Gosh that's tasty | Pickering
This is not an advertisement. But sometimes, a thing is so tasty that you want to share it. Older folks can get bored with food. They find that things often don't taste like they used to. So, they eat less and start losing weight. Food boredom sets in. By now, you've sampled almost every cuisine there is, and sometimes even your old favorites don't hit the spot like they used to. You even try spicier food, hoping to jump-start those tired old taste buds.
My mom couldn't handle spicy food. She would always tell me the sausage at the restaurant was too hot for her. But I'm just the opposite. I warned her to stay away from my things in the fridge – like the super-hot butter pickles. One small bite and that would have been all she wrote. Trust me. So, you would guess correctly that she didn't eat Mexican food. After being in the hospital a few days, one dinnertime, she said she was actually hungry. But when they brought in her dinner, I silently swore when I saw that it was Mexican food – enchiladas or some such. Then, when she started digging in, she told me how good it was. I couldn't believe it. I was ecstatic that she was finally enjoying a meal. A meal that turned out to be her last. They didn't wake her for breakfast the next morning, and she was still sleeping when I came in. I sat quietly reading a book, holding her hand – until I noticed that she had stopped breathing. There was just something funny about a cranky old lady, so persnickety about her food, happily chowing down on South-of-the-border fare for her last meal.
But I digress. It must be because of Mother's Day. The intended focus of this story was a muffin from Costco. Not just any muffin, but a Triple-Chocolate Muffin. This delicacy caught my eye because it looked so incredibly tasty. And when I saw that they were $6.99 for eight, not six muffins like you would expect, my internal value shopper went on full alert. My god, they were cheaper than the chocolate-chip cookies at $9.99! I had read the day before about a wonderful cinnamon bun from a local bakery costing $7.50. And in front of me were eight big muffins for $6.99 – that's less than a dollar each. Calling them "muffins" was something of a misnomer, as they should more accurately have been described as a decadent dessert item. Their tops were liberally sprinkled with big, fat chocolate chips. And when I got them home, I soon discovered that they weren't just teasers sitting on top (which is why some folks only eat the tops of their muffins), but were scattered throughout the whole muffin.
I seem to spot them first thing on the counter in the morning. Even I need three passes to finish one off. There's something about chocolate that cuts through that morning fog. They're even better with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of ice-cold milk. And there's a sensory treat every time you find one of those chocolate chips while you're working through the body of the muffin.
I've been searching for the third chocolate component that makes it a "triple-chocolate" muffin. I've spotted an occasional luscious vein of what some appears to be chocolate syrup inside – but I'll need to do more research, which shouldn't be a problem. The last time I was at Costco, I discovered they were already in my cart before I even had a chance to ask myself whether I should buy them. I guess that's what they would call a true "no-brainer."
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 3:43 AM.