Trader Joes, you let me down.

Maybe it was because the particular store we went to was very small - are they all?

Maybe it was because my expectations were so high - possibly.

But we were very disappointed in our first visit to Trader Joes.

That doesn't mean we didn't purchase anything. We did - pizzas, meringues (hidden obsession - not so hidden now), nuts, chips, and marinara sauce.

I made pasta with marinara sauce last evening and it was good. I have to say I'd buy it again.

I won't be driving to Cincinnati just for marinara sauce though.

Because our trip here was such a let down, we decided to visit an old favorite and somewhere that never lets us down - Jungle Jim's.

For those of you outside the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky area, you've probably never heard of it. It isn't a chain - there is only one Jungle Jim's.

But it is fantastic and huge. So big, they give you a map. It is really quirky and hard to describe it completely - but I'll try.

It started as a produce stand years ago and grew and grew and grew. But produce is still it's crowning achievement. Not just in quality but in variety and quantity. Your standard fare and your not-so standard fare representing every food style you can imagine.

I took a few photos of the interesting things I saw this time around:

Doughnut Peaches - these beauties were flat with a deep hole - appropriately named.

Yellow Watermelon - I didn't taste it, but it was pretty.

These miniature pineapples are so cute. I wish I had put something in the photo to give it scale, but the bulk of the pineapple (not counting the stem) was only about 3 1/2-4" tall. I don't know if they are sweet, but I thought they would make a great individual serving dish for a fruit salad.

They have a large ethnic food section, both Latin and oriental. These yams were called Tribal Ethnic Yams. We thought they looked like big foot.

Beyond the produce there are huge sections like the cheese room, bakery, liquor, and meat. I found this in the meat section and it may be awhile before I'm able to eat pork again.

Then they have nationality sections/aisles/rooms such as Swedish, Italian, Hungarian, German, Korean, - the list goes on. Near the Latino aisle there is this huge hot sauce display.

As you can tell, they are big on their displays and there is always theme based music playing - like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (in the jungle, the mighty jungle....)

In one part of the display there are hot sauces that are locked up due to their intensity. You actually have to show ID to purchase them. And they aren't cheap. In case you can't see the price tag in the picture above, I took a close-up.

I doubt anyone actually purchases this, what about you?