Today Earl and I made our quarterly excursion to Costco. In preparation, I’d been emptying our freezer for a couple weeks and using leftovers with a vengeance. We’d scribbled lists – one for Earl and one for me – of what each of us would be responsible for buying. That way, we don’t end up with two of one thing and none of another.

We have these trips down to a science. Fill up on the cheap gas first. And then we each grab a cart the size of a 737 and head in different directions, keeping in touch by cellphone.

April 5 was our last Costco outing; and I saw some changes since then. First and foremost the $4.99 rotisserie chicken has new packaging. It’s far more flimsy than the old one, but the store is touting it as a great way to reduce plastic in the environment. It’s basically a plastic bag instead of a plastic container with a bottom and top that click together. I wondered if the bag would survive the trip home without leaking, but it did.

Next were the prices for salmon. Markedly higher than when we were there last. Same for the chicken. Same for almost everything, although at $17 a pound the filet mignon was a steal.

I bought a little over two pounds for $39. If you parlay that into a four ounce restaurant serving, I’ll get eight nice entrees for less than the price of one at my favorite steakhouse.

Halloween was in full force with giant scary blow-ups, which means Christmas items are not far behind. And there were the anticipated snacks at the ends of various aisles that you could make into lunch if you plan it right.

The only thing that didn’t change was that now Earl and I have to repackage the $400 of groceries we bought, because Costco gears its products for families. And I don’t mean families of two.

Last night M, Earl, and I had lobsters. Well, only the tails. They were small but delicious, and we agreed that when the Seafood Roadshow comes to our local supermarket again we’re all in.

I will say it was difficult removing the lobster meat from its tail earlier in the day. I checked a couple videos on how to do it, but neither worked for me. Perhaps I need more practice. And I’m willing to do that.

Along with the lobsters we had warm French bread, coleslaw, and pasta salad. I know the traditional sides with lobster are parsleyed red potatoes and corn on the cob, possibly paired with shrimp cocktail for an appetizer. But we’d all been on an eating binge, so we simplified.

The three of us had lobster for less than what one of us would have paid in a restaurant. In the end, it was perfect.

So I cooked too many chicken thighs a few days ago. And the recipe I used wasn’t that good. Which means I have about eight thighs left over, but we don’t want to eat them as they were originally prepared. What to do?

Go online, of course. Check Google® for recipes. Or visit my own cookbook stash, which is what I eventually did. Rediscovered a favorite recipe for the chicken spaghetti I’ve made umpteen times. And, lo and behold, I had all the ingredients except the mushrooms. I substituted colored peppers and went to work.

I cut the original recipe, which served 12 to 15, down to the amount of chicken I had and reduced all the other ingredients accordingly. Popped it in the oven feeling really smug. And the casserole was good.

But the leftover problem remains.

We now have half a casserole of chicken spaghetti left, when all I wanted to do in the first place was get rid of the leftover thighs. Any suggestions?