Costco Moments

I have avoided Costco for many years, put off by the crass commercialism and over-consumption of a place where everything comes in gargantuan quantities (do I REALLY need four 36-ounce jars of cinnamon toasted almonds? Or eight 22-ounce cowboy steaks? What cowboy is going to eat 22 ounces of steak at a sitting, anyway?)

But.

There are some good things about this shrine of bargain prices. Like, buy in bulk, save much money. For large families – and yes, small ones too – this can be smart and keep folks afloat during tough times. If you have room to store 16 rolls of toilet paper at a time.

And I just discovered Costco has eyeglasses at deep discounts. Cool ones. So we headed over recently, and chose a pair for Joseph. They look fabulous – and cost about a quarter of what he’d seen elsewhere.

Then we moseyed around the store, thinking we wouldn’t get much but, ha ha! Of course we did. Even me, the cynic.

Get this: they have organic foods! I got a double-size clam shell of Earthbound organic mixed greens for $4.99. Half that amount costs a dollar more where I shop! Joseph and I split the container, as all that lettuce would go bad if it were just me and Clara eating it (or just Joseph).

I also got several cartons of Pacific Crest organic tomato-roasted red pepper soup, and Amy’s organic lentil soup. I got orange juice. And underwear. I got organic peanut butter. And socks. And shrimp. (But don’t buy the shrimp, they were not only from Vietnam (oh so far away and inefficient to transport here) and farm-raised, they tasted old, so disappointing.)

But I loved the Mayorga stand – the guy was super friendly and the Cubano coffee was outstanding. And the man demonstrating the super-duper, change-your-life blender was a stitch, he just needed a TV screen around him to complete the late night commercial picture. “Soup in minutes! Smoothies at the press of a button! Even a man can do it,” he said, “Here, you, sir, go ahead and push this button,” and Joseph grinned and complied. Voila! Grapes, berries, apples, mashed into a milkshake sans milk. Delish! We didn’t buy the miracle device (for $300-plus) but wow, were we impressed!

The best part – another surprise – was the lunch counter. A set of big (everything is big at Costco) photos set high on the wall above a service counter shows various fast food-type choices – the photos are so big, you can see them from the lines at the registers and make your choice while you’re waiting to be checked out. Among the possibilities: hot dogs, burrito-looking things, and pizza. I went for the Italian sausage. And Joseph ordered a hand-dipped ice cream bar.

Italian sausage in hand, I waited and waited as the server went back to get that ice cream, thinking wow, she must be reaching deep into that freezer where the ice is starting to bury drippy ice cream sandwiches, this’ll be a freezer-burned disaster. Why would Joseph order such a thing? Maybe it was his Costco moment. Then the server came out with something on a Styrofoam plate. And I said out loud (to the chagrin of the people around me who were all politely keeping to themselves) “it’s on a plate!” “Yes,” she smiled, as if I were an idiot, of course it’s on a plate. “You just dipped it!” “Yes,” she smiled again.

Right at Costco. A freshly dipped ice cream bar, still glistening with liquid chocolate, and covered with real, roasted, fresh almonds. Yuh-UM!

And we didn't have to buy it in bulk.