Our daily bread

Mutual aid runs powerful here in East Harlem. Especially in the holiday months, various church and charity groups set up card tables on street corners. Sometimes they have hot coffee and pastries, sometimes it's chili or boxed lunches, sometimes they have free clothes and toiletries — no questions asked. (One time they offered me a hot dog and I was momentarily torn.)

Let's call it Thing #7565 I love about our little corner of NYC. People look out for each other here, and it's infectious. Abby and I sit squarely between "wish we did more" and "not bad." We do neighborhood volunteer projects, get trained on administering Narcan, put food in the community fridges. But it's been awhile since we've gotten involved — this is an accountability post!

I love this neighborhood a lot, and patronizing local businesses is not enough. Particularly as a couple of white jabronis who found a much bigger apartment than we'd have in our city's bougier districts. Call it New Year's resolve, or just a Sunday evening promise, but we're recommitting to giving back. "Too busy" is no excuse.

xo,

Jesse

Don't be fooled, this is neither a Boys & Girls Club van from a made-up city ("Clifton"), nor a hastily designed FBI surveillance unit. It's a surplus grocery chariot! I really really wanted to capture that dude wheeling boxes into the store, because I feared you wouldn't believe me.

Have we established trust, readers?

That sure is a lot of [name redacted] dish soap. Felt risky.

What would this taste like? Does Applebee's have an "essential flavor?" These bottles are quite large.

Dose your children!

Had a Mandela effect memory that I already shared this one, but a thorough dive into the Haul archives proved me wrong. ANYway I'm a sucker for evaluating plant-based shit, particularly from trusted brands.

Review: Not that gross! My best description is "cream cheese flavor, Babybel mouthfeel." I've eaten all but one of these.

Dude! This was such a surprising hit. I'll admit that Abby and I probably ate 15-20 of these in the last six months. Each.

Let's move on.

In this old Haul post I discussed my distaste for this shitty brand. Yet somehow if it ends up at the salvage grocer my morals grow bendy.

Let's move on.

This is both another a) plant-based experiment and b) surprise hit. I love love love these weird little nugs, dipped in premium blue cheese dressing. Seven nuggets is the appropriate number to consume before hot yoga. Very curious about the consumer psychology here — are people motivated by getting "1/4 cup of veggies" in their meaty nugs?

I was absolutely convinced this would spoil before we finished it: Who buys half and half so giant? Readers, we finished this one — and its replacement — long before spoilage arrived. My blood runs cream.