Trader Joe's - Trader Kim?

Well, anyone who knows me in real life knows that I love Trader Joe's. Let me elaborate: I don't just love Trader Joe's, I LOVE Trader Joe's (TJs). I've actually made decisions where to live based on the proximity to Trader Joe's and, furthermore, currently use the presence/absence/density of TJs locations to define a state's acceptability for habitation. TJs addict roll call? *sheepish hand raising*

Now anyone who's shopped at TJs knows that, in addition to the economically priced staples (e.g., tomato sauce, breads, cheeses, wines), one of the most appealing aspects of shopping there is that every now and then you'll encounter a product that you wouldn't ever expect to see at a "normal" grocery store, and sometimes even a product you wouldn't anticipate being made for human consumption. It's probably pathetic to liken grocery shopping with opening up Christmas presents, but I'll go there: shopping at TJs is fun because you get (pleasant) surprises more often than not.

The flip-side of this culinary creativity is that if there is an item that you like, there is a chance that it may be discontinued. Or, if there is an item that you try and hate, there's a good chance that will go away in a matter of time. (Fortunately, TJs will allow you to return anything that you're not satisfied with. And trust me when I say that it's not just lip service: I've returned a partly consumed bag of oranges. They were dry, OK? ) We'll liken these items to the garish holiday sweaters that nobody but your sartorially insane aunt thought would be a good idea.

One of the more recent discoveries, which unfortunately appears to be a holiday (drats!) item, was Speculoos cookie spread. Now our European brethren are probably rolling their eyes at the banality of this discovery, but for us Americans, Speculoos is everything that peanut butter should be. However, this post isn't about the wonders of Speculoos, so I'll move right along to my main point: Trader Joe's, making Korean food accessible to the masses.

TJs routinely and whimsically plays on "Trader Joe's" branding with "Trader Jose," "Trader Giotto," and the like. I guess it's only a matter of time there'd be a "Trader Kim." OK, so they're not actually re-branding these items under "Trader Kim" but a girl can always imagine, right?

I noticed that it started small. First it was the Korean-style marinated galbi. Then it was the Korean-style chicken wings (a bit salty). Later it was the snack-pack of dried seaweed. Then came the instant coffee and now....drumroll please....dried Jeju Mandarin Oranges and Kimchi Fried Rice!

So, why do I love these products?



These mandarin orange slices are AWESOME. I've actually been to the island where these mandarin oranges grow but did not have the opportunity to sample any fruit. I guess the growing season is indeed short. I'm not universally a fan of dried fruit. For instance, I love dried apricots, peaches, plums (yes, PRUNES), but I hate dried bananas, coconut, and other random fruit. You would think that if you liked fruit x in its natural form, that you would appreciate it dried. Not always true. Normally I like oranges but won't really bother with mandarin oranges or clementines or other fruits that I deem too much work. My brother, on the other hand, will kill an entire box of Cuties on his own. Somehow we are related. However, despite my normal aversion to small citrus, I really love the dried mandarin oranges because it's all the flavor and acidity of the fruit with no mess and no fuss. No wet, sticky fingers coated in orange oil. Plus, unlike other fruits (I'm pointing at you, bananas), I really think dried mandarins maintain their essence -- google Aristotle if you'd like to go on a very long philosophical tangent. It also doesn't hurt that these mandarins are simply just that with nothing else, like added sugars or drying agents, detracting from it.

The only downside of this product is that it is fairly expensive. It's nearly $4 USD for what seems to weigh as much as a hamster's backpack. Use your imagination. :P

I only hope TJs continues to carry this product for a while. I've been lucky as of late. The only product that I really missed for a long while was the Thai curry tuna, which they eventually brought back after finding a new tuna supplier. Sorry, tunas, but why are you so tasty?

As for the fried rice, it is really flavorful, authentic, and relatively inexpensive ($2-$3 for 14 oz.) for the work involved in making fried rice. Yes, making fried rice in itself is not expensive, but my biggest dilemma is always that I can never limit myself to buying this teeny tiny jar of kimchi, which is never enough to make anything worthwhile, so I end up getting the LARGE jar, which then means that hubby and I are eating kimchi at every meal, every day for a solid week. (No, there don't appear to be any 2-person family appropriately sized jars of kimchi.) I'll just say that while kimchi is great for....umm...the digestive system, it can get monotonous pretty quickly. This way you can get a quick, flavorful meal without being married to your giant, stinky jar of kimchi for days on end.

Other products that I love include the Parisian macarons (the vanilla ones are divine!), the mango soy ice cream, par baked Ciabatta bread (wish all breads came par baked), Thai curry tuna, spicy Jalapeno chicken sausage (no pork casing!), and a variety of other things.

TJs, you complete me.

Make-Up Organization

I'm not usually one to purchase or even wear a lot of make-up, but after hoarding...ahem...collecting make-up for the wedding (DIY), I now have an unruly collection housed, well, overflowing to be more accurate in a tacky whimsical turquoise Caboodle from the late 1980s. While the Caboodle is actually pretty sturdy, I seem to have lost the two trays for it over the years.

Look at that clutter!
Oy vey!

In typical me fashion, I hit Google full force looking for options. Aside from the train cases that stores like Sephora and Ulta sell -- many of which have mixed reviews or just aren't large enough -- and the uber-expensive (and unwieldingly large) cases that pros use, I came across the option of using a tackle box as a make-up case. Ingenius! (If you're so inclined, Caboodles STILL exist.) After more Googling, I still wasn't sure which type or brand of tackle box would work best for me.

After some investigative research at the local sporting goods store (note: don't even bother with Target since their camping section stinks), it appears that there are 2 common brands of tackle boxes on the market: Flambeau and Plano.

Contender 1: Plano "Magnum Hip Roof Six Tray"

Note the 2 drink holders on the top. Claaaaaassssy. Flambeau has a similar/nearly identical model, which also has 6 trays (3 on each side) that articulate out (through a cantilever). I haven't determined if they are exactly identical and hope to report back on that later. I saw the Flambeau version for around $20-some dollars and the Plano one (at Dick's Sporting Goods) was a little bit more.

Contender 2: Plano "1374 / 4-By Rack"

Apologies for the hazy/fuzzy photos; these are from my phone. The 4-drawer tackle box has 4 enclosed "drawers" that pull out in addition to a few compartments, one built into the top of the lid and another more spacious/functional one underneath the lid. This one was a little more (something in the low $30s) than the previous tackle box.

Thoughts on Each Design

6 Tray Tackle Box

Originally, I put all my make-up in the 6-tray tackle box to 1) see if everything fit. (It did.) 2) give it a trial run. The best part of this design is that you can store an amazing amount of stuff in a small amount of space. This is useful for day-to-day use and cramped living/storage quarters, I think, since you can simply swing the arms out to reveal all your make-up but quickly store it back into what amounts to well under 2 cubic feet of space. I managed to store larger eyeshadow palettes in the base compartment (read: bottom of the tackle box), but I had a few of these and taking out the one that I want could be slightly annoying since they were stacked a few deep. The tackle compartments in the trays were actually decently sized. Most of them worked with the items I had, though I wish that they had made a few larger compartments (the larger compartments that you see on the left/white trays). This could have been a great organizer had it not been for a couple of things. Perhaps my make-up is too heavy -- I suspect it is not -- but the articulating arms kept popping out of the joints/supports, making the trays fall over to the side. One side was particularly bad. Maybe the one I bought was a dud but I do think it could have been better constructed. The arms themselves are made of plastic with plastic connectors that swivel around in a plastic housing. While I realize this may be a nice feature for actual fishermen and fisherwomen and the salty waters they may encounter, this makes for a less durable make-up case. I'm planning on checking out if the Flambeau version is similarly constructed, and if it is (and appears to suffer from the same fatal flaw), I'll be giving this a pass.

4-By Drawer Tackle Box

Since the 6-tray system failed spectacularly (the droopy trays just looked oppressed by my make-up), I ended up storing my make-up in the 4-drawer tackle box. It offers plenty of "clean" storage but at what I consider a cost of convenience. What I mean by "clean" is that it looks pretty elegant. Well, elegant for a tackle box anyway. If I didn't know what Plano was and saw one of these contraptions, I'd probably ask, "Hey, where'd you get that interesting organizer?"

Each of the drawers is made of transparent plastic and so it's easy to tell what items are contained where. However, despite the ample amount of storage, it's a bit annoying to use since you need to slide out the drawer you want, open said drawer, use whatever it is you wanted, and then lock the drawer and slide it back into the tackle box. Yes, this doesn't sound that annoying but it sort of is if you're used to just grabbing something and putting it back with minimal hassle. Depending on how you organize and apply your make-up, you could end up with 4 of these large plastic containers surrounding you.

The drawers also each come with 2 compartments that are already sectioned off within the drawer and plastic organizers that you can break-off to create smaller compartments. While this is a nice feature, I sort of wish that the entirety of the space could have been customized by the user.

Summary

My ideal solution would probably be a sturdier, and dare I foolishly hope for prettier, 6-tray tackle box, but since this doesn't appear to exist, I've settled for the 4-drawer system. Both offer a lot of storage: 6-trays and 4-drawers might be more than enough for what the average person owns. (What can I say? I have accumulation tendencies.) So I don't think that space will be an issue. The price difference is pretty negligible as well. I think the biggest quality that will lead to a preference for one over the other is whether you value convenience (and efficient space consumption) over sleekness.

The Wonder of Dr. Bronner's Sal's Suds

I've never liked the color white. It probably has something to do with the fact that I grew up with well water, which would eventually transform everything white to a lovely shade of beige, and thus my mom would never buy anything white. It also partly owes to this creepy guy I knew, who used to bother me endlessly and who used to wear white often. And I don't mean a white t-shirt or white pants but an entire white ensemble. Creepy.

Since those well water days are long gone, I've gradually come to appreciate the crisp, clean color of white. The only thing I dislike, however, is the extra TLC that such a color requires. I grew up thinking bleach + white fabric = white(r) fabric but came to realize after a bit of Googling that fabric care isn't all this simple.

It wasn't until a good friend of mine came to visit and accidentally squirted her liquid foundation onto my white duvet cover that I realized that my "laundry truisms" were somewhat outdated.

I washed (and dried) the duvet several times -- with regular detergent, detergent and bleach, oxygen bleach and detergent. But sure enough after every wash and dry, the persistent flesh-colored spots remained unperturbed. I had basically given up the idea of removing the spots because surely, I thought, I'd given it a good go and, to make matters worse, I'd probably set in the stain further with each dry.

I decided to give it one last ditch effort and squirted a bit of Dr. Bronner's Sal's Suds (SS) that I had recently purchased (for kitchen use!) on a spot and rubbed. Like a miracle, I saw the foundation lifting, fading, and sudsing away and with it my growing amazement. After a few direct applications of Sal's Suds followed by vigorous rubbing, the entire stain was gone. Hubby was surprised since he had attempted to remove the stain with some chemical solvents (basically dry-cleaning fluid/PERC) before I began my washing routine. Even with his industrial chemicals, the stains remained. I really wish I had taken some before and after photos, but I hadn't thought to document the process since I thought the duvet was done for.

After this revelation, I've been using Sal's Suds to pre-treat any oil spots that I'm prone to accumulating on my clothes -- a few spots I can credit to an unfortunate old man with poor chopstick/motor control sitting next to me. :\ Without SS I'd resort to taking my stained clothes to the dry cleaners'. Thanks SS for saving my clothes, my wallet, and for your many other uses (works great as a car wash, dish pre-soak, kitchen counter spray, etc)!

Dr. Bronner's Sal's Suds

• Great for oil removal (on clothes, dishes, etc.)
• Economical: a little goes a long way and, like other Dr. Bronner's products, it can be used for many applications
• Can be drying on hands, so I'd wear gloves for extended contact
• Ingredients are fairly pure and formulation is pretty simple. SLS may be a concern for some, but Dr. Bronner's asserts that SLS is safer/better than SLES. I think ultimately it comes down to whether you can trust Dr. Bronner's science and its sourcing and manufacturing processes.