COSTCO: A FOOD LOVER'S PARADISE

I've blogged about Costco before, I know. But I can't help it! I love this store. I like to go to Costco just to browse, when I'm all alone. Sad...maybe, but I enjoy looking over all the new things they have each season....especially the food and snacks. They have some high quality, fabulous stuff. I'm talking expensive chef-foodie stuff...incredible quality for the money that you just can't find anywhere else...NOWHERE else...seriously. You can enjoy champagne taste on a beer budget (excuse the quip). Here are just a couple of my favorite treats from from Costco.

Coastal cheddar cheese.

If you're a sharp cheddar cheese lover, it will be love at first bite. The BEST true aged cheddar you will ever taste. It's $5.50 a pound and it kicks the curd out of any mega expensive cheese you will find at in import store. Trust me. I lived in Holland. I visited the cheese store there weekly to taste over 2000 different types of cheeses....I know what I 'm talking about. For $7/brick you can't go wrong to just try it. I promise you won't regret it. It's very sharp, sweet with a hint of caramel, tangy, and ncredible strong without the nasty bitter, dirty sock taste. Smooth! Awesome eaten with a slice of jonagold apple, or on your favorite roast beef sandwich. This cheese also make a fantastic grilled cheese with carmelized onions and red peppers, pesto slathered on the inside of one slice of bread, and a sweet pear on the side.

My recent find, THANK HEAVENS to a taste test last week at Costco: Yancey's Fancy Champagne Aged Cheddar.

History of why I am so thrilled about this cheese. 5 years ago while in Holland I stumbled across and fell madly in love with a cheese made exclusively for Albert Heijn (grocery store like Albertsons) called: Zaanlander Extra Belegen (aged) 48+. After some research I found out that the cheese was made in de Zaan, an area around Zaandam Holland on the coast. The reason it had such a unique taste, was due to the flavor of cream from the cows. They ate the grass, which was loaded with nutrients from the soil because the entire area used to be under water for thousands of years. I'm talking amazing cream here people, and mind blowing cheese! It was sharp and sweet, nutty with a hint of caramel, soft, smooth and extremely creamy, so creamy that it would melt in your mouth. I believe it was a gouda, but it had a consistency between cream cheese and regular cheese. This cheese was heaven on a plate. If I could inject his cheese into my blood I would. Obsessed? Yes, you get the picture. I came home and went into withdrawals when I couldn't find it anywhere. I went to several local Dutch import stores, specialty cheese stores, tried different types of cheeses only to crash and burn time and time again. It was during this time that I discovered Coastal at Costco, and even though coastal is amazing in it's own right, it's not smooth and creamy like gouda. So I gave up the search....until now! Yancy's is the replacement, and once again all is right within my cheese loving world. Pick some up today, in the next couple hours, as fast as you can get in your car and drive to the nearest Costco. Ah-mazing!

KIRKLAND SIGNATURE CHOCOLATE. For the price, no specialty chocolatier treat can compete with Kirland fine chocolates in taste and value. They are always fresh and excellent. If you like milk chocolate and nuts, these clusters are a dream:

They are near the best nut clusters I have ever had, and I've had Godiva...I'm talking in Paris Godiva nut clusters. These are as good or better than See's or Rocky Mountain Chocolate Co. The best for the money. Pefect amount of creamy chocolate, crunchy macadamias, salted caramel. Awesome!

If you love dark chocolate and nuts, try these:

Dark chocolate, dried cherries and almonds taste near to perfection in these Kirkland clusters. This incredibly smooth and dark chocolate is a great compliment to the tart cherries and crisp almonds.
If you enjoy a good piece of toffee, then these are just what you are looking for.

With a rich dark butter taste, creamy milk chocolate and a nutty almond finish, they are perfect for even the most critical toffee lover. I know because if my Nanna likes them, anyone will!

And last but certainly not least, an amazing chocolate for peanut butter fans! These Kirkland peanut butter cups will ruin you for life. (Jaime...you gotta try them!) They are the absolute BEST peanut butter cup I have ever had. Move over Reese's, we have a new candy on the block! The milk chocolate melts perfectly with the creamy peanut butter and the peanut butter is not dry, but has a thick, rich, and smooth consistency even though there are very small pieces of peanuts in the filling. Rock your world delicious. Hope you take the time to try any of these, enjoy!