Trader Joe's

Only those who live in Iowa (or perhaps Idaho) can fully understand the excitement generated by a trip to Trader Joe's. The closest store that I know of is 4 hours away in Batavia, IL, but believe me, driving that far is definitely worth the trip. Once you've become accustomed to certain Trader Joe products, it's hard to live without them! Take Two Buck Chuck - it's awesome!! $2.99 for a bottle of quality wine!! We actually prefer TJ chardonnay to many other wines that are more than quadruple the price. And Jim and I love TJ's tomato basil marinara sauce. Yum! Jim won't eat spaghetti unless he can top it with that sauce. We stocked up more than a case of wine, several jars of marinara, salsa verde, blue corn tortilla chips, dark chocolate covered raisins, chocolate orange and raspberry sticks, raspberry fruit spread, and some yummy crackers. Other favorites are their whole wheat bagels, pita chips, hummus, fruit leathers, and several kinds of cookies; though we'll save those for our next visit. I don't understand why we can't get a Trader Joe's here in Iowa. I know TONS of people who would shop there! Oh well - it's always a good reason to take a day or weekend trip to Illinois.