Making Costco Hotdog at Home

It’s Sunday night (Monday morning) 1:30 AM. Since the pandemic, I have always stayed up super late on Sunday night. If I stay awake, it’s still the weekend. I shall go to bed around 3:30 AM. I have 2 more hours to enjoy.

For my weekend fun, I put together a quick video of me making a Costco hotdog at home this weekend. I am not a YouTuber, and I don’t plan to be one. I had some free time this weekend, so I took videos instead of taking photos. Also, I wanted to learn a video editing program for fun.

It was another glorious weekend. Good times.

Vacuum, freeze, and enjoy~!!

FYI: I thaw the buns and the dog before cooking. I did not put the frozen buns in the microwave oven. Everything else is self-explanatory.

Costco Shopping – November 21, 2021

23rd Costco Shopping in 2021 – $84.99 / $2,597.65 this year

I went to Costco Sunday morning at 10 AM as they opened the door. All I wanted was a 20-pound Butterball turkey, which I found one quickly. Then I picked up some miscellaneous items and holiday treats. They still didn’t have Kirkland Signature Shampoo. So I picked up a Pantene 5 in 1 Shampoo that was on sale ($7.99). It’s a good price. This big container will last me about 6-8 months. The warehouse quickly became busy, so I left in a hurry.

Outside, there was no onion crank at the food court. Some people reported onions are back. But that’s not what I see.

I picked up a Cold Brew Mocha Freeze and hit the road.

This will be my 11th year baking turkey alone. Baking turkey is fun. But, lately, I’ve been thinking maybe it’s time I stop baking turkey and visit my friend or family. We’ll see what happens next year.

The peanuts are good. The Salame Trio is a guaranteed good time (x3). All the good stuff you see in the picture is for my personal enjoyment on Thanksgiving weekend and for the rest of the year. I have officially started my annual massive eating ritual. I put a cap on 4-pound weight gain in 6 weeks. I will panic if I reach 163 lb. Eat everyone, don’t be shy.

Still no onion
Thanksgiving Gourmet Turkey Brine
Another Greeting, About Me

I'am here because I love Costco and use and make a lot of things with their products I purchase and I get asked about what I am doing with it from friends and family.
Sharing is caring :)

Born and raised in Washington State.
I graduated at 17 from HS and Cosmetology College.
Married, mother of three adult children.
I have an executive membership also at Costco 25 years ago.
I am self employed.
Co owner with my husband of our company for 28 years as a sub contractor for residential homes.
We are neither rich or poor, but I grew up poor.
Hobbies: Cooking, organic gardening, foraging, hiking, 4 wheeling with friends, rock painting, puzzling and dancing...
I am not a professional at anything, just a reg down to earth Jane of all trades ;) That sounds to good. I try.

I hope that my sharing will help someone,

Peace
Ti

BY RODELLE

I love this. I’ve been making my own brine mixes for decades and thought I’d give this one a try about 3 years ago. You use 2 cups of brine to 1 gallon of water. You add the brine to boiling water to re hydrate the fruit etc. It call’s for an additional gallon of water after the brine has cooled to cover the turkey. I use a mix of ice and water.

It has a real smooth blend, nothing is over powering. As I am not usually a fan of spices; cinnamon, cloves of the sorts in my savory food. This is perfect. I love doing one roasted oven turkey and the other smoked. There is always a huge debate on to brine or not. To me its simple, you want a moist turkey, brining helps and adds flavor to the meat. I additionally add butter, garlic and herbs under the skin before cooking. Happy Thanksgiving. Give it a try.

Ground Coffee vs Whole Bean Coffee

Peet’s Organic French Roast. Costco item #1471986 – Purchase price $11.49 (instant savings $4.50)

I slowly became a coffee snob in the past 13 years. I am picky about my coffee. I use 2 coffee grinders so I don’t mix flavors. I used to have 4 coffee grinders. I cannot enjoy Starbucks Coffee because I find it inferior to my taste. I like strong coffee that’s not acidic.

I favor whole bean coffee over ground coffee. I assume I get a better coffee experience if I grind the coffee beans just before I brew it. Whole bean coffee seems superior overall.

On my August 2021 Costco Shopping, I picked up a ground coffee by mistake. And I thought I would try it.

And you know what? This coffee is just as enjoyable. I cannot tell the difference. Maybe if I taste both whole bean coffee and ground coffee side-by-side, I will know the difference? But, this is not a competition. I enjoy this coffee a lot. And that concludes my experiment. Only the evil people go through a war to decide which coffee is 1% better than the other. And if you are hell bent on enjoying the coffee, that’s 1% better? More power to you. I used to be like you.

From this point, I will look at ground coffee and coffee beans as equal. If I see a (good) ground coffee on sale, I will buy it.

Peet's Ground Organic French Roast Coffee
This morning – August 30, 2021
Costco Coffee Pumpkin Spice
2008. My first coffee grinder and a pot – $15 for both.
I remember buying these at Riteaid. I was excited about grinding coffee for the first time – just like rich people (that’s what I thought).
Coffee Grinders
2013. I used to enjoy 4 varieties of coffee.
All 4 coffee grinders were from Costco

Costco Shopping – April 29, 2021

9th Costco Shopping in 2021 – $83.89 today / $1581.68 this year

The only exciting item from today’s Costco shopping was Cinnamon Pull-A-Part (#46915 – $6.99). They are cheap and super tasty. You (old folks) cannot eat stuff like this all the time. But, you must enjoy sweets occasionally. They are good for your soul. Life is more joyous with sweet treats. I divided them up and put them in the freezer. I will microwave for 20 seconds. They are SOOO good.

Costco’s pull-a-part makes me feel like Christmas. I will buy it again on Thanksgiving.

I ate a slice of pizza after shopping.

Costco Cinnamon Pull-A-Part, Kirkland Signature Cinnamon roll
Vitamix Container

One of my favorite purchases from Costco is the Vitamix blender. I believe my Vitamix blender keeps me fit and healthy. Ultimately, Vitamix contributes to a happier life. I highly recommend Vitamix blender to everyone. It doesn’t have to be Vitamix. But everyone should have some kind of powerful blender and use it every day. I am no doctor. I cannot explain this scientifically. But a vegetable juice has to be better than a bowl of cereal. There has to be a tremendous positive long-term effect from a daily diet of vegetable juice.

I don’t claim that the Vitamix blender changed my life. I am healthy because of how I make decisions in my life. Vitamix was one of the decisions I made.

Before Vitamix, I used to juice for 7-8 years. Then, in January 2012, I switched to Vitamix blender. For almost 9 years, I’ve been using a Vitamix blender twice a day. I make a juice in the morning and another one after work. I rarely skip my routine. I estimate I ran my Vitamix blender for at least 8000 minutes (= 133 hours = 5.5 Days).

Last week, I was making my Vitamix juice as usual. But, this time, the blender made a strange noise, and I saw smoke coming out from the blade assembly (gear). I quickly turned off the machine.

And I went for my backup container. Yes, I had a backup container already.

Vitamix blender 64 ounce Classic Container. Old and new
64 ounce Classic Vitamix blender container. Old and new.

How to keep Vitamix container clean

Vitamix blender containers are made out of plastic, not glass, for a safety reason. Vitamix is super powerful. If the blade mechanism fails, it could shatter the glass container. Then horrible things can happen, including a lawsuit. So they are made out of plastic, and these plastic containers will get stained easily. Once they are stained, there is no getting it out.

This is how I will keep my Vitamix container clean

  • I will wash & dry the container soon after each use.
  • I will never air dry my Vitamix container.
  • After each use, I will run the blender with clean water for 5 seconds.
  • I will clean the container gently with a non-scratch sponge. I will absolutely avoid an abrasive sponge that will scratch the container instantly and permanently.
  • I will use a micro-fiber towel to completely wipe dry the container.
Vitamix blender container close up
Vitamix blender container close up