Trader Yosef's

A curious reader asks the following question:
"does anyone know if Trader Joe's will have a good selection of kosher l'pesach food?"

Because we at Kosher Vancouver always have our readers' best interests at heart, we took it upon ourselves to shlep down to the States this past Sunday to investigate.

(Okay, so we did some of our own Pesach shopping, too.)

The answer is, no. We asked the First Mate in Bellingham (no, seriously, that's what they call the head customer service guy) and he said they were not planning on bringing in anything specific, other than keeping the kosher meat stocked up. He mentioned they used to bring in the "crackers" but they weren't going to this year.

And for those of you who are wondering, they don't know when they'll have the smoked mozarella again. When we got over our devastation, we answered the First Mate's questions about Pesach, and gave him a brief rundown of the holiday.

So the answer for Trader Joe's is you can get kosher meat, and a few bottles of kosher wine. However, travel an extra hour or so south and visit the University Village QFC (I-5 South to exit 171 to NE 65th St to 25th Ave). Everything you could possibly need for Passover, you will find there. Plenty of fresh meat, roasts, briskets, chicken, lamb, and cholov yisroel products for Pesach. In addition to their regular kosher section, they have a nice-sized Passover display that includes all the standards. And of course, decent prices on everything. You'll plotz over the price of the meat.

You can have lunch right at the QFC in Noah's, a kosher bagel/deli shop.

QFC even has a nice (cheap!) wine selection, or you can go back to NE 65th and visit Tree of Life, which has a big wine display. Just remember, technically, you can't bring any alcohol back with you to Canada if you've only been gone a day. Some people have gotten away with the "ritual purposes/religious use" explanation, but you can't always count on that working.

Pick up freezer packs for $1 each at the meat department, or buy a large freezer bag to keep your meat cold while you sit in the line-up at the border going home. We bought frozen blintzes, put them in an insulated bag with a freezer pack, and despite two stops and an hour wait at the border, they were still frozen when we got back to Vancouver.

Trader Joe's opens in Bellingham. Kosher meat lovers* in Vancouver rejoice.

What's better than finding a store that sells FRESH KOSHER 1" thick steak CHEAP?

Finding a store that sells FRESH KOSHER 1" thick steak CHEAP that's only an hour** drive away.

Chevra, Trader Joe's has come to Bellingham. We at KosherVancouver sacrificed a Sunday to check it out for you. Bellis Fair is no longer the only reason to go to B'ham. We found fresh steak, fresh ground beef, fresh turkey, fresh ground turkey, fresh whole chicken, cut up chicken, organic chicken, skinless breast, organic skinless breast and of course, hot dogs. There is the to-die-for smoked mozarella and Italian mozzarella, although that's about it for acceptable hechshered cheeses.

Snacks and desserts galore. Milk chocolate chips, and parve chocolate chips. Ghirardelli chocolate chunks. Fake italian sausage and bacon. Yogurts of all flavours. Oh, and did we mention wine? Yes, Baron Herzog and Fortant (Chardonnay included), which is helpful now that our local resource has closed. Although, remember that technically, you're not supposed to buy alcohol if you're gone less than 48 hours.

In the old days, if you were sitting at your desk in the afternoon, with a craving for a nice, thick, juicy steak, you were outta luck. If you didn't take the rock-hard, frozen-since-the-ice-ages steak you bought locally out of the freezer the night before, you ain't having steak that night.

Those days are gone, gone, gone. Now, if you're sitting at your desk thinking you'd like a steak that night, you can drive down to B'ham, pick up a steak, and drive back, and be back in time for dinner. Granted, that's a long way to go for a craving, but we have three words for you: Seattle. Three. Hours.

We saved $20 on gas by filling our tank in B'ham, and paid ridiculously cheap prices - some products were HALF of what we pay in Vancouver. And with the dollar being above par, it actually didn't cost us anything to go to Trader Joe's. Except a few hours of our day.

One caution. Trader Joe's has an extensive kosher inventory, but some of the hechshers are not recommended by the OU or BCK. A lot of the cheeses are "tablet K." We also saw a lot of the generic "K" on products. Obviously, unless you know the product and know the source of the hashgacha for that product, a "K" should not be accepted.

Related to that, there is a product that Trader Joe's carries which has lost their certification, although some packages are still marked with a hechsher.

2410 James Street (Mt. Baker Hwy, Sunset Dr exit. At end of ramp, go straight across and you'll be on James.)
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone: (360) 734-5166
Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

Note, they do not have "hechshered in the US only" products such as Thomas's English Muffins, Entenmann's or Oreo cookies. Head to Hagen's for those.

Make your first steak with just a little salt & pepper. Revel in those juices.


*Not meant to exclude vegetarians or non-meat lovers. You can rejoice, too!
**Always depending on border traffic, of course.

Death of a Dan-D

Alas. We had a post ready about a falsely advertised challah product available at the 67th and Oak Dan-D Market store, but the store is no more.

Fear not, the store on Broadway still exists. But no more last-minute dash to Dan-D for grape juice or inexpensive desert, no more late evening Yedda Chedda cravings satisfied for the Marpole Jewish community.

Ah, Dan, we hardly knew ya, but you'll be missed.

Superstore:No name? No treif!

Fresh veggies don't need a hechsher. Certain frozen veggies don't need a hechsher, according to some (plain, uncooked, no sauces or oils added, etc.). Canned, however, is a whole different ballgame. And finding canned vegetables with a reliable hechsher can sometimes be a challenge.

Be challenged no more! Superstore now has canned, hechshered vegetables (okay, they may have had them for a while, but we just noticed them). You creamed corn fans (corn muffins, anyone?) can get satisfaction via MK:



Green beans according to the OU?



Ooh, here's a fun idea for one of those treasure-hunt games: go to Superstore and see how many different hechshers you can find for the canned vegetables!

Superstore:Coffee confusion

Upon checking to determine if President's Choice Gourmet whole bean coffee, we at KV noticed the pre-packaged PC Gourmet Coffee carries an MK hechsher. However, there was no pre-packaged PC Gourmet whole bean decaffeinated coffee, so we scurried to the computer to look up PC Gourmet Coffee on the MK website.

No luck.

However a search brought up the COR site. According to the COR site, all President's Choice Gourmet whole bean Coffees are COR certified, including the decaf.

So then why do they carry an MK hechsher?

Superstore:We all scream for KOSHER ice cream

The Real Canadian Superstore must have the best selection of kosher ice cream around town. They carry an extensive line from Breyer's (COR) including the low-fat and low-carb varieties. They also carry a number of flavours from Canadian ice cream manufacturer Chapmans. All of Chapman's flavours are kosher (COR), and many are nut-free as well. And as if that wasn't enough, most of the President's Choice line is certified by COR, including a very yummy "Too Good to be True" Fat Free Chocolate Gelato (one of our favourites!) and several organic flavours. The following flavours are from the COR website; some of the names are not exact to President's Choice names, but you get the idea:

President's Choice
Beyond Decadence Dutch Chocolate Fudge Crackle Ice Cream
Blueberry Graveyard Crunch
Canadian Maple
Caramel Cashew Toffee Crunch
Chocolate Cherry Chunk Ice Cream
Chocolate Decadence Ice Cream
Coconut Cream Pie
Eat The Middle First
Fat Free Fruit Bars-Orange, Mango, Raspberry
Key Lime Sherbet
Mango Sherbet
Mini Fruit Bars - Variety Pack
Orange Sherbet
Passion Fruit Sherbet
Rainbow Sherbet
Raspberry Sherbet
The Decadent Chocolate Fudge Crackle Candy Cane Ice Cream
The Decadent Chocolate Fudge Crackle I Scream Chocolate & Orange Sherbet
The Decadent Chocolate Fudge Crackle Ice Cream
The Decadent Chocolate Fudge Crackle Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
Toasted Coconut Cream Pie Decadence
Vanilla Almond Bar
Vanilla Bar
Vanilla Decadence Ice Cream

President's Choice Organic Ice Cream
Chocolate
Milk Chocolate
Strawberry
Vanilla

President's Choice TGTBT Gelato
Cappucino
Chocolate
Lemon
Raspberry

We should add that Safeway also sells a line of specialty ice cream, Safeway Select Canada Great Escapes Ice Cream, that is certified kosher (COR). Although a little on the pricey side, the ones we've tried are very good.

Bakery:Garden City Bakery Baking schedule

Yes, they have a schedule - only certain things on certain days:

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday:
Caraway rye
European rye
Marble rye
New York rye
Pumpernickel rye
French baguette
White
Wholewheat

Sunday
Square challah
Multigrain
Raisin

Wednesday
Multigrain
Russian rye

Friday
Kiddish challah
Water challah
Raisin square challah
All the ryes except European

They also have gobs of pareve baked goods, oozing with poppyseeds, jams or chocolate. And a yummy spinach pie (we got ours fresh from the oven! mmmm) and knishes.

Garden City Bakery is in the Garden City Mall, at Garden City Road and Blundell.
604.244.7888

Safeway:We eats our spinach

Yeah, sorry for the lag; we've been busy.

In the meantime, we've been informed that Organic, Kosher frozen spinach has been spotted at Safeway in New Westminster.

Safeway Select Organics

Ask for it at your Safeway. And if you see it at your Safeway, let us know.

IGA:I spy...kosher at IGA

A few things we've had difficulty finding with a hechsher, that can be found at IGA:

Rice
"Our Compliments" (COR)
Basmati
Jasmine

Canned Vegetables
"Smart Choice" (MK)
cut green beans
cream-style corn

Pasta Sauce
"Hunt's Thick & Rich" (OK)
all the varieties we've found, except those with cheese, are hechshered. We are finding a lot more stores seem to be carrying Hunt's Thick & Rich recently.

Safeway:Sun Dried Black Olives

We here at KosherVancouver love sun dried black olives. Some of us hate the green ones, but that's another story. Anyway, up until recently these shrivelled-up little fellas have been next to impossible to find in Vancouver. Last year, Urban Fare began to carry a line called Santa Barbara Olive Co. All of their olives bear the KSA hechser, including their sun dried black olives. They were prices at $6.44 but were recently discounted to $3.99, a sure sign that this product is soon to be discontinued. Good news, however, from Safeway. On a recent visit to the Oakridge branch, we found Scarpone's brand sun-dried black olives, with a COR 77 hechser. Thank you Safeway!