Costco egg whites and fresh blueberries are up, wild salmon is down

Medium-spicy Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa, a new item at Costco Wholesale, tastes great, judging from a free sample I tried in the Hackensack warehouse store today. Each of the two jars holds 2 pounds 6 ounces of salsa ($7.89).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Tens of millions of egg-laying chickens caught the flu and farmers killed them, raising the price of eggs, according to news reports last month. 

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, the impact has varied:

Kirkland Signature Egg Whites (six 16-ounce cartons for $9.99) were replaced by Egg Beaters, the same 100% pure egg whites, but members now get only four 16-ounce cartons for $8.99.

Meanwhile, the price of cage-free Kirkland Signature Organic Eggs doesn't seem to have been affected (two dozen whole eggs for $6.99).

Egg Beaters replaced Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale made for a hearty breakfast over organic whole wheat pasta with sardines and chopped garlic. The price of organic whole eggs hasn't been affected by avian flu.

Blueberries and wild salmon

On Wednesday, my wife came home with an 18-ounce package of fresh blueberries from Michigan for $4.99, compared to a 32-ounce package of Jersey blueberries she bought at Costco a couple of weeks ago for $5.99.

But Costco has again reduced the price of fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets, this time to $8.99 from $9.99.

Tonight, I plan to grill the salmon on the stove top with a little sea salt and fresh lime juice, and serve it with Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.

Now, fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets are $8.99 a pound, only $2 more a pound than artificially colored farmed Atlantic salmon, below.

Lifting my spirits at Costco Wholesale

Who knew? A slow cruise down Costco Wholesale's aisles in Hackensack led to the discovery of what is called "the purest salt in the world." Korean-Style Red Pepper Powder, below, is another product that caters to an increasing number of Korean-American shoppers.

More than a foot of snow followed by rain, fog and another sunless day.

I just couldn't get started on Monday, even after a second pot of coffee at mid-afternoon, so I jumped in the car, sure that my brightly lit Costco Warehouse store would lift my spirits.

Bad weather tends to keep Costco customers at home, and there were no lazy shoppers clogging up the entrance to the parking lot as they searched for a spot closest to the door of the Hackensack store.

Bad weather tends to keeps the crowds away.

I didn't have a list, but knew we were out of a few things. I also wanted to pick up fish for dinner. So, I took my time, and walked up and down most of the food aisles.

I've never heard of Himalayan Pink Salt, but liked that the pink, red and white crystals came in their own 13-ounce grinder bottle, great for cooking  ($4.49).

I didn't buy Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa, above, but did pick up fully cooked chickpeas in Asian Indian spices, below. Four, 10-ounce portions were $7.59.

I made sure I picked up a 42-ounce jar of Kirkland Signature Organic Strawberry Spread ($7.49), a pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.99), three half-gallons of Silk Vanilla Soy Milk ($7.39) and 2 pounds of Jarlsberg Light Swiss Cheese ($9.99).

We were out of low-fat organic milk, so I bought three half-gallons for $10.99. 

Two dozen organic brown eggs were $6.99, and Costco is the low-price leader on 3 pounds of bananas for $1.39.

I've never cooked with Kirkland Signature Parchment Paper, but it might be better for the environment than using aluminum foil, which may not be recyclable.

A pound of Kirkland Signature Smoked Alaskan Wild Sockeye Salmon is still $15.39, perfect for omelets or rolled up with a slice of reduced-fat cheese and dipped in mustard for a snack.

In the fish case, I found baccala -- salted Pacific cod -- for $8.99 a pound.

A few other food purchases brought my total to $109.97, but Costco doesn't require a credit-card signature on purchases under $200, up from $100.