It's over! The second-largest event of my work year is no farther away than it is RIGHT NOW and I'm relishing in that delicious thought. I made it back from Long Beach no worse for the wear (the same could not be said about Chicago last November, after the largest event of my work year-- but that's another story) and next year this event will be in Sacramento, which means no last-minute shopping for 3-oz. bottles of toiletries and no chatty seatmates on crowded planes. No, next year I'll be driving the four hours to Sacramento in the comfort of JJ, and in the evenings seeing wonderful friends who have since moved to Sac-town, and maybe stopping through Stockton on the way back for some family time-- which will probably also involve a delicious dinner out somewhere totally cliche but never disappointing, like Marie Calendar's. Mmm, pot roast and pie... delicious. Speaking of other delicious thoughts: it would not be a Friday night in married suburbia without a trip to Costco. A few weeks ago I found myself in one such warehouse kingdom of everything from gourmet apple tarts to eye glasses to bulk wine as we stocked up for a sailing trip. I was convinced that the perfect sailing food, as with any activity really, involved bread and cheese, so the first stop was the baguette and brie section. Then fresh, juicy and giant blackberries (a whole huge container for $4.99! Beat that, Oregon roadside stands!) caught my eye and I knew I'd be making little baguette-brie-blackberry sandwiches on which to nosh whilst out to sea.
Then some fresh mozzarella and giant, juicy tomatoes (heirloom are not yet in season, but I wait... I wait) and basil for a nice caprese salad. So what if it's not really finger-foody enough for boating? Everyone likes little towers that involve mozzarella. Everyone. Right? Then some chocolate something or other, and some rolls for Ian to make tiny ham sandwiches.
Anyway, the shopping took a brief hiatus as I explored the reading material area and came across the America's Test Kitchen Best of 2008 recipe review. (Insert column of light from on high and angelic choir.) I love America's Test Kitchen and the fact that the best recipes for 2008 were already in print, and wholesale, made my heart pound. I gleefully tossed the thick, tantalizing magazine into the cart. And then I surveyed the contents: breads, cheeses, some tomatoes, some blackberries, chocolate, and a margarita pizza...And a magazine of tried-and-true-and-new fabulous recipes. I gasped and grabbed Ian's arm. "Look!" I whispered. "It's the perfect cart."
He looked down, nodded slowly, then tossed in his Popular Mechanics magazine-- the car issue. "There," he said. "Now it's perfect."
8 comments:
The love you and Ian have for Costco makes me laugh. The description of you sailing cuisine makes my mouth water.
when you drive to sacramento, you should stop in petaluma and say hi to applebees for me. who cares if it's out of the way?! didn't stop us before...
we also love Costco...I think every time I go I have to walk up and down each isle - spending extra time in the book/magazine ones!
Is there a costco in orhaniye?
You will have to share some of your tried-and-trues of the tried-and-trues with us in the blogosphere.
We love Costco too!! Sadly there is not room in our place to store all our great, bulky buys! You can always tell when we have made a trip (kitchen space is non-existent).. and when it's time to go again (finally have space on/in the cupboards).
I always wonder if we went more often, if we wouldn't spend so much money while we were there... it's embarrassing how much we spend each visit (even though I don't know what others spend)... I guess that's why our trips only come once every few months.
I LOVE Costco! (enough said)
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