summer [snack] break!
on errands with friends, food made by others, and niche recs
This has been sitting in my drafts because it’s ‘killed darlings’ from the last dispatch, but look alive darlings… you’re getting resurrected!
There are two types of people: those who enjoy errands and those who dread it. I’m the former, so much so, that I go to several different grocery stores, bodegas, and specialty shops for specific items at each. ie. I buy the perfect-fitting toilet paper at the bodega where I talk to the owner Ali, I buy oat milk that’s only carried at Cookbook (this one), I go to the farmer’s market on Tuesdays exclusively for Sprouts, and so on.
During my sedentary confinement, I’ve come to enjoy… or rather have become a bit addicted to the thrill of filling an (Insta)cart at any store and having a human being deliver those items to me in mere minutes.
I know this phenomenon peaked in the pandemic, but I still shopped then. My love of errands runs so deep, only an incapacitating injury could stop me, but now that it has… I’m enjoying filling my instacart.
I honestly rarely leave the house most days still unless I have an appointment and have very few social plans. So since I don’t have much to distract myself with, I’ve been ordering snacks as my decompression time at the end of the day.
If I know anything in this world, it’s consumer packaged goods in the healthy snack category.
So this week, on your menu….
A main course of niche food recs in categories including frozen, farmer’s market, bars, crunchy, condiments, dates, etc.
Followed by a dessert of memes that articulate how I’ve actually felt over these past few weeks with more wit and brevity than I ever could.
This is in no way a comprehensive list of anything, it’s merely some of what I’ve eaten and laughed at lately. I’d love to know what you’d put on your version of a list like this.
And speaking of eating, I am… if you read the last one… thanks for the nice notes.
Bon Appetit!
Katie
PS. ERRANDS WITH FRIENDS? Y / N
Think about your best moments, or the most fun you’ve had in your life…
All of those memories are with other people right? Or were you alone? My peak experiences were all shared with others, reminding me how relational we all are.
There are also two types of relationships: those you would enjoy doing errands with and those you would not. That’s a measure of closeness and I’ll say it and as someone who prefers errands (and most things) alone, if you’re reading this and I’ve ever done an errand with you, consider yourself a close friend. I require a decent amount of alone time but since I get a bunch by the nature of living alone, I forget I need time with others too. I’ve done routine tasks with friends more this summer [leg] break than ever before...
It makes me want to bring errands into the fold as activities to do with friends. After college why don’t friends typically do ordinary tasks together? Why is it that partners and families do errands together but friends only do plans? Unless there’s a crisis of sorts, it seems less common.
Perhaps because it requires proximity and coordination—but just a thought I’ve been pondering. It seems not only productive and cost effective, but also the tedious and unpredictable nature of errands could expedite closeness in the same way traveling together can. It will show you a side of someone you might not see during a coffee catch up, or is how someone does one thing how they do all things?
I love concerts, movies, hikes, and dinners as much as the next guy, and similarly I enjoy doing these both alone and with others.
Do you run errands with pals? Let’s work it out in the comments! : )
(related)
Another question to ponder… why do we bring food when people are going through it? I didn’t quite understand this… but I do now. Below is how I learned food made by other’s can comfort.
Oh and speaking of relationships… I have a big update (!!) about a new one in my life! If you are curious you can meet him here! He’s great at errands! ; )
IS FOOD MADE BY OTHERS BETTER? yes…
PB & Banana Sandwich -
didn’t give up in trying to help me, even when I wasn’t answering texts because I was so stunned. She showed up at the door with the most comforting sandwich I’ve ever eaten.
Rice bowl - Heidi had me over when I first got the cast on and pushed me and River in a cart. Then, she made us a dinner that made me understood the meaning of a comfort meal. It was on a day where I was my most shaken up and her and Dustin talked to me about it all and it felt like we were a family for the entire meal in a way I didn’t know I needed.
Granola- Maddie came over one morning with bfast when I didn’t leave my apartment for days at a time, she helped with household things I couldn't physically do.
Coffee-
brought homemade coffee right after and helped fold my clothes when she saw how overwhelmed I was by it all.Val- moved to Michigan but used to live here and sent a friend over to drop off the largest care package with everything from flowers, to sourdough.
LATEST PODCAST EPISODE…
FIELD NOTES 004 ________________ DATE: 7/22/23
1. SOME OF WHAT I LIKE TO EAT
FROZEN:
Freezing Grapes
Freezing dates
Bars (see below for which ones frozen)
Freezing everything?
F MARKET:
a head of Iceberg lettuce- yeah yeah yeah kale has more nutritional value… ask me if I care.
Sprouts - want to talk about nutritional value …
Romaine lettuce- listen underrated lettuce compared to arugula etc.
Parsley- for salads, check your teeth.
Mint in salad, and you can make tea, and put it in a yogurt bowl
*tip: put herbs in a cup of water in the fridge and they will last triple the time.
WHAT I ORDER AT PLACES NEAR ME:
Collage Coffee- for the people and my coffee drink which is black coffee with ice, named by Captain as, “the climate change” + a breakfast burrito if Juan is making them in the back. Also, my friend Mike was in a very bad bike accident so the team made a go fund me here. I’m so glad he’s okay, but it’s a long recovery and he’s so active I really really feel for him and the entire team of his/our friends.
Kitchen Mouse- I get the kids meal, they let grown ups get it or maybe I look younger than I think?
Amara Kitchen- The english muffin is a family favorite. I get the purple eggs. As well as a chai latte with extra chai, I don’t usually get lattes but they make their own chai. Also, if you’re visiting get their chocolate chip cookie for the table.
Toast at Canyon GF Gjusta bread - Eli and I had a standing date to go their on week days and “work” for a while. We just talked the entire time and never got anything done, although he’s an illustrator so he’d draw. Anyway we’d split their PB toast on Gluten Free. It comes with olive oil and sea salt on top. I ordered it I think by accident on the GF Teff flour bread the first time but we liked it so much we tried to replicate that order each time.
NOTE: For real recs about food near me do what I do and read Bite Sized by
an actual professional at this.
BARS:
Raw Rev- my tried and true. While working for a different bar company that sent me theirs for free, I’d still buy these with a salary I earned working for their competitor. If that’s not a glowing review I don’t know what is. I used to eat one daily, now I switch it up but a few years ago this would’ve been a category of one.
Aloha- Dr. Patti gave to me in the car on the way to get my first cast. It ended up taking hours longer than expected because my circulation got cut off, so this came in handy. I’ve tried most flavors and PB is far superior, and I’ll go ahead and tell you a category wide tip… you’ll want to keep in mind that combo is going to likely be the best flavor of any bar you try with few exceptions. Stick to that zone, when they get to creative like: lemon blueberry twist…steer clear (!!)… a good rule of thumb with bars: the more exciting a flavor sounds, the worse that flavor will taste. Stick to: pb, cookie, vanilla, choc… that’s your safe zone.
Mezcla- If you ate these treats as a kid? (I sure did) This is your bar… takes like a rice crispy treat…
IQ Bar- they have it at the bodega in the neighborhood and I like that I can walk to get one as an activity.
CRUNCHY:
Carrot Sticks
These, I believe are the best tortilla chips, if you like thin ones, if you hate thin ones skip these.
Cereal:
Catalena crunch cereal PB flavor is the best.
Puffed Kamut cereal - I like it with almond milk or on yogurt. Heidi uses it as baby puffs for my friend River (a toddler).
Snacklins, I like BBQ best, used to like Chesapeake Bay but switched. (You know I’ve tried them all.)
Rice Cakes- it is a more satisfying crunch than any fancy cracker I’ve had, and, as an occasional grocer… I’ve had ‘em all. The best one is Mother’s salted. They are affordable, which is good since I can eat a pack a day…
CONDIMENTS:
Sir Kensingon Yellow Mustard - This specific yellow mustard that was expired at the shop
Miso Caesar Dressing - All that romain and ice berg from the F Market isn’t going to dress itself…
Non-fortified nutritional yeast - I go through this faster than any person should, I don’t like being without it at all times. Not to brag but I have a subscription to this one. It’s one of the only subscriptions I have to my name tbh. Prob not a big deal unless you too, eat a lot of it but I break out from the fortified varieties so i get this one now.
Hemp Seeds- for salads, great to have on hand…. Protein… heard of it? …meant to be real important for…everything? Also, love a good pumpkin seed and these are such a good price I feel like it may be a mistake?
Spray oils- I use this coconut oil spray for making pancakes and for lining the sides of pans when baking. Avocado & coconut have a high smoke point so I use those for frying in a pan. And olive I use this oil Spray bottle I bought.
BAKING:
Pancake mix - I make these day or night. Small silver dollar ones only. Or I use the mix to make ‘a pancake cake’ which is like meal prepping pancakes for a week. Just use mix like you would cake mix, Simi turned me onto this method.
Waffles- in this tiny waffle maker I bought myself a few years ago. It’s very easy to clean and use, highly recommend!
Usually birthday cakes but not right now. Will resume…idk eventually…
TOP 3 DATES I’VE HAD SO FAR THIS SUMMER BREAK:
YOU BETTER BELIEVE THIS IS A FULL CATEGORY…
Wholesome Dates: I like these single serving ones I found at Sprouts once and realized they are made in Michigan, as was I.
Date Better - I like the coffee flavor best and the messages on the box, especially the one that says, ‘these dates won’t ghost you,’ which I featured in this video I made at SipSnack. We’ve sold them at the shop I work at for years and I met the founder who is lovely.
Dark Choc Single Nut stuffed - Recently found these at Groce Out, nearly ate the whole bag.
WRAPS:
GF Brown Rice Wraps: These are a classic, I love to have in the fridge.
Rise and Puff: These are my new favorite.
Ezekiel Wraps: Heidi brought over dinner and said she brought these because she thought maybe they’d be useful to have on hand… they were. She made me soup in a giant jar. As well as two single serving chia puddings I could eat for breakfast. It was all so helpful and so my first thought was if I ever am bringing food for someone after an injury I would copy this entire scenario.
DYING TO TRY:
- and Monica and I are going next week. I’ve been talking about going since Christmas.
- sandwiches- My friend Chloe has been popping up making sandwiches, it’s very special and it’s kinda like I feel about most food…more for the activity of it than anything else. I can’t wait to walk to a pop up of hers on two feet.
2. HOPE YOU SAVED ROOM FOR MEMES
For dessert, an assortment of memes…in lieu of writing about my feelings this week… the below images do it for me.
Thank you for reading…
Back with something more current soon! In the meantime, you know where to find me!
Great post. Per usual. Agree about the simple flavors being best. Loved the dessert memes. Really feeling all of them. “and now there’s evidence” re: journaling made me laugh.
Picked up 2 Raw Rev bars today per this rec...will report back!