T.J.

Fresh mozzarella pizza

I can't really explain Trader Joe's cult-like following. Grocery shopping can be boring, so part of the attraction is the unusual (OK, weird) products they sometimes promote in their advertisement called the Fearless Flyer.  It isn't like the store has a huge selection, but you never know what you're going to find (or decide you want). And there's daily samples and those free mini cups of coffee. Trader Joe's is all about impulse shopping. Of course, your favorites can suddenly disappear from the shelves with no explanation.

For example, John considers himself a connoisseur of chutney, having been spoiled on my homemade varieties. He does not like store-bought chutney, but he still talks longingly about a particular Indian chutney we got at T.J. in the 1990's. I should have bought two cases before it went away forever.  The T.J. merchandising gimmick is to repackage food from all over the world under their own clever label. Other than country of origin, you don't know the product source. Short of going to India and tasting every chutney condiment, there's no hope of finding that particular one again.

Anyway! Here I am writing about another good thing I found in the store last week:  sliced fresh mozzarella cheese in a shrink-wrapped package.  If you've ever tried to cut up a gummy piece of soft cheese into even slices you'll appreciate this.  I make a no-guilt vegetarian pizza about once a month, and we like fresh mozzarella instead of the cheap, packaged, shredded kind. (Sorry, Kroger.)

This was the first pizza from my new oven and it turned out fine-- 375 convection bake for about 30 minutes. Letting it cool off on a rack seems to keep the bottom from getting soggy.

And the left-over sliced mozzarella made a nice tomato salad with Mexican-grown basil leaves from (you guessed it) Trader Joe's.