Trader Joe's Chocolate Whipped Light Cream

Betwixtmas. Dead Week. It's that special time between Christmas and New Year's when nobody knows what day it is or what they're supposed to be doing or why they feel so perpetually full and distended. Good time for a review of what's essentially chocolate pudding that sprays out of a can. But it's LIGHT chocolate pudding in a can. You know, to get you prepped for all those resolutions you'll be starting next week.

And that's what it tastes like: chocolate pudding. It's kind of in between what I'd consider full calorie chocolate pudding and "diet" chocolate pudding. It has sugar in it but not like a ton of sugar. It's sweet and chocolatey but not particularly rich.

We tried it on strawberry pancakes. We tried it on gingerbread ice cream sandwiches. We tried it on top of a mug of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows. It's a thumbs up in every case.

It comes out fluffy and airy. The pic above is when we made our gingerbread man look like Marge Simpson. Yes, you can get it to stack pretty high, particularly when you make a little spiral motion as you dispense the cream out of the can. Hooray for the structural integrity of light whipped cream.

It's a nice tannish brown color. Looks and smells chocolatey. It took us a while to finish the whole can even though we were eating it pretty regularly with desserts and I was secretly sneaking shots of it directly into my mouth throughout the whole past month. 

$4.49 for the can. Kosher. Keep refrigerated. I wasn't sure if the price is a good value or not. Sonia says it is because not only is the cost comparable to other canned whipped creams, but most of the main ingredients are decent like cream, skim milk, and sugar rather than hydrogenated oils and HFCS. We took a look at the product during our video review of the strawberry pancake mix. I have the video cued up to the part where we briefly analyze and score this product, so go ahead and take a looksee.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Real Mistletoe

There haven't been many Christmas Day posts on this blog throughout its 15 year history, but once again we'll follow the precedent set by our Grump Tree write-up from a few years back and post about another living plant product from the Pacific Coast. I won't even call it a review, because I know very little about mistletoe, and what do I have to compare it to other than crummy wads of green plastic with little fake berries and twine?

I don't even think I've spontaneously kissed anyone under the mistletoe in my entire life. I mean, I grabbed Sonia the other day when she was standing within ten feet of the doorway where I've hung this happy little sprig and gave her a peck on the lips because I knew she'd appreciate the affection and attention. But I hardly need a wad of toxic evergreen leaves to smooch my wife of 16 years.

This is indeed "fresh" mistletoe. The little spiel on the back of the packaging says it's from "the Pacific Northwest" although it's not any more specific than that. It's real poisonous mistletoe. So don't eat it. Don't let your pets or toddlers eat it, either. I handled it with my bare hands and then ate some chips without thinking and I'm still here. So it's probably not all that potent.

It comes wrapped in a reddish bow and a golden twist tie. Yes. The sprigs are bound together with a twist tie like you use to bind up the top of a trash bag. But as twist ties go, this one is among the prettiest I've ever seen with its shiny gold hue. Our mistletoe didn't have any berries on it as far as I can tell. It's solid green except for the ribbon...and the gilded garbage bag tie.

For $2.99, you get actual mistletoe. No plastic stuff here. The box is pretty, with classic Joesian artwork on the cover. It's got a see-through window so you can make sure your mistletoe isn't rotted or anything. I think we'll stick it back in the box at the end of the season and see if it's preserved well enough to last until next year. We'll report back.

Sonia and I will go with eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Real Mistletoe, found near the other seasonal greenery, flowers, and plants. Would buy again...probably? Anyway, merry Christmas to all! Thanks for reading!

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.