Costco and Mexican Pastries

Anyone that know me, knows that I am a mexican food fanatic. I will eat mexican food, if given the opprotunity, everyday for the rest of my life. It is so good. Anyway, I was in Costco today. It was lunch time and My Mother-in-law was in town visiting. So we decided to eat at Costco's eatery. I ordered a chicken bake and a new item that Costco recently started offering, a Churro. Now to those of you who dont know, a churro is like a doughnut but straight and covered in cinnimon and sugar. I would always get them at the Swap Meet in Goleta on Sunday mornings. Occasionally they would be sold at fairs and Fiesta around So. Cal. So when I saw them on the menu at the Costco in Tigard Oregon, I was a bit aprehensive to order it. But what the heck, you only live once and bad mexican food is way better than no mexican food. Can I hear an AMEN? Anywho, I quickly ate my chicken bake and was on to the churro. Then first bite was taken by my son, Beck. Judging by his reaction, I would say that it was good. Really good. I took my first bite and it was Awesome. I recommend you give it a go for yourselves.

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My new favorite Drink

I came to love coffee the way that most people my age did. Through the gateway drug of Mochas. Most everyone I know started drinking those creamy chocolate sips of ecstasy topped with whipped cream. I know, I was one of them. But soon my wallet felt the crunch as $2 mochas appreciated to $3 and now $4. I had to make a change, but what? Feeling the need to stick it to the "Man", i decided to go for the cheapest thing on the menu, straight coffee. It was only a buck for a tall, robust, pungent cup of joe. However, it was quite unpleasing. I remembered taking a sip of my Dads coffee when I was much younger. He filled his coffee with cream and sugar. It was sweet and good. So I tried that. I was pleasantly surprised when I could not only pallet the taste, but I actually liked it! That was it, I was hooked on coffee for the next 7 years. I gradually became somewhat of a coffee snob. I no longer went to Starbucks because their coffee was too weak (Besides the fact that they are lame). My sister turned me on to Peets. WoW. That is a cup of coffee. I went there every morning and got my delicious cup of goodness. But like all things, I felt that the coffee was fading. It did not have that pop that it did in the beginning. Feeling kinda restless for a new place to call home, I searched... and found nothing. Occasionally I would find a good cup of coffee at a hotel or a nice restaurant, but I could not find a place that topped Peets. I would have to live with what I had.

I took a trip to Europe. I was surprised to find out that there really is not such thing as coffee as we know it in the USA. They have espresso and related drinks that are based on espresso. Still, they are 3-5 bucks. I thought that I am still not going to yield to the "Euro Man". I did see something called the "Americano". I figured that was like our American coffee. No way. It was beat. So gross. So I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. A straight shot of espresso. Oh Man! I finally found what I was looking for! A stronger substance than Peets. I devoured shot after shot while I was in Europe. And, like here, there are big differences in the quality of coffee shops you go to. There were really good espresso places, and places that literally made me vomit. Truly hit or miss.

Back in the states I would order an espresso if I was not feeling like normal coffee. It did help, but I found myself needing more and more espresso. And once again, my wallet felt the hit. So I decided to stick to coffee.

Then things changed when I took a trip to Washington DC. A colleague of mine took me to Starbucks and ordered an Iced Coffee. What? Iced coffee? I had heard of Ice Blended espresso based drinks, but Iced coffee? Never. I decided to try it...OH My Gosh! So good. I can have a cold drink of coffee...Whoo Hooo! That became my new favorite drink for about three trips to Starbucks (they did not have a Peets near my hotel in DC). Then I could not do it anymore. It was like, well, drinking cold days old coffee. So I stopped. I went back to the old standard, regular coffee.

Then on trip to Texas, I was so hot (as most people are in Texas) and I needed a coffee fix. So I went to the Starbucks (They really are everywhere) inside the building I was working in and saw that they had Americanos on the menu and it was not much more than a regular cup of coffee. I asked what an Americano was and the lady told me it was a shot of espresso and hot water. What? That sounds gross. Watered down espresso, next. But the lady convinced me to try it, so reluctantly I did. And it was glorious. I had finally found what I was looking for. But being in Texas, it was an unpleasant experience because it was very hot outside and the americano was very hot on the inside. So the next day I ordered an Iced Americano. And to my pleasant surprise, it surpassed all my hopes and dreams of what an americano could be. It was my new favorite drink.

It has been 6 months since I had discovered the Iced Americano. I am still holding to the fact that it is the best coffee drink out there. Although I have been tinkering with a fine grind Ugandan coffee in my drip coffee maker that makes a super strong yet smooth cup of coffee. I have a feeling that when my Ugandan supply runs out, I will be searching for a new favorite that I can make at home. But on the plus side, my cheap espresso machine that barely makes palatable espresso just turned out some decent iced americanos. So I may be set. For now...