I ran into an Epicurious post today on Facebook that professed the web culinistas’ love for Costco. The article – 14 Things We Love About Costco — ran in November, so why it appeared today in my newsfeed is a mystery, but it did strike a cord.

Because I, too, feel the need to show the huge warehouse store some love.

For over 20 years, I’ve been a card-carrying member of BJ’s Wholesale Club where I’ve purchased hundreds of cleaning and laundry supplies, toilet paper, paper towels and frozen shrimp. When I did some catering years ago, BJ’s was a great help. Their meat can’t be beat.

But my business partner, Colleen, is a disciple of Costco, a wholesale warehouse competitor from Seattle. So I scored a card when she opened an account for the bakery some months back. It now resides in my wallet in premiere real estate (read: the slot that used to hold my Nordstrom card).

I know my first reason to love Costco should be because the store caters to small businesses which it does. The business services are amazing and we plan to avail ourselves of a few. Truthfully, my Costco crush began because our store is a stone’s throw from IKEA in Avon  off Route 24 South. But after a couple of trips to the Swedish meatball store retailer, I think I’m over it…

Colleen stocks up on lots at Costco for our growing gluten-free bakery at Goat Cottage Farm because it labels its gluten-free store brand products as “gluten free.” Not many retailers do that. However, I’ve learned Trader Joe’s – another store favorited by celiacs – does as well.

We’re big fans of Costco’s extra virgin olive oil and its Kirkland private label brand real vanilla, which is a bargain. And they even sell pure ground Saigon cinnamon at a decent price. Even my father, a bakers’ supplier for 50 years, cannot find fault with it.

True story: Last week, she baked a cinnamon-raisin loaf for our website photo shoot and used private-label supermarket cinnamon of dubious vintage (maybe 1892) because no one was going to eat it, right? As if.

After the snappy session, I stupidly took the loaf to my parents’ house “for toast” the next morning instead of feeding it to the chickens. My mother, much to my chagrin, brought it to our family’s bakery supply house where it was toasted and dissected by a team of highly-trained baking scientists — my father and brother.

That inferior cinnamon bread fueled a round of calls and texts from the duo, our “Super Tasters,” as Colleen calls them. Think she’s exaggerating? I have a photo on my fridge of the two of them tasting and poking a cupcake at an event last summer. The baker was only a few feet away. Poor thing.

“You gotta use cinnamon that’s 3 percent,” my brother told me. “You couldn’t even taste the cinnamon after the bread was toasted. I know you didn’t bake to sell it but do yourself a favor and get rid of that jar, will ya? Geesh.”

This is my life now. I used to write about Posh Spice. Now, I spend hours being schooled on Yucky Spice, but I digress…

If you’re on a high-fiber diet, and who isn’t, Costco’s salad stuff – organic greens, itty-bitty English cukes, colored peppers, spinach and carrots are a godsend. And the bags of lemons are a steal if you use a lot of lemon like Goat Cottage Farm does for lemon meringue pie and tarts, lemon curd-filled cupcakes and our blueberry loaf.

We also found the exact lights our website photog Mark Mederios told us to buy for when we snap pictures for Facebook and Twitter. I think we got two for $15. So we bought six. You know, like you do at Costco.

Yes, yes, there is lots of sampling in that vast cement warehouse. Those ubiquitous little kiosks beckon and tempt. I suppose they are a draw for some people who have never eaten a Stacy’s Pita Chip. Frankly, I’d rather gnaw on a loaf of LaBrea Bakery (!) multi-grain bread in the confines of my car. I haven’t done that, mind you, but a girl can dream.

One last thing — I bought cotton sweaters at Costco a couple of weeks ago. My days of wearing Eileen Fisher are behind me. So how could I pass up a navy blue v-neck for $12.99? I bought others in yellow and green.

Yup, I’m a Costco believer.

Tags: #Costco, #epicurious, #foodshopping, #glutenfree, #glutenfreebaking, #LauraRaposa, #TheFoodsmith, Baking