Trader Joe's Crispy Battered Calamari

I'm well aware all squid can be a bit chewy, but this one was borderline rubbery IMO. Sonia agrees. I've had calamari a handful of times at Italian restaurants, and I don't think this selection was quite up to par in the texture department.

I wish it came with a sauce, too. We made our own with peri peri sauce, mayonnaise, and lemon juice, and it worked great. The flavor of these morsels is very good and isn't the problem, but sauce helps almost any fried appetizer.

Our second batch we left in the air fryer a good bit longer than what was called for, and it came out a little better than the first. The batter was even crunchier...and the squid? Really just about the same. It was difficult to cut even with a very sharp knife.

$5.49 isn't a bad price for how much you get here. Product of Italy. We still can't completely get over the excessive chewiness and lack of dipping sauce.

The beautiful wifey and I are both torn between six and seven stars, so we'll go with one of each for Trader Joe's Crispy Battered Calamari.

Bottom line: 6.5 out of 10.

Trader Giotto's Spizzico di Pizza

Alrighty then, it's another quickie today. Spizzico di Pizza. Apparently, "spizzico" means "bit by bit." That makes sense. Although, Google Translate comes back with "sketchy" when "spizzico" is input. Hmmm...?

These mini pizzas beg comparison to Bagel Bites for obvious reasons. I'd say these are a tad higher-quality in almost every respect. Granted, I haven't had Bagel Bites for a hot minute, and I don't think I've ever tried them in the air fryer.

The bread gets crispy and the sauce and cheese come out soft and melty. There's some tomato, onion, and garlic flavors, and the overall vibe is quite pleasant.

$3.49 gets you 12 of these little snackalicious bites. If they're serving as appetizers, they'll do fine for a family of four, and I must say they were plenty filling as a standalone dinner for just the beautiful wifey and me. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both give Trader Giotto's Spizzico di Pizza eight out of ten stars.

The video is under a minute. There's about 40 seconds of food review and then a mini music video at the end. Enjoy. Or not.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.