My Trader Joe's Top 5

Since I keep having to repeat this list to everyone who asks me (and by "asks me" I do mean "mentions anything related to food and is promptly interrupted by me in an evangelical fashion with this unsolicited list") I figured I'd post it here. If you're not familiar with the ultra affordable, creative, friendly and healthy Trader Joe's, consider yourself deprived and find one to shop at as soon as possible. If you don't have one near you, please feel free to live vicariously through me.

1. Peanut Butter from Unblanched Peanuts (Creamy): I used to avoid all natural peanut butters but this is hands-down the best peanut butter I have ever eaten. It's so good it makes the inside of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup taste bland. It's so good it's as though Skippy tastes like a synthetic, sugary paste. Best eaten straight out of the jar with a spoon, it is also delicious as a condiment or in baking. Surprisingly the ingredients are: Peanuts, Salt.

2. Dark Chocolate Truffles: These amazing truffles come in a box of around 25 and cost something like $3.99. On top of that they are as good if not better than any truffles I've eaten, including those that curiously cost over $5 a piece. I only buy these for parties because I shudder to think what might happen if there was a box in my home.

3. Trader Giotto's 3-Cheese Pasta Sauce: I don't know what this low cal, low fat, low sugar sauce has in it that makes it taste extremely rich and tastes great with everything (well, almost everything - maybe not the truffles. Or the peanut butter. Though I wouldn't put it past me to try that sometime since I am the person who used to dip McDonalds chocolate chip cookies into the McNugget hot mustard sauce as a kid - and by kid I do mean until age 28) but I go through several jars each month.

4. Nutty American Trek Mix: A new addition to my favorites this trail mix has the perfect proportions of cashews, almonds, peanuts, raisins and semi sweet chocolate chunks, all very lightly salted. I've been making up all sorts of excuses to keep munching on it, and I can definitely see myself going on gratuitous hikes just to justify eating more.

5. Soy and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips: These are high protein, high fiber, low cal and low fat yet they rival any tortilla chip I've ever had. I've never seen anything like them anywhere else. Extra points for originality!

Ok, I'm a little obsessed with this place but it makes food shopping fun, particularly the part when they tell you what your total is (after you've somehow managed to fill up a cart even though you came in for a tomato) and it's always surprisingly low.

If any Canadians reading this post are salivating over any particular item on this list please let me know and I'll bring samples next time I'm up north!

Paso Robles

This past weekend we went to Paso Robles to hit up a few wineries and hike in a new setting. The vineyards are beautiful with very unique tasting rooms and we enjoyed them thoroughly. We visited Turley, Tablas Creek, Justin and Wild Coyote. After the day of wine tasting we had dinner at an excellent wine-country style restaurant, Artisan, and then turned in at 9 pm. I think deep down we both want to be retirees! The next morning's hike to Valencia Peak in Morro Bay was amazing. We saw lizards and butterflies and the water was so clear that we could see through to the ocean floor from the top of the mountain. On the way there and back we stopped in nearby San Luis Obispo to go to Ben Franklin's for what I am convinced is the best chocolate chip cookie ever made. I know it's a bold statement, but it's how I feel. It was the perfect level of chewiness, with more melty chocolate chips than The Decadent. All in all the trip was a big success and what makes it truly special is that I didn't plan any of it, it was all done for me by my lovely boyfriend and new favorite travel partner! Check out all of the pictures here.

Foux Da Fa Fa

If you haven't had the pleasure of watching Flight of the Conchords on HBO (or even if you have) check out this video immediately. The premise of the show is that two slightly daft musicians New Zealanders come to New York to make it in a band. The show has ridiculous musical interludes throughout, each parodying a different style of music. This one targets the French.

LOST Season Four Preview - The Orchid Orientation Film clip

Finally, something to tide us Lost fans over 'till February...

Change of heart

Why is it that I suddenly don't want to live in my apartment or neighborhood anymore? For the past 3.5 years I've loved it to the point of evangelically telling everyone I knew about how great it was. And then I went to Kauai, saw a place that actually seemed nicer than LA, which I previously thought impossible, and now I feel differently (the grass really is greener there...) It's hard to tell if I'm just ready for a change of pace, moving from my compact, urban existence to something more spacious, community focused and rural... like with trees that have leaves and stuff, not just dusty brown sticks with cobweb remnants and the odd cactus. Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if it would actually rain here for once - it basically hasn't for 2 years - so that things could look a little less desert like and a bit more like the paradise I originally moved to. Hopefully it's not just wanderlust because I can't deal with the idea of uprooting myself again for a little while.

Top That!

This is by far my favorite musical interlude from an 80's movie.

Machinima

I recently learned about Machinima, the practice of creating videos within the setting of a video game, using only the characters and settings offered within. I cannot even imagine how difficult it must have been to create this video considering each player had to synchronize each movement. Check it out!

Harry Potter and the Big Funnel

Apparently there have been entirely original Harry Potter knockoff novels written in in China with fantastic names such as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Relative Prince,” “Harry Potter and the Hiking Dragon,” “Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire,” “Harry Potter and the Young Heroes,” and “Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon." Check out the full story here.