Surrendering to (Napa) Motherhood: Ready for Costco ... and the chicken pot pie (2024)

I’ve been following Napa’s Costco plans for years now. But Costco has been reluctant to share more than the barest of details. Downright stingy of them if you ask me.

Come on Costco! Throw us a bone!

You’ve got us eating out of your hand. Which is the problem. To Costco, we’re a sure thing. And they know it.

The Napa Costco is like the Taylor Swift of concerts. Thousands and thousands want in. And we will buy all of your “merch” and swap all of your friendship bracelets. We may even wear our favorite Columbia brand fleece on opening day.

Yes, we Napans want to buy all of the giant packs of toilet paper, paper towels and gallons of salsa. We want $4.99 rotisserie chickens, 5-packs of toothpaste, bags of chicken wings, a jumbo vat of Nutella and 48 ounces of minced California garlic. We want Kirkland brand sweatpants, vests and socks. Or our dads do.

Hey, Napans live in a food and wine mecca but we still gotta make dinner every night.

The Huffman holy grail of Costco purchases is the Costco Chicken Pot Pie. And I'm dead serious about that, people. It is the hill I will pie on.

The Costco Chicken Pot Pie (CCPP) is seasonal, which only makes it even more of a find. You have to shop at the right time of year to secure a CCPP.

They don’t put the CCPP up front with the TVs and laptops. No, it’s at the back of the warehouse. You must seek it out, embarking on savory pastry quest which involves dodging other Costco shoppers and their wayward carts who are oblivious to your mission. Out of my way people. I am not going to be distracted by you, free food samples, seasonal flower bouquets, a 40-pack of Duracell batteries and a really good price for a two-piece luggage set.

I am here for The Pie.

You might be thinking: Chicken pot pie? Really? Yet this is so much more than just a pie. It’s made fresh. The crust is thick and buttery. The pie does not contain cheap chicken. The chicken is chunky and tender. There are peas. Big pieces of carrots. A creamy gravy. And it’s huge. I looked it up: it weighs 5 lbs. The price? About $19 to $25.

My favorite strategy is to buy two pies at a time. One is eaten right away, and the other frozen, i.e. kept in reserve. It’s kind of like toilet paper. You never want to run out of either one.

The CCPP is so big that it can single handedly feed this Huffman mom and dad, three girls, one husband, two boyfriends and even one Grandma Sue.

It doesn’t get much easier to make and serve the CCPP. It is completely self-contained in its own aluminum baking dish. Just take the lid off. Put in the oven. In about an hour your house will be filled with the delicious aroma of pie pastry, chicken and gravy. At this point you will be congratulating yourself on your brilliant choice for dinner that night.

About 90 minutes later, you’ll remove the pie from the oven. Anyone in the kitchen at this moment should stop what they are doing so they can properly admire the golden brown crust of the CCPP. Waiting for it to “cool off” a bit will seem like torture.

After eating, if there are any leftovers, you should definitely specify how many slices remain and the plan for eating those slices. The leftover CCPP should not be casually eaten on a whim. The leftover CCPP is best reserved for a second dinner. And it will taste even better the next day.

Costco, don’t forget about us Napans. We’re waiting for opening day. Be sure to make lots of pot pies.