Tag Archives: Costco muffins

Accepting 40

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One of the best memories from my childhood was serving as a bat boy for my dad’s “over 40” baseball team. My brother and I did the job together as we sat in the dugout, sipped Gatorade from the cooler, and retrieved the bats. We loved being around the baseball players and truly made the most of it.

But as I mentioned, it was an “over 40” team. My dad joined the squad shortly after he became eligible and took every chance he could to call it “the old man’s league.”

The moniker truly rubbed off on me as I came to view everyone on the team, even the “younger” guys, as old. Reaching that age almost seemed impossible.

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Today I turn 40.

That was tough to type. Not going to lie, it smarts a bit. I have dreaded reaching this milestone for a long time. In fact, the reflection I wrote when I turned 39 primarily focused entirely on how uncomfortable I was with “40” being right around the corner.

Not since I turned 25 have I felt so much emotional discontent and anxiety about celebrating a birthday. Even with the long grace period I gave myself to prepare for the big “4-0” I still feel mildly distressed about today. Can’t I have my thirties back?! 😢

But now that 40 has arrived and there is no turning back perhaps this feeling of “oldness” will dissipate. In fact, I think it already has (to a degree).

Thanks to family, co-workers, and friends who have reached out to celebrate my milestone, turning 40 is a little easier than I thought. With the page now officially turned from “39” to “40” I think that has helped too. So often in life the dread of an occurrence is always worse than the occurrence itself. I was unsuccessful at stopping time (I guess you really can’t stay in your thirties forever) and now I just need to embrace the “fortiness” of it all.

My University Relations team members helped make turning 40 a little easier today by throwing me a celebration that came complete with my favorite guilty pleasure…Costco muffins!

And that’s what I plan to do. I might be over the hill but everything I valued 24 hours ago still remains. I have a beautiful family, a great job, and a solid faith. Sorry Father Time, you can’t take those things from me!

In preparation for turning 40, I read a book titled The Gift of Years. I found the following passage particularly profound: When we count age as nothing but a series of losses, we lose site of its gains. Instead of counting the tally marks under my age column as defeats, I need to count them as wins. I can bring the lessons from those victories over to this side of the hill and live life really well. I am going to remember that moving forward.

Despite my initial angst of this day, I think 40 is already starting to grow on me. It has been a great birthday. My co-workers threw me a celebration complete with my favorite guilty pleasure—Costco muffins. And then tonight especially hit the mark: an evening spent with my wife and kids chowing down on Papa Murphy’s pizza and cake.

Sidney spoiled me on my 40th birthday. I really do have the best wife.

There is no more time for sulking! When I was pigging out with my kids, they didn’t care that my age was now a double digit number prefaced with a “4”. I think I will take the same approach.

It was really sweet how kind and eager to impress my kids were to me on my 40th birthday.

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So to return to my baseball story I shared at the beginning, I hope my forties are a grand slam. I will spend this year in the leadoff spot attempting to smack a solid base hit.

But perhaps the story might provide more inspiration than just a cheesy metaphor. Despite the “40” label, my dad went out and did something as a middle-aged man that brought him the same joy he experienced as a boy. I need to find that type of happiness in a similar way. Because when you are having fun and doing something you love, what does age matter anyway? Don’t Blink.

Past Birthday Posts
Turning 39
Turning 38
Turning 37
Turning 36
Turning 35
Turning 34
Turning 33
Turning 32
Turning 31
Turning 30

Really, Costco?

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I rarely cuss. In fact, unless I am writhing on the ground in pain because of a cramp, you will almost never hear me utter a bad word. But every now and then, an exception must be made. Unfortunately, I must direct an unpleasant acronym at a popular wholesaler. So, here it goes…

Costco…WTF?

I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. I have spoken out against shrinkflation before, but at the time it hadn’t hit home like it recently did. When word reached me that Costco had completely changed its signature jumbo muffins—for a smaller and more expensive version—I lost it.

This is NOT okay.

You might be thinking, What’s the big deal, Brent? We are talking about muffins. You don’t understand! Costco muffins are incredibly special to me. They have been a constant in my life. No matter my age nor where I lived, a Costco muffin has always been not just nourishment but comfort for me. It anchors my list of top 5 items I buy at Costco. When I completed a strenuous weight loss challenge diet, I told the fitness instructor the first “bad” thing I was going to eat was a Costco muffin. I literally wrote an entire blog post paying tribute to the most clutch “meal” on this planet.

Me holding the original Costco muffins (notice how happy I was) back in 2024.

So please forgive me for my tantrum, but this just doesn’t sit well with me. You see, I think the Costco muffin is more sacred than the Costco hot dog. In my opinion, I think the muffin should have received the same well-documented protection that the Costco dog enjoys.

Photo I took of the new Costco muffins this past Sunday.

Please, don’t try to defend the new muffins. People have tried to spin the downgrade by saying that since the new muffins come in packs of eight, you no longer have the stress of eating 12 muffins (the product count with the original muffins) before they go bad. I assure you, thanks to an invention called the freezer, we never “stressed out” about eating the muffins before they went bad.

Defenders will also try to focus on the fabulous new flavors. Oh, you know Costco eliminated all the classic flavors, right? Say adios to blueberry, banana nut, vanilla chocolate chunk, and even poppyseed. In their place, new bougie flavors like lemon raspberry, butter pecan, and cinnamon chip. Thankfully, the chocolate flavor still remains but not without some marketing spin. Instead of double chocolate, the flavor is now called triple chocolate.

Double chocolate was plenty enough for me. The new triple chocolate mini muffins aren’t nearly as good.

The biggest crime is that you get less for more. An article I read broke it down like this: The old muffins were priced at $9.99 for a dozen, but the new eight-count package comes in at $6.99. We crunched the numbers, and pound for pound, the new muffins are about $1.34 more expensive (allrecipes.com).

And they aren’t even that good! Well, scratch that, they are good. Just not as tasty as the old ones. They are drier, they crumble, and they don’t fill you up. Any way you look at the situation, it is a downgrade. And trust me, I know this is a first world problem and I should probably just stop eating muffins entirely and opt for a salad instead. But shrinkflation bothers me and when it messes with one of my favorite commodities, I get a little fired up.

A photo I took of the new Costco muffins at the north Spokane Costco warehouse this past Sunday.

Remember when Coke came out with its new formula in the 1980s? The outcry was so severe that the company pulled the new drink and replaced it with the classic formula. Do I think something similar will happen with Costco muffins? No. But a guy can dream. Don’t Blink.

Lemon and Raspberry Thursday Rundown

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Can we already be exactly halfway through April? I hope your month is going well and that you are ready to celebrate the midpoint with a Thursday Rundown blog post. Let’s get started…

Chick-fil-A Potatoes – I ran into this article about where Chick-fil-A gets its potatoes to make the best waffle fries on the planet. It turns out the chicken sandwich chain raids my home state for its spuds. A farm in the Columbia River Basin that takes advantage of a very fertile soil supplies Chick-fil-A with its potatoes. The farm’s soil benefitted from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens and the ash that was deposited. The nutrient-rich ash covered the ground and mixed with the soil to significantly increase its growing quality. French fry lovers rejoice!

The potatoes for these fries come from the state of Washington.

Looking Back – Tomorrow will mark exactly seven years since I worked my last day at the University of Montana. My time at Grizzly Athletics was highlighted by playing roles in numerous big events and getting my feet wet in the professional world. Starting my career as a Griz was an awesome experience and I am so glad I had many influential co-workers to show me the ropes.

Starting my career at the University of Montana was a blessing.

New Costco Muffin Flavor – Some of you might know about my Costco muffin obsession. I love them! In fact, the first thing I ate after I finished my weight loss challenge in November was a chocolate Costco muffin. As you can imagine, I was excited when a new flavor rolled out earlier this year—raspberry lemon. On Easter I tried one for the first time and my reaction was mixed. Most bites are good but every now and then you will take a nibble that is just a little too tart. Also, Sidney and I both got raspberry seeds stuck in our teeth from eating them…so annoying! Verdict? Not bad but definitely not as good as this article makes them out to be.

These were pretty good…but they don’t compare to some of the other Costco muffin varieties.

My Spokane Barbershop – For nearly the first three decades of my life I went to Great Clips for my haircuts. However, prior to my wedding I went to a salon to get my hair trimmed and ready for the big day. After that, I started going to a barbershop exclusively for guys. There was no going back to Great Clips for me. When I moved to Spokane I needed to find a new place for my hair needs. I now go to The Man Shop, a barbershop with several locations in the Spokane area. Each location has a pool table, popcorn machine, televisions installed at each chair, and more. Best of all, I have had pretty good results each time I visited If you are a dude, live in the area, and need a haircut, you might want to try your nearest Man Shop location.

I go to The Man Shop to get a haircut in Spokane.

Texting Styles – So, what approach describes you? I am definitely the type of guy who composes one message with everything I want to say as opposed to a more free flowing, serial texter. I always have my text message notifications on silent so it doesn’t matter to me if it takes someone 10 different texts to ask if I want to go to dinner but I thought this meme was pretty funny (thanks, Lindsi!).

Which “type of person” are you?

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The forecast calls for nothing but sunshine and blue skies this weekend. Wherever you are reading this from, I hope you have similar pleasant weather on the horizon. We will catch up next week! Don’t Blink.

Costco Muffins

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I have written a lot about my breakfast preferences in the past. Whether it be donuts, pancakes, or cereal, I have detailed my favorite unhealthy options for the most important meal of the day. But what if I told you that there is another breakfast item I prefer even more?

I gave a little hint more than six years ago. In a blog post I titled “The Top Five Things I Buy at Coscto,” I listed muffins right at the top of the list. Well, the cat is out of the bag, there you have it folks—I am obsessed with Costco’s bakery muffins.

Me holding a pack of Costco muffins in 2014.

From a very young age, I remember the special occasions when my parents would bring Costco muffins home. Perhaps we were hosting relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend or it was winter break and they wanted to be sure that there was something satisfying and fun to choose from. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t contain my excitement. At the time, the muffins seemed bigger than my head and tasted much better than the oatmeal I otherwise would have consumed.

Fresh, sweet, filling, and—like I have already said—HUGE, there was nothing not to like. Back in those early days, my parents would bring home a variety pack of chocolate, poppy seed, and blueberry. I loved them all. Also during those younger days I learned a unique way to eat them. My dad would take a Costco muffin, cut perpendicular slits in the middle, drop butter in it, microwave it for a minute, and eat it with a fork as the melted butter oozed out. Even though it was an approach that I never adopted, it was definitely memorable.

I saw Costco muffins in many different contexts outside of the house growing up. People would bring them to potlucks. Before Krispy Kreme infiltrated Spokane, Costco muffins were the sweet breakfast treat sold at little league concession stands and roadside rest stops. When we went camping, someone always had them. Of course, this was all for good reason.

Once I left the house, my Costco muffin consumption slowed down a bit. But if my parents ever came and visited me, they would take me to Costco to stock up on various items and you better believe I threw muffins in the cart.

By the time I settled down with Sidney, I knew we were compatible because she liked Costco muffins too and we could enjoy them together. That’s another thing, it doesn’t matter where you live, if there is a Costco, the muffins will taste delicious. Washington, Montana, and then South Carolina—I have never purchased a bad package of Costco muffins in my life.

Sidney isn’t the only girl in my life who loves Costco muffins…Sloan does too! We are holding my personal favorite flavor, chocolate.

And now we are back where my taste for this breakfast item developed. In our home in the Spokane Valley we have a freezer full of Costco muffins. As I mentioned, my approach differs from the one my dad perfected years ago. I will take one out of the freezer, throw it in the microwave for 20 seconds to unthaw it just a little, and then eat it relatively cold. No fork needed here. Because of health and novelty reasons, I limit myself to enjoying Costco muffins just on the weekends. I can’t say the same for my daughter. Sloan LOVES Costco muffins the same way that her parents do. Even though she might demand a whole muffin and only eat two bites of it, I know the passion is there.

One closing example of how much I love this Costco delight. On our anniversary this year, we didn’t have any muffins at home. My wife slipped out and went to her favorite espresso stand that just happens to sell Costco muffins. She purchased a chocolate one and brought it home to me. BEST. ANNIVERSAY. PRESENT. EVER.

Well, only five more days until I can sink my teeth into another Costco muffin. Until then, feel free to tell me about any experiences you have had with this breakfast delicacy. Hope you had a good Monday! Don’t Blink.