by Furnishly | Oct 28, 2025 | Design Inspiration, Style
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Nine times out of 10, there’s a frozen pizza in my freezer. If not, I’m at my local grocery store picking one up. It was a staple throughout my childhood, and the options in the freezer aisle have come a long way since then. You might even say we’re in the golden age of frozen pizza.
I’ve tried lots of different frozen pizza brands, and I’m always interested in trying new ones — especially when they’re created by one of the most legendary pizza shops in New York. The speed with which I secured samples of Di Fara’s Vodka Sauce Pizza is almost as impressive as the pizza itself. Let me explain why.
What You Should Know About Di Fara Vodka Sauce Pizza
In a city where you can easily walk past a dozen pizza shops without even trying, Di Fara still stands out. In fact, it’s been awarded the go-to spot by many critics, including the late Anthony Bourdain who called it “the best of the best.”
Di Fara was established in Midwood, Brooklyn, in 1965 by Domenico DeMarco, an Italian immigrant, who perfected his pizza recipe over decades. He emphasized using high-quality ingredients like double zero flour, bufala mozzarella, and slow-cooked Sunday sauce. He shaped the dough, hand-sliced the pepperoni, and finished each pie with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil. Unsurprisingly, long lines formed around the shop, and the rest is history.
Pizza fans who live outside of New York can now get a taste of his famous pizza at your local grocery store. Known for its signature crisp-outside yet chewy-inside crust, the frozen version contains wheat flour, deactivated durum wheat sourdough, yeast, and water. It’s topped with a creamy vodka sauce (made with vine-ripened tomatoes, sea salt, heavy cream, onions, tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil, corn starch, water, spices, vodka, and sea salt) and a layer of mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano, plus handpicked basil.
Di Fara’s Vodka Sauce Pizza launched this past June and is currently available at select grocery retailers in the Mid-Atlantic region. It’s $9.99 in store and a few dollars more online at Instacart. The brand also expects to roll out to Kroger locations in 15 states across the U.S. in September. In addition to vodka sauce, Di Fara’s line includes three meat, classic, and pepperoni frozen pizzas.
My Honest Review of Di Fara Vodka Sauce Pizza
I’ll be honest, I’ve never trekked to Midwood to try the OG, but if this slice is any indication, I need to. I heated the frozen pizza directly on the middle oven rack as per the instructions at 450°F for about 12 minutes. As it cooked, whiffs of garlic and tomato wafted from my oven. My apartment instantly smelled like a pizzeria I’d grab a slice from after a late night out.
Once out of the oven, I waited a few minutes for it to cool before slicing it up and digging in — and WOW. If I didn’t unbox it myself, I’d never know it was ever frozen. The crust was SUPER crispy, nearly cracker-thin, with an audible crunch and snap. And yet! It still had a good chew the further into the center I got.
by Furnishly | Oct 27, 2025 | Design Inspiration, Style
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independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Even though it’s been a few years since I worked at Trader Joe’s, I still cannot unsee many of the rude (and often quite bizarre!) behaviors that customers repeated on a near-hourly basis. I’m no grocery sociologist, but I do believe the combination of generally chipper employees, 1950s surf rock blasting, and free-flowing samples of your favorite desserts, seems to bring out something in Trader Joe’s shoppers that has them, well, not on their best behavior.
Of course, these were coupled with ultra-heartwarming interactions with some kind regulars and newcomers alike, but years later I find myself terrified to commit any of these faux pas and sidestep them like I’m dodging laser beams in Oceans 11.
My own sweetie-pie mom still works at Trader Joe’s, and I try to allot her enough time to do a weekly vent about the horrors she has witnessed (we call it our “I Don’t Think So, Honey” minute). Maybe we could just agree to stop doing most (if not all!) of these things so we can spend that minute talking about, like, cheese? The weather? Literally anything else would be great.
1. You’re shocked that the store is crowded …
This one always confounded me, and yet It Happened Every Weekend. Here’s the scenario: A customer, who is currently in the store, asking me quite pointedly why the store is so full of people, all while forgetting they are also contributing to the packed nature of the store. Catch this phenomenon every Saturday and Sunday at pretty much any Trader Joe’s.
2. … or a viral item is out of stock.
I was in charge of ordering cheese at my Trader Joe’s (Fun fact: Every section in every store has an order-writer). When the Baked Feta Pasta craze tornadoed across America, it wiped out every last feta option available for months. Which was fine — it is what it is.
Shoppers are understandably disappointed when a viral (or popular) item is out of stock, but too often, they take out that annoyance on employees who are doing the best they can to keep shelves full. Chances are, that same employee is glad to help you find an alternative that might be even better than the one you saw on TikTok.
3. You say these five (annoying) words.
Those words are, of course, “You look bored over there.” Dad-joke or not, these words make 100% of Trader Joe’s employees sigh with existential angst when you approach us at checkout. It’s insulting, because it implies we aren’t doing anything, or aren’t working hard.
In fact, we likely have just finished breaking down heavy boxes of wine, wheeling a half-dozen stacks of groceries off a truck, and/or spending two hours in the freezer or cooler restocking some of your favorites. It’s usually a combination of all three, which is why we might be taking a brief relaxing pause between large cartloads to clear our minds, stretch out our sore backs, or just have a quiet moment. Each hour at Trader Joe’s, employees typically change tasks, from register to working the floor, ordering items, and breaking down products to refill shelves. Trust me, working at Trader Joe’s is truly never boring.
4. You forget to say these two magic words.
“Excuse me” is a tried-and-true classic. The best times to use them are before you grab a heavy jar of artichokes above an employee’s head, before you reach your arm through our legs to get pasta sauce, and before trying to get your cart by us as we cut through boxes of frozen items with our trusty box-cutters. Saying “excuse me” before any of these actions gives us a heads-up and prevents mishaps from, well, happening.
5. Your checkout etiquette is lacking.
You’ve weaved through the aisles masterfully, gotten everything on your list, and maybe made a friend or two at the samples area. Success! Did you also stick your polite customer landing at the checkout? There are a few ways to earn some politeness points and save yourself some time (and stress for everyone in a five-feet radius).
First things first: no phone calls! This is just rude everywhere, not just while checking out, and it slows a lot of things down.
Second of all, now is not the time to tell your cashier you’re “in a rush.” One of my many proverbs is, “One is not in a rush if they are in a Trader Joe’s.” It’s just not a thing, nor is it the responsibility of your cashier to make up for lost time or poor planning.
Lastly, commit to bagging, or don’t. Either one is totally fine, but a half-bagged job usually means a lot of things are in weird spots (ice cream cartons on top of bread loaves) and your cashier can get in trouble for bad bagging jobs if it really goes sideways. Also, it slows things down for you and other shoppers, too.
6. You forget that the employees are people, too.
I worked during the Early Dark COVID-19 Times (when hoarding toilet paper and sanitizing wine bottles was an all too common sight). What was also common? The lack of awareness that Employees Are People Too.
This takes a lot of different forms, but these are a few of the more common behaviors I witnessed: coming into the store visibly sick (and/or waiting on a COVID test result), handing us rotten food (that you’re returning — a receipt alone is fine) or trash, touching employees (yes, really!), and bringing in reusable bags that have seen better days (or are full of garbage/diapers/more rotten food). We all gotta eat, but we all need respect, too.
Witnessed any rude behavior at Trader Joe’s? Tell us about it in the comments below.
This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: 6 Rude Things People Can’t Stop Doing While Grocery Shopping at Trader Joe’s
by Furnishly | Oct 15, 2025 | Design Inspiration, Style
Alexandra FosterEditorial Assistant
As the Editorial Assistant for The Kitchn, I cover groceries, news, trends, people, and culture. I have 5 years of experience in communications and an MA in Food Studies from NYU. I previously worked at Food Network, and for nonprofits advocating for food justice.
by Furnishly | Oct 12, 2025 | Design Inspiration, Style
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independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
I grew up during the heyday of cooking shows, and Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa was must-see TV. I was new to cooking, so I soaked up all the hosting tips and insider kitchen tricks she shared. Even a passing comment about using really good olive oil had me scanning the screen to see which brand Ina deemed the best. (I recently learned which ketchup she loves, and it’s already my go-to bottle.)
Even now that I’m an experienced cook, I’m still learning from Ina and dreaming of a day spent dining with her in the Hamptons. I’m still waiting on my invitation, but that doesn’t mean I can’t eat like I’m at Ina’s right now. Ina revealed the most popular dip she sold at The Barefoot Contessa in the cookbook she named after her specialty food shop, so obviously I had to try it.
Get the recipe: Ina Garten’s Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
How to Make Ina Garten’s Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
Ina Garten’s sun-dried tomato dip takes just a few minutes to make with the help of a food processor. Blend oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, hot sauce, kosher salt, and black pepper together in a food processor until smooth. Add green onions and pulse a few times to combine, then transfer to a serving dish. Serve with crackers or vegetables for dipping.
My Honest Review of Ina Garten’s Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
Cooking like Ina Garten is all about effortless elegance, and nothing says that more than a flavorful dip made in the food processor. The dip relies on a trio of ingredients — sour cream, mayonnaise, and cream cheese — as the base for the creamy dip. From there, you could add any flavor-packed ingredient, but Ina adds oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, hot sauce, and green onions. The sun-dried tomatoes add a lovely blush hue to the dip, plus a deep tomato and umami flavor. It’s an ingredient that was hot in the 1990s, but has made a major comeback, thanks to Marry Me Chicken (and I’m here for it).
I’ll be honest: The addition of hot sauce in the recipe gave me pause. I wasn’t sure how the flavor of hot sauce would taste with the tomatoes and green onion, but I shouldn’t have doubted Ina. In the book, she recommends using Tabasco. It’s a thin hot sauce that adds both spice and a vinegary kick to balance the richness of the creamy ingredients. I love serving this with round butter crackers, but you could also add crunchy vegetables or a sliced baguette on the side.
3 Tips for Making Ina Garten’s Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
by Furnishly | Sep 19, 2025 | Design Inspiration, Style
It completely changed how I do laundry.
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