I recently purchased bilateral hearing aids from Costco.....loved that the hearing specialist is not on commission and that I can try them for 90 days and get a full refund if not satisfied. I tried getting aids thru the audiologist and the price was $6000. For the newest technology and comparable aids at Costco I paid $2000. I love them and cannot imagine being without them.....and I have only had them for ten days. I go in Monday for a recheck and will have some fine tuning done is necessary. I have also had really good service from the optical department. I have had my last two pair of glasses made there even though I used an opthmalogist instead of their optician.

This is complicated. Maybe we should just discuss brownie recipes. In lieu of that, let's just for now try to focus on two aspects of the question, food quality and conservation. Wasn't there someone who, early in the discussion, cited a large study published in Science magazine? I can't find that post now but the study is the most important one I am aware of. The full text can't be accessed at the Science web site without subscribing. It is available elsewhere on the web. The study sampled and compared wild and farmed salmon from many regions around the world. The level of PCBs and other dangerous substances was found to be "significantly" higher in farmed salmon. The word "significant", when used in this sort of document is understood to mean statistically significant, which is not the same as the every day usage. Statistical significance means that a difference between two samples can be proven mathematically at a certain criterion. It does not mean the difference is important. If I sprinkle 2 grains of salt on my order of fries and you sprinkle 4, the difference obviously is statistically significant. But is it important? Neither one is enough salt to affect the taste at all. Significant but not important. The study found, at some locations, levels of certain toxins at 10 or so parts per billion. At those levels, differences of say, 4 parts per billion would be significant. But important? FDA standards allow hundreds of times that concentration. But that is not the end of the controversy. Some, including the authors of the study, prefer the standards of the EPA over those of the FDA. EPA standards are much stricter. This is where science and politics collide. One might think that the "Food" and Drug Administration would take precedence over the "Environmental" Protection Administration in the matter of food safety. But that would be too simple. I have to observe that, although the importance to science of a "not statistically significant" finding is equal to, often greater than, one of "statistically significant". The importance in press releases is not. Everyone wants the results of their work to be "significant". Well, that is the health issue in a nutshell, a very small nutshell. The conservation issue is more difficult. Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon

Tossing in a couple of ways I've been cooking fillets lately - simple, utilitarian, and you can prep it up then when everyone is at the table enjoying the appetizer, you can sneak away and do the cooking in 5 minutes. These are usually tilapia, halibut, cod, or other whitefish. Salmon doesn't taste right if cooked this way, to me. Miso-marinated and simmered - Make a miso soup, cool it to room temp - Marinate fish for 1 hour. Can be fillets or small steaks, less than 6 oz - Meanwhile, bring to boil 1 cup sake, 1 cup miso, 2 TBSP mirin, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 TBSP sugar. Turn down to a high simmer and reduce for the hour that the fish is marinating. Should reduce by appx 1/2 to 2/3. If desired, mix 1 TBSP cornstarch with a little water and add that to the sauce. Adjust taste with sugar and salt. - Remove fish from the miso marinade, bring the marinade to a full boil for a few minutes, then turn down to a high simmer and add the fish back. Simmer fish for 5 minutes only. Longer simmering will produce tougher fish. - Place each piece of fish in a small bowl. Add a little of the simmering liquid, to keep the bowl and fish warm, but not to cover the fish. Pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish with something pretty and serve. Milk simmered - Pat fillets dry and salt lightly - Melt two pats of butter to coat bottom of a pan - Optionally, sautee some minced garlic or onion in the butter - Raise heat, place the fillets in the pan and cook for 30 second per side on med-high heat - Pour 1/4" of half-and-half in the pan, turn down heat, simmer for 5 minutes for 1/2" fillets, a few minutes longer for a thick fillet - Remove fish to plate. If desired, thicken liquid with some flour and add another pat of butter plus salt to taste, to use as a pan sauce. Parsley or a little plop of bright green pesto looks nice with this. Wok fried - assumes fillets - coat fillets with cornstarch and salt, knock off excess - Mix up a sauce from 2 TBSP rice wine, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 TBSP finely minced ginger, 1 TBSP finely minced garlic, 1 TBSP cornstarch, 1 TBSP chopped green onions, 1 TBSP fine diced red bell pepper (this last is just for color). I like some hot sauce too. - Place wok (a cast iron pan works too) on high flame, leave to heat for 4 minutes. Pour in enough veg oil to be 1/2" deep at center of wok (if using a flat-bottom pan, don't try for 1/2"), leave on high heat until oil starts to shimmer and then to smoke - Slide two fillets into the hot oil (slide, don't splash!), tilt the wok so that the hot oil gets to all parts of the fillets, after 30 seconds flip the fillets (flipping away from you!), after 30 seconds remove the fillets to blot on paper towels. Replenish oil if needed, heat to just smoking, cook two more fillets, etc. - When all fillets are cooked, place them on serving dish. Pour off the oil, return the wok to heat up, then pour in the sauce. Cook until liquid is bubbling and garlic is fragrant but not burned, pour sauce over fish, and serve. - If you want the fish more cooked or more thoroughly sauced - or if they are thicker fillets - lay each fillet in the wok with the sauce just long enough to cook to your desired doneness. I like my fish just barely cooked, personally, so for me this step would be 5 seconds.

We are a BJs family because the store is closer to us and less jammed packed so I also took advantage of a few easy-button menu items: frozen mini-quiches and a premade cheese/meat/cracker platter for appetizers; a large bag of peeled, cooked frozen shrimp that only require thawing, a giant bag of frozen peas and of course several bottles of wine that are cheaper than at regular stores. My dad surprised us with an Omaha Steaks combo package so lots of easy pre-frozen steaks, chops and kielbasa that only have to be tossed on the grill-I bought a few more steaks to be sure we have enough but again, simple simple simple. Pre-mixed baby greens/spinach salad to which I'll add shredded cheese, walnut bits and grape tomatoes (all purchased already shredded/bitt-ed and tomatoed :), potatoes for baking and frozen loaves of garlic bread to heat up. For dessert I bought a bakery apple pie, DIL's bringing a chocolate cream pie, SIL's bringing cookies and the Omaha Steaks combo included a cheesecake so all set there. We even have a Keurig at the house so I don't even have to make after dinner coffee! My daughter got inspired and made a batch of coquito and I've got the makings for pina coladas as well as various other booze and mixers and of course tons of soda and water. I plan to hang out, enjoy myself and NOT spend Christmas catering my own holiday LOL. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and warm blessings to everyone regardless of your spiritual path.