Food is an essential part of the holiday experience and Trader Joe's is very aware of this!
As a result, there are certain items that people know to stockpile to enhance their holidays.
Here's a list of the 13 Trader Joe's products people love to load up on at this time of year according to a Trader Joe's insider.
La Fondue:
This red plastic tub 'o cheese is a gloriously meltable combination of Comté, Emmenthal and Gruyere that will require only a brief stint in the microwave to be ready for all your dipping needs.
Bacon-wrapped porchetta pork roast:
Elevate your festivities with one of these pork bombs, lovingly covered in herbs and spices, rolled, tied, and wrapped in bacon.
Brandy beans:
They're shaped like beans. They taste like chocolate with a boozy burst of brandy cream in the center, because that's what they are. They're wonderful on their own, but true holiday experts know that their best function is hanging out in a cup of warm cocoa or some other hot holiday beverage, so that it can slowly infuse it with all its chocolate-brandy glory.
Mini dark chocolate mint stars:
Do you like Thin Mints? Well now you can basically have a bowl of tiny star-shaped thin mintesque cookies covered in sprinkles.
Cranberry Stilton:
Perhaps you're looking for a holiday accent for your cheese and charcuterie board. Perhaps you're making a salad that calls for crumbly cheese and dried cranberries and you'd like to kill two birds with one stone. This creamy, tart hunk of happiness looks (and tastes) like a block of holiday cheer.
Bacon-Wrapped scallops:
No matter how much time and care went into the rest of the food spread, the bacon-wrapped scallops will be the first thing to go and the item which instills the most excitement among your guests.
Holiday Popcorn:
People naturally appreciate these colorful tins for their contents, which consist of popcorn flavors like olive oil and Cheddar-caramel.
English Toffee:
Buying one of these tins with the intent of sharing it with guests and then eating it all well before anyone comes over, then running out and buying another one like nothing happened will keep you in the holiday spirit.
Creme Brulee Tarte:
Are you just a simple soul who just wants to feed your guests a tasty and classy dessert without setting fire to all of your worldly possessions. Well have you met creme brulee tarte? The two of you will be quite happy together.
Chocolate-Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's:
Do creamy, minty chocolate sandwich cookies really need to be covered in an additional layer of chocolate and crunchy peppermint bits? Probably not, but you already ran through an entire tin of English toffee and a bowl of mini chocolate mint stars, so it's kind of past the point of worrying about excess.
Jingle Jangle:
Peanut butter cups, caramel corn, pretzels, and a bunch of other stuff that responds well to being drizzled with chocolate. YUM!
Quinquagenery 2017 Vintage Ale:
Every year Trader Joe's releases its vintage ale and every year some soul who has never had one before pours a glass and is wowed by the dark malty excellence of this strong Belgian ale. This year's edition is no exception.
Platinum Reserve Wine:
. A few bottles of the $15 cabernet that Trader Joe's stocks towards the end of the year will impress even your wine snobbiest of houseguests. More importantly, it will help you tolerate said houseguests.