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Smucker’s Strawberry Preserves Review

October 30, 2026 / / 0 Comments

My second favorite

I love strawberry jam. It reminds me of my granny. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was her favorite, but when I eat this jam, my grandmother comes to mind. And that is precious, as my memories of her have receded deep into my mind in the last half a century.

I like it because the flavor is bold and fresh, happy and bright – and the more a strawberry jam approaches these characteristics, the more I like it.

Surprisingly, my favorite strawberry jam of all times is Smucker’s Low Sugar Strawberry preserves, precisely because it’s all the things I mentioned above. It has the added sugar of these strawberry preserves but a bolder, stronger strawberry flavor. Perhaps they pick riper strawberries to make it, or the sugar simply detracts. The no sugar added type has artificial sweeteners, so I’ve stayed away from that.

As much as I love my low sugar strawberry preserves, they didn’t have them in stock last time I needed some, so I got the regular preserves instead. They are a good second choice. As I mentioned, the flavor is not as intense, bright and fresh as the low sugar preserves, but it’s definitely brighter and shinier than most other strawberry preserves. I’d buy them again if I can’t find the low sugar ones.

See my other jam reviews.

Rana Smoked Beef Brisket Ravioli Review

October 30, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Another interesting flavor

Not too long ago, Rana introduced several unusually flavored refrigerated ravioli, and I’ve been trying them when they go on sale. They make a quick and generally tasty meal.

These Smoked Beef Brisket Ravioli are filled with smoked beef brisket in a very tasty BBQ sauce. They are quite similar to the pulled pork ravioli I reviewed previously, but the flavor is milder and therefore better suited to the medium. I served them with butter & sage (I melted some butter in a skillet, added sage leaves and then added the boiled ravioli) and that worked well. I don’t think the ravioli would work with a tomato or cheese based sauce, though perhaps they would go with a cream (maybe and mustard?) one. Plain butter works as well.

The 8 oz package has 1 1/2 portions, which makes it a very awkward size, unless you’re feeding yourself and a child. These ravioli are 2-bite sized, but if feeding a young child you could pre-cut them for them or serve them as finger food, though the filling is prone to spilling out.

I probably will buy these again when they go on sale for $5 (normally $8 at Safeway).

See other pasta reviews.

Acqua Panna Natural Spring Water review

October 30, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Nothing

My husband does not like mineral water. He always complains about the mineral flavors and believed, until now, that he preferred as pure and clean water as possible. Come Acqua Panna.

Acqua Panna is mineral water. It comes all the way from springs in Tuscany. But I read that it was as pure and neutral tasting as water can possibly be. After buying a bottle on sale for $3(!) we can say they are right. This water somehow manages to taste like absolutely nothing.

It’s quite disconcerting, really, how water can be so completely insipid. And insipid is exactly what I meant. Tasting it, I was brought back to 3rd grade, when we studied the properties of water: colorless, insipid and odorless (it sounds better in Spanish, inodora, incolora e insípida).

I really don’t think I’ve ever truly knew what insipid meant until I drank this water, however. Not a trace of a single mineral, a single sort, a single chemical. Not a trace of anything. It’s actually quite remarkable. And quite unsatisfactory. No one in the family liked the water, even my husband had to admit that he likes flavor in his water after all. Indeed, what he likes is tap water – our tap water – which might have hints of chlorine and fluorine, if nothing else.

Besides sucking, Acqua Panna is owned by Nestlé, one of the most evil corporations in the world.

Drink Reviews

Trenzy Gahm Milk Classic Rice Snack – Cheese Flavor – Review

October 30, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Weird but not bad

I asked my husband to bring a weird snack next time he went to Grocery Outlet and he certainly delivered. Trenzy Gahm Milk Classic Rice Snacks ($1) are flatish rectangular rice puffs that come in milk and cheese flavor. The cheese ones, which we got, seem to have the flavor added to the milk one, which results in a sweetish-salty-cheesy one which is definitely weird, but not unpleasant. It’s hard to describe, but it’s exactly the sort of flavor you’d expect coming from Korea or Japan.

The snacks come individually wrapped in a bag of six. I wouldn’t get them again, but I’m glad I tried them. I think it was about $1 for the package, but I need to check.

Snack Reviews

Eggo Thick & Fluffy Waffles Review

October 29, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Great for the lazy ones

Toaster waffles are a quick and convenient breakfast food for those on the go – or too lazy to actually make breakfast. They are not particularly tasty, but they’re easy.

During a recent trip I stayed at a couple of hotels offering “made your own waffle” and was surprised at how much better those waffles are, despite being served with cheap toppings. Part of the reason is that those waffles are much thicker than the frozen waffles I’d been buying. The thickness allows for a crispy crust and a soft, chewy interior. Come Eggo Thick & Fluffy waffles.

These waffles are, of course, much smaller and not as thick as those you can make at hotel buffets – but they are significantly thicker than the regular ones. I’d say they’re just thick enough to give you a good waffle experience. Pour real maple syrup and whipped cream on top, and they’re just delicious. Adding sliced fruit makes them even better. If what you’re looking for is to make breakfast-dessert on a plate without actually cooking anything, these are probably the best base for it.

They are, of course, more expensive than regular waffles. A package of 12 was $5 on sale at Safeway ($8 regular)

De Cecco Potato Gnocchi & Rana Alfredo Sauce Review

October 28, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Both are good, but not together

I love gnocchi, but only when they are light and fluffy, with the right proportion of potato to flour. Because it is hard to get it right, I never make gnocchi – so it’s usually something I eat at restaurants. You can, however, buy pre-made, ready-to-boil gnocchi and once in a while I get them. They are OK, but not great.

De Cecco potato gnocchi ($2.50 on sale from $4) are among the best of the bunch. They are pretty light, though still heavier than I would like. Flavor wise, they are a little too bitter and in need of another pinch of nutmeg, but they are not bad. They do cook very fast (mine are overcooked in the photo).

Ingredients are dried potato flakes, potato starch, flour, rice flour, spices, salt, lactid acid.

I served the gnocchi with Rana Alfredo Sauce ($3 on sale from $6), sold refrigerated. I have liked this sauce before, but it didn’t really vibe well with the gnocchi, the combination had an unpleasantish bitter flavor. The sauce is pretty good as a dipping sauce, and I would buy it again, but not serve it with gnocchi.

It’s made with cream, parmigiano reggiano, onions, pecorino romano, food starch, natural flavors, salt, autolyzed yeast extract, garlic and spice.

See other reviews of pasta & pasta sauces

Pringles Italian Meatball Review

October 27, 2026 / / 1 Comment

Your instinct was right: avoid them

Pringles has come up with several new flavors of potato chips. I decided to try and review this one because I couldn’t imagine what it actually would taste like. Everyone in the family went “yuck” just by looking at the can, but I thought they were worth a try. I was wrong.

Needless to say, these chips do not taste at all like meatballs – if the taste of beef was easy to duplicate, I think many more cows would be saved. Instead, these tasted like corn pottage Japanese puffs mixed with a heavy hand of Italian seasoning. They were just weird, and actually quite bitter (which I attributed to the faux oregano).

Because it’s pringles, and they also include some crack cocaine-like addictive substance, I did finish the can – but they were pretty nasty. I would not recommend.

See more snack reviews.

Trader Joe’s Garlic Gondolas Review

October 27, 2026 / / 0 Comments

What you see is what you get

I picked these Garlic Gondolas last time I visited Trader Joe’s, as they somewhat reminded me of khachapuri, a tasty cheese bread from the Caucuses. These, however, eat more like cheese sticks from a pizzeria, though the bread is somewhat harder (though still doughy). They were, indeed, very garlicky, maybe not cheesy enough, but otherwise pretty generic.

The size is a little problematic. They are really too big for just one person, but it’s a bit awkward to share them. I think it’d be better if they had 4 mini-gondolas. Then again, I don’t eat much bread nowadays and these might be perfectly adequate in size for those who do.

In all, I wouldn’t buy them again but I was glad I tried them.

Signature Select Traditional Whole Rotisserie Chicken is Mid

October 26, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Soft skin, fatty and very brined

When the kids were young, and omnivores, I used to make rotisserie chicken often. My mother in law gifted us a rotisserie many years ago, and it produced a very good and tasty chicken. Over the years, we’ve also bought our share of Costco rotisserie chickens and probably some Safeway ones as well – but as the kids became vegetarian, we sort of gave up on them. It’s thus been a long time since I even thought about buying one of this, much less at Safeway.

Still, they were on sale last Friday for $5 (from $10 regular price), in a variety of flavors, and I thought I’d give one a try. All but the “Traditional Whole Rotisserie Chicken” are actually roasted rather than rotisseried, and I’d ordered the “sweet smoky BBQ” flavor, but it wasn’t available so they substituted with the traditional rotisseried instead.

At 30 oz, the chicken is tiny – it doesn’t quite reach 2 lbs. You can’t buy such small chickens raw. But it’s definitely enough for a 3-4 people, mostly because you don’t really want to eat that much of it. The chicken was heavily brined and tasted very much of it. It had a weird, gummy texture, no doubt created by spending too much time in the brining liquid. It was fatty and not that enticing. The skin was a little overseasoned, but the flavor was fine. The problem is that it wasn’t very crispy – thus defeating the whole purpose of it being rotisseried.

I wouldn’t buy it again, even at $5, unless I was planning to use it for chicken salad or the like.

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