Favorite Day Sweet & Salty Nut Topping

Peanuts, cashews, and almonds. I love each of them separately, and I love all three together in one bag. They're salted and sweetened slightly, so that makes them even better.

I wouldn't say any one nut dominates the combo, flavor-wise. It tastes like all three at once, and at the same time, it doesn't really taste like any existing nut. It's just a generic nuttiness, you know. It's super nutty, but the flavor is not distinctly peanut plus cashew plus almond.

Also the nut bits are very tiny, so they don't look or feel like any of the three constituent nuts. They're great for topping a bowl of ice cream or yogurt. I'd even add them to oatmeal or certain types of cereal. 

It's also good for turning creamy peanut butter into chunky peanut butter, in case you live in a house divided over the whole chunky/creamy peanut butter debate. You can just let those creamy weirdos have their way and simply add a topping of these nut bits when you make your PBJ's.

And of course you can eat the stuff straight from the bag, but I prefer whole nuts to these tiny little chunklets. You really need a big handful to make a single satisfying bite, and their diminutive size means they get stuck in between teeth easily.

$1.79 for the bag. I'd buy 'em again.

I give this topping 7.5 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Thai-Style Coconut Curry Salsa

Happy 2022. Back to the Good & Gather stuff again. Not sure if Target is switching products like this over to Favorite Day or if they'll keep some GAG stuff around for a while. Time will tell. Items like this one could use a repackaging IMO if only because the white type on light blue background is hard to read and even harder to take a decent picture of.

This is one of the more interesting GAG products we've seen over the years. It's Thai-style curry...but in the format of tomato-based salsa. Made me raise an eyebrow when I saw it on the shelf.

As far as a chip dip, I'm not sure if I like it as much as a more traditional Mexican or Tex-Mex style salsa. It's not terrible that way, but the coconut taste is just...unusual on my palate, along with tomato sauce, tomato chunks, and jalapeño. It's almost like Thai-Tex-Mex fusion.

It works okay as a regular salsa, but it's even better when applied to food in the manner of a Thai chutney or Thai relish topping. Take chicken or fish on a bed of rice, top with this stuff before serving. Scrumptious.

It's quite chunky with veggies and moderately spicy, thanks to those jalapeño peppers. I feel like the coconut cream really helps mitigate the heat, though. Garlic, basil, and lime flavors are all present but play second fiddle to the tomato and coconut elements.

$2.49 for the jar. I'd definitely consider purchasing again in the future, but I doubt I'll eat much of it just as a salsa on plain tortilla chips.

I give this condiment 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Sesame Teriyaki Sauce

Since my wife's family speaks Spanish, I've been using Duolingo to brush up on my Espanol for the past year or so. It's a free download, and it's a fun and effective way to learn a language. Just for kicks and giggles, I also started checking out Japanese. It's crazy difficult, and it makes Spanish seem so much more familiar by comparison. But just in the very beginning levels, out of a total of maybe a dozen words, they've already given me "teriyaki" as a Japanese vocabulary word.

I suppose it's just one of those Japanese concepts that Americans are probably already familiar with, but it's also a testament to how integral the flavor is to Japanese culture. I, personally, love good sushi, but eating raw fish might not be quite as accessible to other cultures, while a sweet, salty, and savory condiment that goes on grilled meats is right up the average American's alley.

This sauce flaunts that familiar sweet, salty, and savory teriyaki flavor, as well as a bit of sesame essence, too. The sesame lends a nuttiness to the product that blends well with all the other teriyaki flavors.

Texture-wise, it's a medium thick liquid, brown in color, and it's very smooth. We had it most recently with a pre-packaged stir-fry meal with noodles, vegetables, and shrimp, and it worked splendidly.

We've also tried it as a glaze for salmon, and it's just as good like that. I'd even try putting it on a burger with some grilled pineapple rings and provolone cheese for that Hawaiian teriyaki effect. $2.99 for the 12 oz bottle. Would definitely buy again.

I give this sauce 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Creamy Chipotle Sauce

There's a fine line between things that taste like they've been genuinely smoked and things that taste like they've had liquid chemical smoke added to them. This condiment falls very much into the latter category, unfortunately. There is, in fact, dried chipotle pepper in this product, although it's on down the ingredients list a ways. In my opinion, there's very little to suggest there's any significant amount of actual smoked, dried peppers in this sauce.

There's plenty that suggests it's made of water and canola oil, because it's mostly just oily and bland. You'd think it'd be a bit more tangy with sour cream, buttermilk powder, and greek yogurt powder in the ingredients. And yum, there's "bacterial cultures" in the mix. Twice! There's a hint of spice, but it's not enough to push this condiment into the category of "hot sauce." It's a very mild level of heat.

I shook the little squeeze bottle vigorously before pouring, as the oil had visibly separated from the rest of the mixture in the bottle. You can almost kind of see it in the picture at the top of the post—and that's already after a moderate amount of shaking the container. I absolutely manhandled the thing after snapping the pic to try to really get it blended well, but even after pouring, there was evidence the oil still hadn't reintegrated with the rest of the composite fully. Kinda gross.

I'm generally a fan of chipotle-flavored things. We even reviewed a chipotle salsa on this blog many moons ago. I think it's one of those flavors that has a lot of potential, but it's easy to screw up. I also think most Americans don't know what good chipotle flavor should taste like. In my humble opinion, this isn't it. Oddly, my Mexican-American wife wasn't quite as turned off by this sauce as I was, although she wasn't exactly wowed and agrees that the spice level is too low.

$2.79 for the 8.4 oz bottle. Not a repeat purchase for me. Maybe if it were cooked into some ground meat or poultry it would blend a bit better. We'll try it that way and report back.

I give this sauce 4 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Roasted Garlic & Cilantro Salsa

It's been a hot minute since we've looked at any salsas on this blog, and this one here would be the very first of the Good & Gather (GAG) line that we've tried. I'm a big fan of garlic and I like cilantro okay, so this flavor is just screaming "try me! try me!" 

Okay, salsa jar. Just calm down.

First impressions: it's nice and chunky. That's good. I'm honestly surprised how chunky it is. There are large, robust pieces of tomatoes and jalapeno peppers in there. A lot of time salsas claim to be "chunky style" and they simply don't deliver. There might be bits or shreds of veggies, but nothing so big you could call it a "chunk." Despite not bragging about its chunkiness or thickness, this salsa is both thick and chunky in this author's humble opinion.

The taste? Well, now that's a different story entirely. The first thing I taste here is salt. And I must point out I'm eating it with completely unsalted tortilla chips, so you can't blame the saltiness on the chips. 10% sodium per serving in the salsa. That's par for the course for your average salsa or chip dip. Not sure why I feel like I taste it here more than usual.

Next, I taste tomato. Makes sense since tomato puree and tomatoes are the top two ingredients. Again, pretty common for a salsa to have a tomato base and taste somewhat like tomato. But for some reason here, I feel like they needed to up the garlic flavor a little more. After all, this is called "roasted garlic" salsa. Yes, it's there. Yes, I taste it. Maybe I just like garlic a little too much. Maybe I'm used to the taste of freshly-chopped raw garlic, rather than this kind of faint, smoky garlic essence desperately trying to claw its way through layers of tomato and salt. I like that biting, harsh garlic that clears your sinuses and warms your throat. That's definitely not what this is—probably good for most American consumers, but not for this guy.

I didn't expect to taste a lot of cilantro. Cilantro isn't a very pungent flavor, usually. It's just a background taste normally, and that's exactly what it is here. I wouldn't have minded whole cilantro leaves floating throughout the mix. Again, that might be overkill for most people, but if the salsa has "cilantro" in its name, I'd err on the side of "too much" rather than "not enough."

The texture of this salsa is great. The flavors just don't deliver if you ask me. I'll salvage it by adding my own raw garlic pieces.

We've seen much better salsas from Target in the past. See the Summer Fruits Salsa and Fire-Roasted Pepper and Habanero Salsa.

I give this condiment 6 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Roasted Artichoke & Spinach Hummus

Flavorful and fiber-rich, there's nothing like a good tub of hummus. It's so easy to eat, too. Just warm up a piece of pita bread, and soon you've got a makeshift Middle Eastern restaurant on your coffee table while you watch TV.

I usually don't even take the hummus out of the tub. I just dunk the bread right into the container, and when I'm done, I put it all back in the fridge. This product was no different.

I'm not sure if Archer Farms, Simply Balanced, or Market Pantry ever produced any hummus or not. If they did, I somehow missed it all those years. I'm a pretty big fan of the swirled chickpea delight, so I'm sure if I had ever seen it at Target, I would have tried it and probably reviewed it.

There's a subtle artichokey kinda flavor to this hummus, and like many other varieties and brands, there's a nice garlic undertone. I don't really remember tasting much in the way of lemon, capers, or spinach in the actual hummus mix. The peppers are mostly in the middle, where you'll also find bits of artichoke and spinach leaves. I usually feel like there aren't enough vegetable chunks in the middle of tubs of hummus like they did here. Sabra brand does something similar. But if you evenly disperse the center veggies throughout this product, there's plenty of them in this case.

There's nothing harsh about the taste. Sometimes there's just too much garlic or a nasty aftertaste with certain hummus. Not so here. It's got a refined mellow essence that makes it uber-noshable. Quality-wise, I'd put it on par with any other major hummus brand, and honestly, this flavor is probably one of the best combos I've ever tried.

All things considered, this is an extremely tasty condiment. $2.99 for the 10 oz container. I'd absolutely purchase again, and I'll be on the lookout for other flavors in this lineup.

I give this hummus 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Panang Curry Simmer Sauce

Whether you're scared of the virus or not, dining out in 2020 is significantly less practical than it was in the carefree days of yesteryear. I'm not saying the wife and I don't go out anymore at all, but I'm saying we eat out somewhat less, as is likely the case with most of you.

So, logically, it behooves us to find tasty, gourmet-ish alternatives to our favorite sit-down restaurants. Sonia and I looove us some good Indian and Thai food, so curry is something we like to have on hand at home. We love all the curries: red curry, yellow curry, green curry, Tim Curry—and we both prefer his Pennywise to Bill Skarsgard's. Sorry, Millennials.

But in all seriousness, I was under the impression that most curries were Indian rather than Thai, so I was a little surprised to find out that this Panang stuff is actually not Indian. Technically, it's not Thai either, although you'll often find Panang dishes in Thai restaurants. Penang is an island right off the coast of Malaysia. But Malaysia and Thailand are neighbors, so...close enough, right? Also, there just aren't enough Malaysian restaurants in this country.

Anyway, my wife and I loved this stuff. It's mildly spicy. The base is coconut milk, cream, and peanut butter. It's thick and rich. The flavors here are so complex, yet so easy to appreciate. The notes of garlic, onion, and chili peppers come through, but don't overwhelm the sweet, creamy foundation of the condiment.

It says there are three servings in the container. We managed to finish it in two. This bottle was just enough for a single meal for both of us. We had it with tilapia and sliced bell peppers, served on white rice, and it was amazing. White fish is neutral enough to let the curry shine and be the centerpiece of the meal. We'd love to try it with veggies, shrimp, or chicken next.

This will absolutely be a repeat purchase for us. We're anxious to try the Pad Thai and Butter Chicken sauces in this Good & Gather line. Not sure if anything like this was available under the old Simply Balanced or Archer Farms monikers, but it gets a big thumbs up from me. I think this is the first thing we've tried from Good & Gather that really wowed us. The quality is top-notch and the flavor is restaurant-caliber all the way.

I give this simmer sauce 9 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Fire-Roasted Pepper & Habanero Salsa

"Salsa is now the number one condiment in America."

"Do you know why?...Because people like to say SALSA. Excuse me, do you have any SALSA? We need more SALSA. Where is the SALSA? No SALSA?"

That zany Seinfeld. I loved that salsa scene back in the day, and likewise, I LOVE this salsa from Archer Farms. It says "extra hot" on the label, and it actually IS extra hot. It's not super duper painful spicy, but it's got by far the most kick of any salsa I've tried from Archer Farms, and possibly the most kick from any store brand salsa anywhere. Potent stuff.

And not only is it spicy, but it's flavorful, too. It tastes just like pepper and habanero. It's not just heat for the sake of heat. If a sauce is going to be hot, it's imperative that it flaunt intense flavor, not just searing pain. This product delivers.

The chunks of pepper aren't big, but this salsa has got some body to it, for sure. It goes best with tortilla chips, but it also paired well with those Parmesan Garlic Potato Chips that I bought at the same time. Parmesan cheese, garlic, habanero, and fire-roasted pepper...now that was a taste-tacular party in my mouth.

I still prefer it with tortilla chips since they allow the flavor of the salsa to dominate a little bit more. Also I prefer the texture of corn tortilla chips with thick and chunky salsas over that of kettle-cooked potato chips.

I do wish the jar were a little bigger, but a quality salsa like this is well worth $2.99. Low in calories, too.

This is my first salsa review in quite a while. Check out this link to read some Archer Farms brand salsa reviews from the archives.

I give this salsa 9 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Dark Chocolate Raspberry Dessert Sauce

We haven't looked at many dessert sauces here on this blog. In fact, I think this is the first.

Spending part of my childhood in Hershey, PA, I got used to milk chocolate growing up. I mean, I didn't have tons of chocolate, especially when I was very young, due to some unfortunate food allergies. But the chocolate I did have was virtually never dark chocolate.

As an adult, I can appreciate the richness of dark chocolate, but I still usually prefer sweeter types. Don't get me wrong, this product is plenty sweet, but it's also dark and rich. Any flavors that get mixed with dark chocolate need to be fairly pungent in order to punch through the boldness of the cacao flavor. And the raspberry puree here does just that.

The texture is thick and creamy, similar to caramel toppings I've tried. It's actually too thick to use as a topping unless it's heated a bit. If you want to just grab a spoon and dig in, however, it's supple enough to be scooped out at room temperature, although it's not really malleable enough to be spread on anything. I did try a spoonful plain before I put it on anything. It's sweet, rich, and tasty, although it's clearly not meant to be consumed by itself.

There's a decent balance of raspberry and chocolate flavors, but this product isn't particularly versatile, in my opinion. It needs a very neutral host in order to shine. Vanilla ice cream seems to be the only logical thing this would go on. Maybe I'm just not being creative enough, but I can't think of much else to eat it with.

It's a yummy product, but it's just not my personal favorite in the end.

I give this topping 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Corn, Black Bean & Roasted Pepper Salsa

I'd call this salsa "medium-mild" rather than "medium," but then I am a spice-lover. And I had better be, because my wife's family is from Mexico. And they like it SPICY.

Not just for the sake of the heat, but for the extra flavor. And as far as spice-related flavor goes, that's not really this product's strong suit. This product's strength lies in its true chunkiness. It has whole corn kernels galore, whole black beans, and lots of diced tomatoes, chiles, and peppers. I have tasted more flavorful corn and bean salsas, but the difference was probably due more to the spiciness of the liquid than the chunks of food within it.

I mentioned in my last review that the Blue Corn and Flax Seed Tortilla Chips kind of overshadowed this salsa. I'll stand by that claim, but I'd like to add that with a slightly more docile chip, such as the blue corn tortilla chips sans the flax seeds, this salsa does what it's supposed to do a bit better. It adds complexity, body, and flavor to an otherwise boring snack.

I only saw the "medium" variety of this salsa in the aisle, but next time, I'll have to try one of the "hot" ones. Both to test my limits and to see if it's actually hot. (If I can handle it without my eyes watering a little, then it's not really that hot).

Will I buy this product again? Probably. I know from experience that Archer Farms has some decent sweet salsas (mango, pineapple, etc) so I'll probably try them again to refresh my memory. And I've got to see how hot their hot stuff can really get. After I've completed those tasks, I might return to this truly chunky salsa. It's salsa that eats like cold soup that eats like a meal. That's me riffing off of Campbell's Chunky slogan. And they wonder why I've never been paid well as a copywriter.

"Archer Farms salsas: Salsa that eats like cold soup that eats like a meal."

It's good enough for 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Pumpkin Harvest Salsa

We finally found a pumpkin product at Target!

It's a unique salsa. I'll give it that. But I wasn't quite sure how well anyone could pull off pumpkin salsa. And just as I had feared, their strategy involved creating a condiment that doesn't taste all that much like pumpkin.

Granted, it tastes more like pumpkin than any other salsa I've ever had, but that's not really saying much. More than pumpkin, I taste tomato, and that's to be expected, since tomato and tomato derivatives are the main ingredients of this and most other salsas. But I also taste more butternut squash than pumpkin. And that's not so expected. But it's certainly not a bad thing, either.

To me, this tastes like a combination of traditional salsa and butternut squash soup. There is a hint of pumpkin puree, but it gets overshadowed in the mix. There's a fair amount of spiciness, mostly from the jalapenos as far as I could tell. The label claims a "medium" level of heat, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. I've never had a spicy pumpkin product before, but in this case, it actually kind of works. There are whole corn kernels, which really add to the texture, but not only that, they create a sort of "flavor bridge" between the traditional spicy salsa and the butternut squash and pumpkin flavors. Corn works exceptionally well as an ingredient in spicy salsas and it adds a lot to butternut squash soup.

In summary, if you think pumpkin and butternut squash sound like they could work in a moderately spicy salsa, then you should deffo check this stuff out. I assume it's a seasonal flavor, so it might not be around much longer. I think it would have benefited from some more pumpkin puree, but that's probably just nitpicking.

I give this product 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Summer Fruits Thick & Chunky Salsa

This might be the best fruit-based salsa I've ever tasted. It's definitely my favorite Archer Farms salsa so far. And I really enjoyed some of their other salsas, particularly the mango peach and black bean roasted pepper.

The main thing that sets this one apart from the other salsas is the fact that it truly is "medium" on the spice-o-meter, at least in my humble opinion. While the mango peach salsa was labeled "medium," it definitely fell short of the mark in the heat department.

Not only is this salsa moderately hot, but the heat doesn't get in the way of the fresh, sweet "summer fruit" flavors they threw into the mix, including strawberry, kiwi, and pineapple. And I guess technically tomatoes are fruit, too, but they're filed under "vegetables" in my brain. There are also chunks of jalapeno and bell peppers in the jar, and they all blend together better than I would have ever imagined.

I tried this sauce on some salt and lime chips, and it was brilliant. The lime enhanced the fruitiness of the salsa, yet the chip flavor was subtle enough to allow the salsa flavors to shine through like the summer sun.

I'm still on a quest to find that perfect Archer Farms food. The one that will get our first 10 star score. And while this comes darn close, earning our first 9 star score in the condiment category, it's not quite perfect. I would like to see a salsa that's truly "hot" and sweet, and the chunks of fruit could be just a tad larger. That's nitpicking, I know, but I'm a tough grader.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Archer Farms Roasted Tomato & Chipotle Salsa

Let me start off by saying that if you have a typical American's understanding of the word "chipotle," you'll no doubt be well-more impressed by this product than someone with a Mexican's understanding of the word "chipotle."

In Mexico, they actually eat chipotle chilis, which are really just smoke-dried jalapenos. But they wind up hotter than regular jalapenos, and there's way more flavor. There are definitely hotter chili peppers out there, but a true chipotle dip should never have anything other than a "hot" label on the jar—at least in the U.S.

And yet, here I am, reviewing one more salsa that barely qualifies for the "medium" label, although out of the salsas I've reviewed so far on this blog, this one is the hottest. Check out the Corn, Black Bean and Roasted Pepper Salsa and Mango Peach Salsa reviews.

But heat isn't all I'm after when I buy a salsa. I mainly just want "sabor!" ("Flavor," for you gringos). And while this sauce actually does taste a little like a chipotle pepper, with maybe a hint of roasted tomato, it just doesn't do it for me quite as much as those other two AF salsas that I've checked out. Compared to the first two varieties, this one just tastes cheap to me.

But that being said, if you're really a fan of the taste of chipotle peppers, but don't want something scorching hot, this might be something you'll want to check out.

I give this salsa 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Mango Peach Salsa

During my time in L.A., I became aware of sweet, fruit-based salsas. A local fish taco place offered a white fish taco with lettuce, cilantro, and a fruity salsa very similar to this product from AF. In both cases, the sauce is more delicious than I anticipated, and it blends really well with a host of southwestern foods, fish, and chicken dishes, too.

In this case, the salsa is also just fine for dipping with regular old tortilla chips. I used Archer Farms White Corn Tortilla Chips (review coming soon). The combination was perfect. The chips provided just enough crunchiness and saltiness, and the salsa supplied the body of the flavor, and plenty of texture. There really are huge chunks of mango and peaches. The product description mentions jalapenos. They're in there, but the jalapeno chunks are greatly overshadowed by the fruit pieces. Like the Corn and Black Bean Salsa, this product is marked as "medium," but I'd put it closer to "mild." There's a vague, warm tingle from the jalapenos, but it doesn't really compete with the sweetness of the fruit. It blends nicely, but if it's spice you're looking for, try something else. Likewise, if you're looking for a dessert food, this probably isn't what you're after.

Like all AF salsas, it's about $3 for a jar, which isn't cheap. But it's a high-quality product, and just a little bit goes a long way in terms of livening up an otherwise bland meal. This is definitely a product that will wind up on my shopping lists in the future. I'm a fan.

I give this product 8 out 10 stars.

Archer Farms Kettle Corn Popcorn Seasoning

I'm a fan of kettle corn. Always have been. It's salty AND sweet. The best of both worlds. And with this little bottle of happiness, you can determine just how "kettley" you want your popcorn. It's not as buttery as the Cinnamon Toast Seasoning, which IMHO, is a good thing. If you want more butteriness, you can always add it separately the old fashioned way.

According to my highly speculative calculations, you could kettlify (that's a verb meaning "to make like kettle corn") at least 30 bags of Redenbacher-style microwave popcorn, or perhaps 15 bottles or so of Archer Farms 100% Whole Grain Golden Popcorn with just one little shaker of this seasoning. It doesn't take much to make it sweet, and there's a good bit in each bottle. But it doesn't stick to the popcorn perfectly...there's a big pile of Kettle Corn powder at the bottom of the bowl when you're done.

If you put popcorn with this stuff sprinkled on it next to normal kettle corn in a taste test, the normal kettle corn would probably win...but not by much. And there's also the novelty factor of being able to increase the level of sweetness according to your individual taste, which is a huge plus. All in all, I'd say this is a successful product. My wife agrees.

We give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Cinnamon Toast Popcorn Seasoning

I've always liked cinnamon toast. What's not to like? Sugar, cinnamon, butter, and toast. Yummy. I even liked the cereal (see below). So when I saw this sweet little delicacy on the discount rack at the local Target, I decided to try it.

It's not bad. It's good for popcorn, as you might expect, but it's also fine for sprinkling on toast. It's a bit rich in the butter department. Right after "sugar" on the ingredients list is "natural butter flavor." Not sure how something like butter can survive in an unrefrigerated, powdered form and still be considered "natural," but there it is. I trust my good friends at Target not to poison me.

This product could be extraordinarily versatile if not for the overabundance of butter flavor. If it were merely sugars and spices, I would be sprinkling it on everything from oatmeal to ice cream. But most people, I think, would agree with me, that you don't necessarily want to put butter on those items.

Sure, there's always the old fashioned way of doing things: put sugar and cinnamon on your toast separately, but I say that's more work and not as much fun. This is an inventive little bottle of magic, and I'd consider buying it again—if I find myself in a very buttery mood.

I give it 7 out of 10 stars.