#food-tasting

#food-tasting

Except for Half Moon Bay, no one does pumpkin season like Trader Joe's. The 2025 autumnal lineup of products includes a sizable number of returning bestsellers and a couple of new options (or new to us). We bought a few grocery bags' worth of snacks and treats ( the new Halloween mini-totes weren't available yet) land put them to the test in the newsroom.

Tamales are a Mexican staple that, at one point, was only available at street vendors, restaurants, and from the kitchens of Mexican cooks. Now, they're widely available in grocery stores and big box stores nationwide. Tamales are a traditional and important part of Mexican cuisinedating back to between 8000 and 5000 B.C. A tamale features corn-based dough ( called masa) and a variety of fillings, including meats, vegetables, cheese, beans, and even fruit.

A blind barbecue sauce tasting was conducted with editors ranking various store-bought sauces based on taste, resulting in surprising and predictable placements in the rankings.

Join us as we celebrate five extraordinary years of bringing Castro Valley together. What started as a transformative vision continues to become the heart of our community.

The Soy Sauce flavor of Maruchan ramen ranks last for its overwhelming saltiness and lack of nuanced taste, leaving it decidedly unappealing.

Sometimes weird, sometimes wacky, and sometimes wonderful, Aldi likes to consistently keep me on my toes with new items that align with warmer or cooler weather.

LongHorn Steakhouse is recognized for its superior steak cuts, grilled to perfection by skilled masters, making it a competitive player among U.S. steakhouses.