No trip to Puerto Vallarta would be complete without a stop at Costco.
Costco -- the temple of excess. I was going to add "consumption" at the end of that sentence. But why gild the obvious?
Just walking through Costco's door transports me to a different world. Some expatriates feel as if they are still up north when they shop at Costco.
Not me. Just looking around at selections, labels, and prices is evidence enough that I am in Mexico. Along with the obvious fact that my fellow shoppers are conversing in Spanish.
And I seldom bag any exotic game at Costco these days. That was not true when I first moved down here. Trips to Costco -- or Walmart -- would send me home with the rear of my Escape packed.
Not now, I can find almost everything I need to eat in my village. If not, I just do without. On most things.
But there are certain foods that always catch my attention. About a month ago, my intelligence source in Morelia told me that I needed to get to Costco immediately. My ambrosia had arrived from The States.
And when I slipped into Costco's refrigerated room, there they were. Piled neatly in plastic cartons. From Washington.
Cherries.
Bings in four pound containers. Rainiers in two pound containers.
Just as if I still lived in Salem. Even the bilingual label seemed familiar.
You may think it odd when I tell you I grabbed two containers of each. 12 pounds of cherries. After all, fruit does not keep forever. On the other hand, cherries do not last long at my house, either.
If you take a close look at the Bing container, you might notice I appear to have been shorted. It is over half empty.
The packer is not at fault, The highway between Puerto Vallarta and Melaque is strewn with cherry stems and pits from about two pounds of cherries. And I will not bother justifying my littering with the overused "organic" exception. Let's just say I may have bent my ethics, but not my morals.
I was so excited about my cherry harvest that I forgot to look for ham steaks to add to my beans this coming week. But I think I can find them at my favorite grocery in Melaque.
Yesterday I said that impromptu trips are great for adventure. But the adventures are always better when accompanied by pitted fruit.
20 comments:
You're right - as time goes by we feel the need for a Costco/Sam's Club fix far less often. But then Home Depot is nearby.
Straight hardwood, Sesame oil and Dijon mustard come to mind.
Of course, a Fry's would be a nice addition.
Rainiers in Bismarck yesterday: $3.99 per pound. The produce person told me "only once a season are they this price"...I bought some - but they tend to have quite an effect on me if I eat too many!
I am heading for Costco to buy Bing cherries. I see I am an hour or so early, but that is ok. It is worth the wait.
There are plenty of Bing cherries here -- soo good. Have been indulging.
The first time I came upon Rainiers was in Oregon last year, they are different tasting, but I like them, though not easy to find on the E coast. Now I may have to go searching.
I got a 2lb pack the other day, there was something wrong with them, they all disappeared within about 3 hours....
Must be some kind of a genetic defect.
I know the defect far too well. One container of Bings is gone along with a Rainer container. Personally, I suspect the scorpions.
You might try Costco. If all else fails, fly to Puerto Vallarta. Or Hood River.
Don't pass up the Rainiers. They are twice as expensive, but twice as good.
I suspect I have become immune to The Cherry Effect. And that is just as well since I have eaten six pounds in about 48 hours.
Let me see, in the year 2020, the cherries along the route from your hometown to PV are the bases for a study by some grad student as to how they could have ever migrated to Mexico. But then they noticed there also was some sort of unique fertilizer that was also found. The secret of the Rainiers seems to be in a long lost additive to the soil that has been traced to a small town in a foreign land with the unusual mystical name of Powers.
Funny you should say that. I had dreams of Stevie Cherrypit dancing through my head as I jauntily tossed the cherry remains.
I am so glad you were able to find the cherries. There is just no other fruit to compare, especially the Raniers!
I will second, third, and fourth that!
Rainiers showed up at our farmer's market about 3 weeks ago so have been enjoying them everyday now.
Isn't it strange how a small fruit can be that delicious?
Alligators. Cherries. You are a very odd person.
I am loyal to my infatuations.
I grow cherries but it seems not for me, it is a rare year when the birds even let them turn red before there is a stem and a bare pit hanging on the tree.
One of my favorite childhood memories was climbing our cherry tree to eat th cherries before the birds ate them. Early bird and all that. Of course, there were the worms. But we did not seem to mind so mucbh back then.
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