The "Lunch at Costco" Story

It was an ordinary day. Both Carol and I are off work today and decided we would go out for lunch. How about Costco? You bet, I enjoy the variety there. Place was crowded today so I knew we would have to wait in line for the samples we would have for lunch. Before we started with the meal we hit the stand that was offering free disinfecting wipes. We could start to smell the food. First we hit the appetizers: Vlasic sweet and dill pickles, Sabre Hummus with roasted pine nuts on Dave’s Celebration crackers (a favorite of ours), across to the other side of the store for La Torta Italian layer spread crackers and whole wheat crackers with cream cheese and antipasto sauce. “Hey, where are the small cups of energy drink they had last week?” I asked Carol. “We’re certainly going to need something to drink before the end of the meal.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know where the drinking fountain is if you need a drink,” Carol replied. She just doesn’t seem to be getting this all-inclusive lunch idea. The breads are next: Roasted garlic bread with melted butter on it (yummy), Bavarian nut bread and pumpkin streusel (which could be in the breads or desserts category). Today there is only one salad entrée so we give it a try: Paisley Farm’s 4 bean salad (Not a big fan of this one, though Carol seems to enjoy it). Now for the vegetables and main menu. We search for those mashed potatoes we saw earlier. The server was just finishing the preparation of these. Idaho Mashed Potatoes with French Fried Onions. Looked and tasted great. I asked for an extra large helping of the onions and he obliged. Great service!! I’ll remember when I divvy out the tips. We also enjoyed the Sof’ella All Natural rice and beans, broccoli and cheese pilaf and the garlic and rosemary Risotto. “Better slow down a little,” I tell Carol, “before we get to stuffed for dessert.” The main offerings were: Chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta (extremely garlicky which I love - I actually may buy some of this one day), Hand Stuffed Roasted Peppers with Turkey (so-so) and the Mac-A-Roli bite sized Ravioli (my favorite of the meal, but can’t be good for you - can any of this?). “Let’s hit the desserts before they’re all gone,” I tell Carol. She’s right behind me along with 40-50 other people. We start with the Egg Nog Cream Puffs and Hershey Kiss Cookies, then find the Ferrero Rocher Chocolates and the Fudgie Wudgie Gourmet Fudge. I have the peanut butter while Carol has the Pumpkin Cheesecake. Getting stuffed now! Time to do our shopping. We put in our cart a package of chicken broth, flat-bread sandwich wraps and shea butter. That’s enough for today. On our way out we spot the Wrigley’s and Orbit gum stands. Why not! Alas, there is something to drink. Cups of Vitamin D3 Liquid Supplement. Sounds good to me. A healthy lunch at Costco.!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.