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A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review – November 2014

Haley Faye
ByHaley FayeNov 16, 2014 | 13 comments

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Box

A Kitchen Box is a monthly subscription box made for food lovers and home cooks who want to stay inspired. They aim to make each box “a curated food, art, and music experience” that inspires creativity and encourages you to try something new. Each box has a theme and includes everything items like recipes, food, kitchen tools, and pairing suggestions. (Subscriptions are available for monthly or annual plans).

This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription: A Kitchen Box

The Cost: $30/month

The Products: Every box contains “something to see, taste, learn, and try,” including recipes, kitchen tools, food, etc.

Ships to: US

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Letter

This month is about “Farm to Table,” and each box contains an informational card that lists the items inside. Also, $1 from the purchase of each Farm to Table box was donated to RVOO Orphanages of Kenya.

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Letter Info

On the backside of the same card is a couple paragraphs detailing the theme.

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Recipe Cards

Included were three recipe cards – the photography and printing on these are so beautiful it makes me want to collect them!

The three recipes are Roasted Fennel and Beet Wheat Berry Salad, Roasted Beet & Farro Salad With Creamy Avocado-Parsley Sauce, and Butternut Squash and Sage Soup.

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Yum

Organic Whole-Grain Emmer Farro from Bluebird Grain Farms - .46 oz, value: $3.95

Portland Farmland Bee Local Honey – 4 oz, value: $7.48

This Emmer Farro is a type of ancient hulled wheat that outdates spelt. It can be prepared like brown rice, cooks in 50-60 minutes or can be soaked overnight to reduce the cooking time. They recommend using this in soups, in a grain salad, pilaf, risotto, and more.  I’ve never tried this before, so it’s definitely something new to me. (This grain is described as “low gluten,” so it’s not gluten-free, just so you know).

The honey is described as having “blackberry notes with lovely floral finish.” I think that sounds like the perfect addition to tea!

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 KNife

Flour Sack Towel

3.5” Paring Knife by Tovolo – value: $4.95

A Kitchen Box includes a flour sack towel in every box to help you replace old towels in your drawers. Also, they prefer to include these towels to double as packaging in the box too, over less green and wasteful alternatives.

This knife is awesome. I used it last night for dinner and it was so easy to use. I’m always happy to get great knives in subscription boxes!

A Kitchen Box Subscription Box Review - November 2014 Recipes

The last couple things in the box were some music downloads (EVERY TIME by The Last Bison and MARILYN by Samsel & The Skirt) and a “We Got the Beet” postcard, Original Art by Andrea Bemis.

Just so you know, they advertise some codes for free downloads on their website’s rotating headers, including one of these songs so you can go grab some new music, too! (I still blurred my code out, though, because it’s different than the one they offer you on their homepage.)

Verdict: Overall, I enjoyed A Kitchen Box quite a lot. I’m thrilled to have a new knife, try something different, and listen to some new music while making some Fall recipes! The physical products add up to a little over $18 (not including recipes, the post card, or the music download codes). I love everything else about the box, so I would have loved for them to throw in another item or two to add to the value but I’m happy with the box regardless!

What do you think about the November A Kitchen Box?

Haley Faye
Haley Faye
Haley Faye first discovered the wonderful world of subscription boxes in 2012 and began writing for MSA in 2014. Over the years, she has found many subscriptions to love. Now a mom of three, her favorite boxes are ones that dress her kids, help her get organized, feed her family, send her snacks, and offer educational fun for her children.

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13 comments

Lianne

Terrible service and value.

Screwed up my order and took one and a half months to finally get back to me and figure everything out. Sent them multiple emails on a weekly basis.

Once I finally received a box, it was not worth the price. Items were cheap and they supplied no direction on how to use the items.
Definitely would not order again.

Don’t waste your time on this box!

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patriciab

I just got my third box – the “Olive Box” (March 2015). There is nothing of interest in this box and I do not believe it’s worth the price. There is Anchovy paste which I won’t eat; olives (stuffed with anchovies) a small bowl and a dish cloth. Sorry, but this is my last box

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emily

A kitchen box is wonderful. They have helped me to get out of my comfort zone and try something I would never try! Like farro, before this box I didn’t even know what it was. Gave it a try and my kids loved it. The honey was wonderful, and I love my knife. These boxes are my monthly treat to me, unpacking new ideas, and being inspired in my kitchen.

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C

Please tell me that the weight of the farro (.46 oz.) is an error. With the value listed that would make their farro $137/lb. I clicked through the link and it is listed on their site as .46 oz. sample for $3.95 but then a full lb. at $5.95. Is that actually correct or is it like .46 lbs. or something?

I agree with others that the idea behind this box is a nice one but the value is not there at all. I also question the curation personally. Why do 2 of the 3 recipes feature beets when there were no beets in the box? Why does one of the recipes not use either of the box ingredients? It doesn’t seem very farm to table if you need to go to the grocery store to get basically everything to make the recipes. Again, nice idea but they need to pull it together a bit in value and branding.

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Sneaky Burrito

Agree the recipes should use the box ingredients. However, I wouldn’t want beets in a box. I think pickled beets are really gross. But I have recently discovered fresh beets at a local market, and there’s a world of difference.

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Sara

I think the idea of the box sounds great, but wouldn’t be happy about not even breaking even with what I spent on a box. I want a kitchen box like Tyler Florence’s Fancy box, something with gadgets and things.

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Chantel

agreed

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PA Anna

Organic heirloom grains is an uprising specialty in the farm world. There is a group of people that can’t tolerate modern wheat, but can tolerate ancient grains. I’ve attending a few classes about it. There isn’t much demand for it in western PA. I clicked on the links and read about the farm and the honey. I think they stayed true to the theme. The box is a wonderful concept and a bit different from other boxes.

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raisin

This is a great box idea, I think it has potential. I’ve got to see a few more boxes before I decide to subscribe.

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Ryan

I’m totally looking for a box like this, but $30 for a $5 knife and some birdseed? I’ll keep looking.

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Jennifer

When I saw the description if this box I thought, wow, this is perfect for me. I love cooking and trying out new things in the kitchen so I would love a box like this. Then I saw what was actually included and was underwhelmed. These are items I could buy myself for almost half the price of the box, so why would I pay more when the only other thing they include is recipes? In my opinion, they aren’t worth $12, and neither is the curation. I love this concept and would love this box if they included items that were at least the value you pay for the box.

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Amy

I like the idea of the box and I really like the new towel every month included as packaging but I really dont like the value. Its 30/month the items included value $16.38 What happened to the other half of you’re money? They need to add more value to the box before I would even consider this subscription. It looks like it could be a great one if they added value to this.

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kristi

I like the box, but have a hard time with the value. I don’t think “curation” is worth $12 of a $30 box, even though they did a great job. I’m curious if this is the average value of each box.

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