November 2017
Costco will be offering their Tiramisu Bar Cake again in the Costco bakery section for the holiday season.

Great for that special holiday occasion, or just a treat for yourself, this delicious Tiramisu Bar Cake is a go to favorite. 

September 2017  Pete Burke visited the newest Costco in Santa Maria, California.  Great facility with some very interesting items. Santa Maria is the town known for their famous Tri Tips.

From Wikipeidia: Santa Maria-style barbecue is a regional culinary tradition rooted in the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County on the Central Coast of California.  This method of barbecuing dates back to the Mid-19th century and is today regarded as a “mainstay of California's culinary heritage”.  The traditional Santa Maria-style barbecue menu was copyrighted by the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce in 1978.

Santa Maria-style barbecue centers around a beef tri-tip, seasoned with black pepper, salt, and garlic salt befoe grilling over coals of native coast live oak, often referred to as ‘red oak’ wood.  The grill is made of iron and usually has a hand crank that lifts or lowers the grill over the coals to the desired distance from the heat. The Santa Maria Valley is often rather windy, so the style of cooking is over an oxidative fire as opposed to a reductive fire that many covered BBQs use.

The traditional accompaniments are pinquito beans, fresh salsa, tossed green salad, and grilled French bread dipped in sweet melted butter.

While it’s good to make your own Santa Maria Tri Tip - it’s BETTER with Bill Bailey’s already seasoned USDA CHOICE Tri Tips.  Just slip them onto the BBQ and 15-20 minutes on each side over a medium heat will deliver the great BBQ experience you are looking for.

And, it would definitely not be a sin to add a nice cocktail of the $5,999.99 Patron tequila, or, maybe pick up a nice portable griller to take your BBQ’s on the road - both items available at  Santa Maria Costco’s.

June 2017 Pete Burke, the dauntless food warrior, fearlessly explores the world for competitive chili products.  Here he is at Skyline Chili in Cincinnati, Ohio checking out Skyline Chili’s world famous chili spaghetti with a chili hot dog plus loads of cheese topping.  Pete’s verdict?  Good and filling.  But not up to Pete’s favorite, Cattle Drive Chili.

August  2016     introduces another Fortune Avenue product - the Korean-style entree, the Bibimpab bowl.

June  2016 ‘s Pete Burke with BumbleBee Vice President David Burt outside  Ketchikan, Alaska. BumbleBee Foods invited Pete for some first hand experience learning about salmon and halibut at the Steamboat Bay Fishing Club. 

Those are some nice fish!

Pete explaining exactly how
BIG that fish was:
“it was 6 feet long and 300 lb”
- a true fish story.

May  2016 ‘s Pete Burke headed south of the border to the Cabo San Lucas Costco for supplies. Beautiful views from the store as you can see Cabo’s famous Lovers’ Arch (most southern point of the Baja) from the food service tables. Great building with great values.

January  2016.  introduces a new product from Fortune Avenue Foods, Chicken and Vegetagle Wonton Soup.

Fortune Avenue Foods was started in 1989 in Walnut, California with the idea of making frozen dumplings and potstickers for Southern California supermarkets.

Since then, their products have been well received by consumers throughout America.