Go home

I'm writing this here post on an airplane, headed home from an exciting/exhausting week in Los Angeles. It was a work retreat; I spent so much time with my colleagues. They're a good bunch of humans, but my extroversion has been sanded down in the last three years. I start to wither after too much engagement.

All this to say, I am beyond thrilled to head home* to Abby and Lola and Sadie and the surplus grocer — my extended family. Abby is putting a nice bottle of sauvignon blanc in the fridge that we've been saving to seal off Dry January (close enough, don't be a pedant). We'll have a dinner, catch up, maybe watch Nathan Fielder on television. Tomorrow it's hot yoga, then we'll go meet Chuck Schumer. I love our quiet-but-exciting, hermetically sealed life in East Harlem.

I'm introducing a couple more proposed Haul sections this week — In the Neighborhood and Waste Not. As always, your feedback is more precious than emeralds!

xo,

Jesse

*Update: I am now home. We did not meet Chuck Schumer.

Last week I foolishly gloated about the salvage grocer being exempt from egg inflation. Now our prices are starting to catch up. Abby suggested the store owners have been reading the news. I suspect they are merely reflecting the prices they are now paying on the wholesale side. Either way, this price is still relatively low, especially for pasture-raised/humane eggs (not pictured).

Wasn't feeling rowdy.

I spent last week drinking non-seltz beverages, as Los Angeles doesn't seem to have much of a seltzer culture. My anecdotal evidence (West Coast readers weigh in!) was visiting multiple bodegas/cafes and not finding a single bubbly water option. Abby sounded very concerned on the phone: "What are you going to do?" The answer was "Drink normal water." I know how!
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In other news, we've finally worked through the last of our La Croix haul, an emergency measure from that one week the salvage grocer ran out of good seltz.

I intended this section to shine a spotlight on non-grocery businesses and attractions in this vibrant neighborhood. Unfortunately a sad thing happened while I was away, so we're starting there.

A huge fire gutted the furniture store two stores down from the salvage grocer! It was a really bad fire apparently — a very potent smell of woodsmoke lingers in the hallway of our building. No one was killed in the massive, 4-alarm fire but four firefighters and one civilian were injured.

Abby lifts weights with a firefighter who was on call at this fire — he was shaken up from it! They are investigating it as arson; apparently a shady developer has been trying to get his clutches on this building for awhile. Side discovery: No one lived above the furniture store, but there WAS an unlicensed massage parlor in there. Hearing unconfirmed rumors it was the sexy kind.

We bought this dip months ago, a curious innovation from Stop & Shop's dumbly named store brand. I love how items like these try very hard not to mention the actual food they're supposed to evoke. Reminds me of Bon Appetit's recipe naming conventions (which might have improved? Not really keeping track.)

Right before my LA trip I realized this item was gonna turn soon, so I made a weird plan.

After eating a normal breakfast at home, I packed this container in my messenger bag, along with some crumbly, week-old chips from Chipotle. I knew the dip — it was about 1/4 full — probably wouldn't make it through security. Thus I sat right inside the airport entrance on an uncomfortable metal bench, ferally finishing this dip. I brought a spoon from home because the fractured chips were so small that legit dipping was not realistic. Also? I was pretty full from my real breakfast.

We have plenty of vegetable oil, but I was charmed by the aesthetics here. I adore the label, the brand name, the bottle shape. A Mexican brand, if you are curious.

This Christmas my mom bought us credit for a deluxe package from Omaha Steaks for Christmas, a smorgasbord of Midwestern meats and sides and desserts. But oops, we literally couldn't fit all that in our freezer(s). Thus I have been a true gentleman for like three weeks, avoiding freezer purchases for the Greater Good. As soon as we clear out enough real estate, my mom will call Omaha Steaks and pull the trigger.

But I couldn't resist this Sam's Club bulk buy! I hid them under some other stuff, like Abby wouldn't notice 10 new sandwiches. This was definitely a "please don't divorce me" purchase. Lucky break: These duders are quite excellent, far exceeding both of our expectations. Pickles and a bit of spicy mayo, they are approaching restaurant-levels of delicious. No divorce.

Here is another top-shelf item, all the more impressive because I had bottom-shelf expectations. I thought they were crispy onions! I got pouty after discovering my mistake at home. But I'm not kidding: This is an addictive snack, and good for you too. I left Abby like three or four crunchy loops.

I never really got into kombucha. Abby either. It's not like, a whole thing, just a preference. Yet another reason the salvage grocer is magic: I can experiment with my own mild dislikes when they are this cheap (two for a dollar in this case). We haven't tried these yet, but will report back.

Speaking of which, I was thinking of another potential section where I report back about various items (naturally tuna chili is item #1).

Pretty sure it's supposed to seem like a takeout container, but it's giving more of a "half-gallon of ice cream" countenance. This item gave us nostalgic feelings for the highly affordable Chinese food our parents gave us on childhood special occasions.

You want critique? The portion was pretty sparse overall, but when we started counting shrimp, it felt particularly chintzy. Step it up, Tai Pei! (a subsidiary of Japanese mega-company Ajinomoto Foods, which I am stoned and researching)