that is, seriously, open 24/7. My favorite drink is called the Lucky Duck. It's a salted caramel white chocolate mocha with three shots of espresso.

I usually work in the mornings. It was really hard last week, waking up at 4 am to open with my coworkers at 5 am, after spending two months of the summer stumbling out of bed at 11 am (after wearing myself out reading psychological thrillers until my bleary eyes called it quits around 3 am, although my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest, I was so scared reading those novels).

But the sunrises - God, the sunrises here. I guess sunrises are the same everywhere. They just make getting up so insanely early better. The morning light is so soft and forgiving, the colors in the clouds are so gentle. I get like, one second of peace between my morning regular customers when I can really LOOK at the sunrise, and I just want to stay there.

We're supposed to connect with the customers, you know. Ask them what they're up to, show that we care about how their day is going. And I do care. I care a lot. But I can tell you this - nobody wants to have a conversation with you if it's earlier than 9 am. Believe me, I've been trying. The morning regulars are pissed when they come through - not at me, really, but at the injustices of a world that requires them to be awake at the early hour without being paid a livable wage for it. And I get that. (I'm not pissed about it. But that doesn't mean their anger isn't valid. We all have different things to be upset about.)

So I fiddle with the straws and look at the sunrise and hope that whoever is on bar makes the customer's drink in the next two seconds and also isn't mad at me for waiting instead of talking to the customer. I hope the customer doesn't feel like the pauses between us are awkward. I hope they're not upset. I hope they have a great day. I hope they leave a tip even though they're furious that it's Monday, again. It's a lot to hope for, at 5:30 am. But the customers don't want to talk to me and I don't feel like I know my coworkers well enough to really joke around with them yet, so it's not like I have anything else to do.

If you're ever awake really early in the morning, and it feels like you're the only person alive who has their chest caving in on them, come by and get a coffee. We can look at the sunrise together and hope.

Anyway, here's my review of Trader Joe's key lime tea cookies. I love a good shortbread, and with that in mind...holy crap. Picture a shortbread falling in love with a key lime pie and making adorable tea cookies covered in powdered sugar, and you've got these cookies. They really are pretty small. They're like, two bite sized. But it's perfect because they're sweet and tart and then sweet again because of the powdered sugar. I know these are just gonna be a seasonal cookie, but I wish the season was longer because I would buy these all year 'round if I could.

Sweetly (and a little tartly) yours,

Gloria

[this-isnotatraderjoesfanblog]

Week One

You're looking for a recipe, for, I dunno, brussels sprouts. (Brussel sprouts? Brussels sprouts? Are they from Brussels?)

And you find one, from a food blog. It starts off with like a..."It's a gorgeous, sunny day in Maine, ladies and gentlemen! I remember the day I had my first Brussel sprout. I was two years old, wearing an outfit that my grandmother sewed for me by hand. I had never even heard of the color green. That day, my mind was blown - by the humble Brussel, which we are now going to blanch in homemade garlic butter, together. But first let's talk about the history of the sprout family -."

And you're like, ugh. This story is gonna be way too long. (It probably will be.) And not at all realistic. (This is for sure a work of fiction.) And there's so many stupid details that nobody cares about. Where's the "Skip To Recipe" button?

There is no goddamn button here, I'm sorry to tell you. There is only the story and the recipe. And the recipe is cool and all, but without the story, all you've got is some homemade garlic butter. And who wants that? ...Everyone?

Fine, fine, I can't figure out how to put in a "Skip To Recipe" button. I would definitely have a button if I knew how to code that shit in. I know that nobody wants to read recipe blog introductions. I know everybody scrolls through them as fast as they can. That's why this is the perfect place to say...whatever I want.

Vancouver, I found a body today.

no I didn't. But god, can you imagine? that would be rough.

I'm in training to be a forensic investigator, though. So while I'm not the person who finds the bodies, I'm gonna be the person who investigates them. I have about a year left before I get my degree and then I'll be investigating full time. Until then, I'm working at a 24/7 coffee shop called Beans Bros. Everyone calls it Beans for short.

Beans is definitely the coolest job I've ever had. I've always wanted to work in a coffee shop. It is JUST like I thought it would be. (If I'm honest with you, I thought it would be, like, perfect? And nothing would ever go wrong? But like, that's unrealistic. I spilled smoothie mix all over myself today and that, you know, just freaking happens sometimes. So, realistically, it's as good as it could ever get.)

I'm gonna miss it so much when I leave.

I do wish I was better friends with my coworkers. But it's only been a week, you know? I gotta give it time.

Anyway, here's my review of Trader Joe's mushroom and herb risotto.

First off, it was super easy to make. The design on the box is cute, although my risotto doesn't look exactly like the picture. I made it on the stovetop, sautéing the risotto in two tablespoons of olive oil. (The box says to use one tablespoon, but I didn't feel like that was enough. In the future, I think I'll use one and a half tablespoons.)

Then I added three cups of hot water and the herbs seasoning packet and stirred on medium heat until the pot was bubbling and boiling. I kept stirring until the water kind of cooked away, but the rice was a little too firm still, so I kept adding water in little increments (and stirred in melted butter) until it was just soft enough.

God, was it good. I love risotto but I've never made it before. If you like risotto, or you've never tried it but you want to, or you just want something that's easy to cook but tastes really good and kind of fancy, this is perfect for you.

I paired it with an edible from my coworker and some wine that might not pair perfectly with it, but who cares? It's wine. It's delicious. I think it's actually called The Delicious Monster. Go check it out. This blogger approves the hell out of it.

Crossfadedly yours,

Gloria

[this-isnotatraderjoesfanblog]

Hey, I'm Gloria.

and this is my Trader Joe's recipe / haul blog. A little about me - I recently moved to Vancouver, Washington from Texas. I've never lived this close to a Trader Joe's in my life (6 minutes!!) and I'm so excited about it. I already know I'm gonna spend way too much money there. If you like Trader Joe's too, let's be friends! :)