Imperfect, Misfit, Etc. (The Food Delivery Services)

[Annie_H]

I am getting very few food deliveries now. Covid lockdown I did iGourmet a few times. SupermarketItaly maybe twice. Eataly with a healthy gift card. Local restaurant supply Baldor.

RG bean club. Misfits. WaldenLocal. Palouse for grains.

Nearing out of grains/rice---ordering from HERE via a weinoo recommendation. Looking forward to a few new miso selections as well.

So many things I want are out of stock but I'll be patient and order again. 

WaldenLocal delivery today. Nice story. Took out a loan for their first delivery truck. Now have 30,000 subscribers. Delivering from Boston to Phili/DC I think. HudsonValley New England farms. Quality grass fed. 

I failed to include the cheddar and feta and local butter in the pic. 

The pound of bacon ends 4$. Super in chowders cubed. 1/5th a pound diced, (we call them scrunchions). Chicken necks for stock. Great price and meaty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Annie_H said:

ordering from HERE via a weinoo recommendation

 

Good move. Cook some rice right away - it's amazing.

[Maison Rustique]

16 hours ago, Shelby said:

 

Wine was $37.37

 

 

 

🤣🤣

Those eggplants almost look like balloon animals. LOL!

[Annie_H]

Just had my third I think FlyByJing dumpling meal. Sure I can make my own as we did for years--get a few friends together to make dumplings, empanadas, and the best holiday food prep party, tamales. 

I have some crap ones from WholeFoods---thick, doughy, and no seasoning. 

So good if you need a treat in your freezer. Tender and delicious. Thin wrapper. 

This is a loose $ tray steamer basket under 10 bucks. We have had a few tossed into soups and still have three full bags. 

I need more fresh ginger but I add that to my dippers and the miso soup. 

 

 

[Annie_H]

For the few Misfiters here, I found a blog post that explains the 'point perks'. perks explained

Once redeemed a choice is offered. I can choose three smalls or 2 large items. Probably will choose the pound of almonds and the Manuka honey. 

The bottom of the short post shows what is on the list through Aug 2nd. 

[Shelby]

 

[FauxPas]

@Shelby, dill for pickling? 

 

How do you use your citrus? 

[Shelby]

21 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

@Shelby, dill for pickling? 

 

How do you use your citrus? 

Yes, my dill is all done in the garden  .  I like the dill at the Asian Market a lot better and it's way cheaper, but I didn't want to drive all the way there and Misfits had some...so...yeah....laziness won out lol.

 

Ronnie uses a couple limes and half a lemon every night in his evening vodka soda--he likes a lot of citrus flavor.  I use limes in salsa....that green enchilada sauce....  Lemons I squeeze over my shishito peppers and with fish....  Love lemons when roasting a chicken.  I really like just having citrus on hand.

[FauxPas]

Just now, Shelby said:

I really like just having citrus on hand.

 

I love citrus also, and use it more and more. In AZ, it was so lovely to get it fresh off the trees, I do miss that. Now, back in Canada, I buy bags of organic lemons (sometimes limes) when they are on sale, zest them and juice them. Freeze the juice into cubes and also freeze the zest. I used to do that in AZ also, as you tend to get a lot of citrus all at once, ha. But here, we don't always see organic citrus for a good price. 

 

When I make my small batch jams, it's handy to be able to add a cube of lemon juice and a bit of zest for extra pectin and flavour. 

 

Yesterday was hot and I added a couple of lemon juice cubes to a glass of soda and vodka and it was lovely. Tell Ronnie he's on the right track. 🙂

 

[Annie_H]

I keep a basic pantry and crisper drawer. Lime, lemon, onions (a variety), potatoes, shallots, garlic, leeks, greens---kales, chard. Home garden veg in good supply now. My herbs are in fabric pots so moved to part shade. Cilantro bolted two months ago but started a few more pots for the Fall. Fortunately dried dill is one of the herbs that holds its flavor dried. 

Misfits fills the void of produce I can't grow in my climate. Recently plums and peaches. Last week I stocked my thin pantry for the Fall. Shelf stable olives, tube tomato paste, ThreeLittlePigs salami, pickles, prosciutto, with long fridge dates. Butter and cheeses. 

Organic dried fruits and nuts. Stocked up for the Fall and into the freezer/fridge. No plans to order for a month or more now. 

I ordered one pack of ThreeLittlePigs prosciutto. They sent 4. I must have a gold star on my invoices but still makes me uncomfortable getting so many freebies. 

My salads under shade frames do so well all season. 

[Shelby]

[Annie_H]

^^^the garlic is really good, firm, and fresh. I just used that one last night. I only have roasted frozen from last summer. Ordered a few more varieties to up my harvest next year. 

I'm rolling dice again as I do every few months. We lost a favorite market, Fairway, a few years ago. One stop shopping, with a Costco visit every 6-8 months.--random specialty shops for cheeses, meats, bakery, etc. 

Now it takes 4-5 stops for the same what Fairway offered. 

Bouncing back and forth between FreshDirect and WholeFoods this morning. Neither gives me what I want. Stop the wasted time and suffering and just order both. 🙄

FreshDirect has local seasonal produce now. They are 20 years+ from a Bronx fulfillment center. No NYC groceries with the overhead of high dollar real-estate. They win. They have live lobsters ---fresh new shell, and a noodle maker in Brooklyn I like. A case of mango at a good price...

Marquis makes many different noodles and wrappers. Ordered a few varieties. (covid lockdown I ordered from Baldor)

And a case of mangoes...

WholeFoods has half of what I need and not much local. But they have Chemex filters. Crap TP, and limit on tissue, one box. 

No store now supplies all. 

[Annie_H]

Another good product if you like fermentations. I just started a cabbage kraut and a kimchi this morning. 
Small batch. Two quarts. 

I have a few restaurant past favorites that are long gone.(one sushi chef retired and one lost their lease) Cracking the code is difficult but have made some close hacks. Grated carrots and fennel salad marinated overnight. Adding the fermented seaweed is close and even better...

 

[Shelby]

 

Mostly the usual stuff.  

 

Got a cold pack box, too, because they had that really good Italian sausage back in stock.  I've learned to purchase a lot because you never know if they will get it again lol.

 

 

First time buying their scallops.  

 

The star, though, was this:

 

 

 

Highly recommend if they have them still.  We ate them all in one day.

[Annie_H]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Got a cold pack box, too, because they had that really good Italian sausage back in stock.  I've learned to purchase a lot because you never know if they will get it again lol.

I do the same. Ordering less often---every 2-3 weeks now but do stock up on favorites. I've come to expect out-of-stock items or no-longer items. Something as simple as the Faulk sea salt I love and have a few boxes now. It is ground fine like powder so I no longer need to spice grind sea salts. Stocked up on the ThreeLittlePigs offerings and the shelf stable gerkins, olives and the toasts--2 for 3$. Pastrami and prosciutto in the freezer. Last order they sent 4 packages of proscuitto--ordered one. (!#🤪)

My pantry and freezer is healthy/full now. I like all the sausage especially the merguez. 

[kayb]

22 hours ago, Shelby said:

 

Mostly the usual stuff.  

 

Got a cold pack box, too, because they had that really good Italian sausage back in stock.  I've learned to purchase a lot because you never know if they will get it again lol.

 

 

First time buying their scallops.  

 

The star, though, was this:

 

 

 

Highly recommend if they have them still.  We ate them all in one day.

 

Dammit. They didn't have them when I ordered last Wednesday.

[lemniscate]

I've been seeing a Shocking Pink Imperfect food van in the neighborhood.   I guess this neighborhood is a dedicated Thursday delivery route now.   

[Shelby]

20 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

Dammit. They didn't have them when I ordered last Wednesday.

My order day was yesterday and they offered them...maybe they will have them next time for you.

[Annie_H]

Nice haul. This is about half. Put away the pasture raised baby chicken(frozen solid), eggs, Persian cukes, petite toasts--2 for 3$. Ordered 2 packages of butter---they sent 3. And a box of odd peanut butter rice crispy treats I did not order, lol. Everything else was perfect. Nothing missing. Good favorite skyr yogurt. price is for two. (2ct). Avocados from Laredo, TX. Ginger 1$. Nice looking brocollini!

[Annie_H]

Good timing to fill the crisper drawer. I did get a cold pack but put that away immediately--ribs, chicken thighs, merguez, etc.. Pantry olives, cornichons, etc. No snacks--chips or chocolate. (that was dumb, 😜)

Veg getting a good drink in the sink before storing away. 

Sadly my giant squash garden plot has been destroyed by possibly deer or some other critter. Bummer. 

[weinoo]

For about the 5th time, my Fresh Direct order was late (this time by 2 hours) and delivered to the wrong apartment. After contacting customer "service," the driver went back, picked up my order wherever the fuck he dropped it off, and brought it to my apartment.

 

Frozen bagels...

 

 

 

Their "prime reserve" NY strip...these are pretty darn good steaks whenever I've had them in the past:

 

 

And Alaskan king salmon, fresh, never frozen...

 

 

They were "delivered" at 8:25 AM. And then delivered to me at 10:25 AM.

 

Morons.  I was never late with a delivery during the heart of the pandemic. Now...it's been a nightmare.

[heidih]

@weinoo I wonder if the decent variety and prices plus favorable reviews are leading more peopleto subscribe in reaction to steeply rising grocery store prices?

[Maison Rustique]

22 hours ago, weinoo said:

For about the 5th time, my Fresh Direct order was late (this time by 2 hours) and delivered to the wrong apartment. After contacting customer "service," the driver went back, picked up my order wherever the fuck he dropped it off, and brought it to my apartment.

 

Frozen bagels...

 

 

 

Their "prime reserve" NY strip...these are pretty darn good steaks whenever I've had them in the past:

 

 

And Alaskan king salmon, fresh, never frozen...

 

 

They were "delivered" at 8:25 AM. And then delivered to me at 10:25 AM.

 

Morons.  I was never late with a delivery during the heart of the pandemic. Now...it's been a nightmare.

This was why I stopped both Imperfect and Misfits a couple of years ago. I had to throw out way too many foods that had defrosted during shipping/delivery. Sure they would give me credit, but that doesn't help when your entire meal plans for the week have gone out the window.

[Annie_H]

23 hours ago, weinoo said:

Morons.  I was never late with a delivery during the heart of the pandemic. Now...it's been a nightmare.

Those temps are disturbingly unacceptable. I did all the testing a half dozen years ago with proteins in the the coldest part of my fridge--34-36, and lower shelf 36-37, crisper 37-38. ºF. Out of the fridge, steak, on the counter at 36ºF--a steak internal after one hour was 38 internal. It would take at least 4-6 hours to get to your unacceptable temps. Maybe more!

I order FreshDirect every 6-7 weeks. I like the early morning delivery--5-7am. I'm guessing because of the holiday weekend I had to settle for 9-11am this morning. I always order frozen peas being a cheap item. True sign to bring out my thermopen in my back pocket if they are thawed. Unfortunately they have once again not sent frozen peas. I don't need them or care but WTF. But my 2 lbs of frozen gulf shrimp were frozen solid. 4 live lobsters were lively. But they tie them in a plastic bags. Lobsters need oxygen. Immediately into a cardboard box with wet newspaper in my fridge.  

I have noticed in certain locations, like a high rise next to the UnitedNations, where a few dozen co-workers and secondary friends live---a few FreshDirect trucks sit, workers hanging on their back loading gates, with the orange crates sitting in the hot summer sun. And I thought the trucks were/are refrigerated. Gate open to the heat. Pre-covid most used FreshDirect for basic pantry staples and some random veg but never proteins--steaks, chicken, etc.... need for proteins was necessary during lock-down. 

The delivery in the 'ikea' type bags is unfortunate. I had feta and gorgonzola cheese tossed in with room temp pantry pasta. 

4 items taken off my order and did not alert for replacements. 

After 20 years I would hope for better a better delivery system. 

I am always nervous but got lucky. Should never need to say that--'lucky'. 

23 hours ago, heidih said:

@weinoo I wonder if the decent variety and prices plus favorable reviews are leading more peopleto subscribe in reaction to steeply rising grocery store prices?

During lock-down and most all of 2020, I could not get a delivery window. I've never held a secure card that guarantees a slot. We walked out of work a week-10 days before the city shut down so I did get only one delivery slot and checked daily for weeks. No go. Gave up and ended up using a local restaurant supply. 

 

They really need to fix this. The big orange crates need to be insulated for frozen/fridge foods. (they delivery to your door, unpack the crates and take the crates with them. The rest are in bags.) WaldenLocal uses dry ice with a cardboard barrier--eggs and cheese on top. All in an insulated fabric zipper top bag. After a couple years not wanting the bags back, are now taking them to be cleaned and re-cycled. Misfits uses insulated foil bags for frozen/fridge items with ice packs. Some food pantries will take the bags, foil bags, and ice packs. Usually the ones that cook hot dishes and delivery to the elderly.  

 

I'm guessing you may have tossed the steak. It would but be interesting to get the steak to cold fridge temp, then leave it on the counter and test every half hour. I've never taken it that far. 53ºF, yikes. Ambient kitchen temps will vary, but 53ºF could take a very long time. 

 

When I get the Misfits cold packs, once every 4-6 weeks, the baby chicken is always frozen solid as well as the pork chops. The sausages and some other proteins are never frozen so they come very cold fridge temp/not supposed to arrive frozen.(I take the temp).  The cold cuts, butter and cheeses are very cold. If the chicken is thawed as well as the ice pack, big problem. Has never happened. Those chickens take three days to thaw in the fridge and still icy cold inside. 32-34ºF. 36-38ºF at the surface. Often difficult to spatchcock. 

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

I ordered sandwiches etc. from Goldbelly (shipped from Sal, Kris and Charlie's Deli in Astoria, NY) last week.  Supposed to have been here Friday.  Got here yesterday.  OH did it smell bad.  I feel sorry for the UPS person that had to drive around with it.

 

Sandwich was 87 degrees!  The cheese was nice and melty 🙄