Sign in Subscribe

Hauloween never ends

By Jesse Hirsch —
Hauloween never ends
Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily shared by Alex Hinton

Abby and I were not invited to any Halloween parties this year, and it's a sore spot. We love to dress up and act weird (many wigs in this household) but there was no calling. They did a Zoom costume contest at my job, but it was hard to muster enthusiasm. I came in like 4th place:

Dead eyes

Abby is also bummed that Halloween came and went without us getting freaky. One week into November, she refuses to change out of her Bitmoji halloween costume, still sending me texts like this:

sext

What does all this have to do with the salvage grocer? Nothing! I just needed a forum to express my feelings. Okay fine, let's tie it all together:

Anyway, our life isn't actually so tragic:




  • Abby broke her lifetime running record last weekend. (!)


  • Also she wrote a fun story about Edible Arrangements for Eater.


  • Pork shoulder is on deep discount at Food Bazaar — pernil up!

Thanks, as always, for being such a fun (and handsome) audience.

xo,

Jesse

This product requires refrigeration, unlike virtually everything else Chicken of the Sea peddles. It's also quite pricey compared to a can of tuna! But I saw this exact product at Food Bazaar for $16.99, online for even more.

Don't be confused: CotS sells unrefrigerated "lump crabmeat" for much cheaper, but it surely comes from mean, polluted crabs they caught in urban harbors.

This item also has "crab" and "of the sea" on the label. I vowed to Abby that I will find some way to make this product edible, but I'm a little nervous I can't. Imagine crab dip if it had too much sugar and pink food coloring.

Ideas?

Is this an item you see at your local supermarket? I'm genuinely curious. Pub cheese is unfamiliar to me, from this brand or any other. Pretty tasty, not dissimilar to Boursin or herbed cream cheese. The other day I brought a forkful of sardine and pub cheese to Abby in the shower. Delicious pairing, felt urgent to share!

We are suckers for packaging that makes normal things seem premium. This is just like, a bag of Kraft Italian cheese blend dressed up all fancy. "Freshly shredded" lol.

I have no Polish blood but my mom made kielbasa semi-regularly when I was a kid. She boiled it, served with yellow mustard and some kind of potato side dish. Later in life I had a Polish-American girlfriend who made seasonal Polish feasts — kielbasa and homemade pierogies and little bowls filled with sour cream and caramelized onions.

Now, in 2022, I continue to love and appreciate kielbasa, prepared a bit differently. Abby loves a good pan-fried sausage treatment, so I lost the boiling habit. Put a kielbasa link in a grilled potato bun with some onions and Dijon mustard? Brother, you've got yourself a meal.

Dietz & Watson is a fancy meat brand, based in Philly — this kielbasa seemed particularly tasty. I pan-fried it with some onions (naturally), alongside a brilliant kabocha mac & cheese that abby made.

Maybe a spinach salad too? Can't recall.