This week, the ranunculus showed up in force. I had purchased two bags of ranunculus bulbs from Costco last fall, and finally managed to get them planted at the tail end of winter. Now, we have a nice row of red, yellow, white and pink ranunculus flowers in the garden.

Feels like Spring.

Costco is selling Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. $4.79 for a 72 ounce bag, which comes to $0.067 per ounce. If you buy direct from Bob’s Red Mill, a 54 ounce bag costs $4.33, which is $0.080 per ounce.

Before I purchased Steel Cut Oats from Costco, I had only tried the more traditional form of Oatmeal. The big difference is that Steel Cut Oats takes a bit longer to cook and has a chewier texture. My favorite recipe is to prepare it the night before. I place one 1 cup of Steel Cut Oats with 4 1/2 cups of water into the crock pot. The next morning, I add some milk to thicken, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and a banana that has been sauteed in butter. Run the mixture through a hand blender to incorporate.

Back in July of 2008, Costco was selling a Sony 46″ 1080P Bravia LCD HDTV (KDL46WL135) for $1,999.99.

Fast forward 18 months later, Costco now sells a Sony 46″ 1080P LCD HDTV (KDL46VL150) for $799.99.

Had I known that 60% fall in prices were in store, I would have waited it out. But for those that haven’t made the digital switch, your patience has been rewarded.

Costco was selling Diestel Whole Brined Turkeys for $0.97 per pound. The catch? These were on sale AFTER Thanksgiving. Talk about a Black Friday sale. I had spotted these same turkeys just before Thanksgiving selling for close to $4.00 per pound. However, since I needed about 20 pounds of turkey and I wasn’t willing to shell out $80 for poultry that might taste better, I ended up brining my own. Next year, I might pick up a pre-brined turkey after Thanksgiving just to give it a shot. The Diestel turkeys were only around 10 pounds. I wouldn’t mind spending $10 to experiment with and taste test a pre-brined bird.

This week, the giant tub of Mountain High Yoghurt for $3.89 was missing at the local Costco. In its place, I spotted a 64 ounce tub of Verka Original Yogurt selling for $3.79. I’ve never heard of the Verka brand before. Apparently, it’s an Indian dairy company located in San Jose, CA. From an environmental point-of-view, I suppose that buying a tub of yogurt produced by a local manufacturer is better than buying one produced in Englewood, CO.

The really odd thing is that the Verka yogurt was labeled 100% vegetarian. I guess that is true if by vegetarian Verka means that their yogurt contains no meat, poultry or fish products. But, not all sects of vegetarianism consumer dairy products, such as yogurt. I guess if you are an ovo vegetarian or a vegan, you should be extremely careful when shopping and opt for the soy yogurt instead. Of course, I took home a tub of Verka yogurt. Taste test comes tomorrow.

Last month, I picked up a J.A. Henckels 10 Piece Forged Knife Set at Costco for $139.99 after an instant rebate of $30.00. Of course, unless you are actually tracking prices, you cannot tell whether the post-rebate price is a good price. Did the seller raise the price and then offer a rebate for difference? After the rebate expires, will the new price be the old post-rebate price?Well, at least for this item at Costco, once the rebate expires, the sales price reverts back to $169.99.

After much thinking, I picked up a J.A. Henckels International 10-piece Forged Knife Set at Costco. Again, with Costco, the online price is not necessarily cheaper. I purchased the knife set in store for $139.99 after an instant $30.00 rebate. Costco took $30.00 off the price at the register. No mail-in rebate forms or other hassles.

So far, I haven’t experienced the rust problem that others have complained about. Out of the box, the knives were extremely sharp. In fact, I got nicked on the finger by the 8″ chef’s knife while trying to slice through ham, which wasn’t an all-too-pleasant experience. Sharp! After another close call, I finally put away the chef’s knife. Something about it just didn’t agree with the way I was working in the kitchen.

Since then, I’ve turned to the 7″ hollow edge santoku knife, which just feels better in my hand. No more close calls.

So, what prompted the purchase? Well, Thanksgiving is around the corner again and memories of last year’s attempt to carve a turkey with a dull chef’s knife still haunt me. A few months ago, I purchased a sharpening steel, which restored some zing to the chef’s knife I was using. However, lately, I’ve noticed that the chef’s knife was getting a lot duller a lot faster. So, I was looking for a paring knife, which my existing set did not include. I was also missing a bread knife, though that was not such a big deal since I only occasionally buy unsliced bread. I was looking for a better chef’s knife and a carving knife for Thanksgiving. With so many needs, paying $139.99 for a second set didn’t seem too crazy, especially since my back-up choice, the Shun Classic 3-Piece Boxed Flat Set, was running for $249.95 on Amazon.

After a week of use, here’s the quick round-up. So far, the 3″ vegetable knife, 4″ paring/utility knife and the 5″ utility/serrated knife seem a bit much. Not sure I really need 3 small knives. The 7″ hollow edge santoku knife is golden. That’s my favorite knife out of the bunch so far. I’ll see how the 8″ carving knife performs tomorrow during Thanksgiving dinner. The 8″ chef’s knife has already made a few attempts at my fingers. Since I’m so comfortable using the santoku, I don’t know if the chef’s knife will ever come out of the block again. I haven’t used the 8″ bread knife yet. I already have a sharpening steel and kitchen shears, so those items are duplicative. Also, while the block offers extra slots, it is missing a wide slot for a cleaver, just in case I ever get the Shun 7-3/4-Inch Stainless Steel Chinese Chef’s Knife, which incidentally costs more than the Henckels set.

If the recession has dashed your dreams of a Hawaiian vacation, you can still experience a taste of Hawaii by visiting Costco. I spotted 2-64 oz. cartons of Sun Tropics Passion Orange Guava Juice (aka POG) selling for $5.99 at the Mountain View, CA Costco. Of course, I snatched a gallon of that sweet nectar. I’ve never seen any mainstream store in the Continental US selling POG before. Now, if I can only get a loaf of sliced Hawaiian bread, I will be in heaven. Hawaiian bread is absolutely fantastic for making French toast.

Amazon sells LeapFrog’s Letter Factory, Let’s Go to School and Talking Words Factory
DVDs for $8.49 a piece. At 43% off the $14.98 list price, it looks like a bargain. But, I just spotted the same 3 DVDs at Costco selling for $5.99 per DVD, or 60% off the list price. Sure, Costco’s DVD selections are limited and the stock constantly changes, but if Costco is carrying a DVD that you want, take a closer look.