Killer Cinnamon Rolls! (1/18/00; 1/23/00) While TJ's has always had some pretty marginal "heat-and-serve" lowfat cinnamon rolls, their TJ's "pull apart cinnamon rolls" are new, different, and way better. You can tell the new ones because they come in a round aluminum foil pan, and by their much, much better taste. . . Hey, they may not be fat-free (7g fat per serving, not so bad), and they're not always available, but they are my favorite TJ breakfast treat. Double yum yum. $2.29/(1 lb. or 5 good-sized rolls).

Tangerine Juice is back! (11/28/99) After waiting an entire year, pure tangerine juice is now available at a Trader Joe's near you in just about every size you can think of. Less acidic than Orange Juice, with a more exciting tropical taste, it makes a great change from your morning orange juice rut. $1.59/quart. It tastes fresh squeezed to me, but the bottle says nothing except "100% tangerine juice". I suspect that means they squeeze it the day before and ship it out. Last year it was around for about a month. Grab some if you don't want to miss out!

Swartzenbrockx Chocolates are back (as of 11/5/99). The dark chocolate is first-rate, a competitor to Lindt bars at about half the cost, the orange is fantastic (unusual for a flavored chocolate). See our review below.

TJ Chocolate Truffles New (week of 10/25/99), our featured item is the TJ Truffles, imported from France. These truffles, new to TJ's, have all the light, melt-in-your mouth richness that you expect from an excellent homemade truffle. My only complaint is that I could do without the powdered cocoa on the outside, and that they aren't quite as buttery as the best. I recommend the "Natural" (pure chocolate) flavor, I found the pear too weird. 8.8 oz (249 g), 24 mid-sized chocolate truffles $2.99. 85 points. Grab a bunch for the holidays.

Huh? What's Trader Joe's®?
We Love . . . And Hate . . . This Store. Trader Joe's® is a crazy, hit-or-miss, USA-wide bargain gourmet store carrying lots of stuff you'll never find elsewhere. Most of it is dreadful, awful, swill. But there are great bargains there. We update regularly, to keep up with the inexplicable irregularity of when they change stock. There's probably one near you; click here to check at their not-very- informative website, and here for our disclaimer of affiliation.