In case you are wondering ...

I received several e-mails with comments from nog66 and wanted to publish them on this blog. But I think I hit the wrong button and they weren't published, so I'm going to address some of his/her comments here.

I can buy some of the quantities I do at Costco because those foods are part of my daily diet. I have no trouble finishing a pound or more of wild smoked salmon in a week or so. I simply have a wild salmon sandwich every morning. The sandwich usually has a slice or two of Parmigiano-Reggiano in it and some organic salad greens. I can't wait for the fresh wild salmon to arrive at Costco. The pieces are usually two pounds or more and yield six or seven nice fillets. I'll also eat that every day until it's gone.

I buy a pound of the Earthbound Farms salad mix every week and eat a salad every night with dinner. I cut the wedge of Parmigiano into three and put each into plastic wrap (as the label recommends). The cheese is always moist and crumbly, even if it takes me a month to finish it.

To be sure, I have bought food at Costco that spoiled before my family of three finished it or was simply awful. I tried the four pounds of cut fruit recently and most of it was either over-ripe or hard and not ripe. And, yes, I do have nearly a dozen reusable grocery bags, but I often forget them in the car.

As for Paterson's Middle Eastern food bazaar, I have been shopping there for nearly 30 years and have my favorites, including Fattal's for bread, canned goods, sweet or savory pastries and spices, and Assayad, a Syrian restaurant on the Clifton side of Crooks Avenue, the border between Clifton and Paterson. I don't think I'll try the Halal Chinese place that has opened at Crooks and Getty avenues. (My previous favorite restaurant, Vine Valley Lebanese Restaurant, is long closed and a great Turkish place, Kafe Teria, closed recently.) Yes, I have been to the farmers' market near the tracks and the big Turkish bakery and just about every other pastry shop and restaurant. The problem I have found over the years is restaurant sanitation, which does not seem to be a priority in many places. (This post was revised.)