Abigail M. Schilling

Some say that good food is a religious experience. There is special attention paid to pairing wines with meats, cheeses to soups, sauces to salads. This is something I've never totally understood being a picky eater with several indescribable food allergies (including wine) and constantly changing eating patterns (I didn't like cheese for most of college, seriously).

I know what foods I like and I know how to pair them. But shopping for food is as much of a drag as finding food I like outside of my kitchen. Except at Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's lures me in with it's chickpea creations and bags of chicken and sauce and desserts. TJ's lures me in with it's low prices and cute check-out guys. Trader Joe's steals all my money, but gives me a hefty return.

Which is why I felt guilty when I read that not everyone has a Trader Joe's. Nay, there are only 279 stores total. Most of those are here in Southern California. There are 28 states that do not have Joe. 28 states without cute check-out guys. 28 states without the three-layer pesto dip and the hummus and the orange chicken.

I'm so ungrateful.

People actually fly to other states to stock up on Trader Joe's and me? I try to remember to get eggs cause they're cheaper. The eggs are 99 cents! That is practically free! And sometimes I'm too busy to stop by and visit. I just let Joe operate by his lonesome in dense Southern California.

"We have an RV, so we're filling up the freezer," said Lisa Mackey, who was taking home about $300 worth of groceries from the Santa Fe Trader Joe's to her home in Durango, Colo. While she stood near bags of frozen Peruvian chimichurri rice, her husband explained that they figured the money they were saving on fish alone would pay for their gas.

Flash-frozen tuna fillets go for $4.99 a pound at Trader Joe's, about a third of the Colorado price. And they're much tastier, the couple said. This was their second visit to the store. They had come by the day before to pick up deodorant, pesto, capers and simmer sauces.

I've never even bought the tuna fillets! It's like I'm throwing money AWAY and Lisa Mackey is having a religious experience. Clearly, I'm going to to hell.

After reading several accounts of Trader Joe pilgrimages I've started to increase my appreciation. I say grace more frequently. I walk fast. I hum. I never saw the true promise in front of me.

And it's true. We get our milk there and our honey.