Our Local Box July Review

Our Local Box is a subscription service that features only products that are made/grown/etc. solely within the state of Kentucky. The box is based in my hometown of Louisville, so mine gets hand delivered each month. Pretty cool! Subscriptions start at $30/month and get a little less expensive with longer commitments. 

Again this month, the box was HEAVY. Here's first looks:

Love the hand stamped box!

Lots of goodies!

My favorite info cards of any box!

And the breakdown! 

Bear Claw Honey Butt Spice, $4 - Hubs is always up for BBQ supplies
Pappy's XXX White Lighting' BBQ Sauce, $7 - the stuff is awesome. seriously.

Ladybirds CD, $10 - I know everyone loves their iPods but I still love an old fashioned CD.
The girls LOVE this disc, ask for it repeatedly. It headlined our Fox Family Fun Fantastic Friday hoe
down last weekend (the upbeat songs, at least! LOL!)! 

Lemongrass Spearmint Soap, $6 - Already in use in the shower, smells wonderful!
Pear + White Tea Soy Candle, $5.50 - never too many candles!

So the value of the box comes to $32.50, a little more than the $30 I paid for it. All of the items are things that we will use and we've already gotten a lot of fun out of the first few songs on the CD! This is the last month of my OLB subscription and I'm torn about whether to continue it or not. It has been a lot of fun and we've really enjoyed all of the products included (and supporting the local economy), but there are just so many interesting boxes out there that I'd like to try, you know??? 

If you'd like to read my previous Our Local Box reviews, you can find them here: June, May. If you would like to shop in their online store, use code FIREWORKS to get 20% off your first retail shop purchase! 

610 Magnolia Restaurant Review

Yay!! Date night!!

We made a reservation at 610 Magnolia after learning more about it in this month's box from the Our Local Box subscription service. This Louisville restaurant only seats 50, is only open Thursday through Saturday for dinner and has only one seating a night. Our kids had a date to go to Circe du Soleil with their grandparents so were were able to book a couple of weeks in advance and get the night we wanted. Usually we try to get reservations at the last minute and that's often dramatic! LOL!

The restaurant is owned by Chef Edward Lee, who has gained prominence through various television appearances (Top Chef, Iron Chef). He is also a multiple time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards as best chef southeast. 

610 Magnolia is located in one of the old, historic parts of Louisville. There is an 1800s mansion for sale nearby that looks creepy as hell but the hubs thought it was awesome (aw hell naw) and this one I found when trying to find the mansion listing - it's legitimately creepy as hell!! LOL!! Needless to say, the neighborhood is awesome and full of character! The restaurant has no big sign or anything, just some little bitty painted writing by the door, and we would have driven right by it if we hadn't already seen pictures!

The vibe is very homey but still super chic. I don't think I've ever seen a table set with so many glasses. Seriously, like 8 per place setting, so a round table of 5 had 40 or so pieces of stemware. All sparkly and shiny, it was a gorgeous effect. I was told by a friend that I had to have the champagne cocktail, so all my stemware was whisked away except for water glass and towering champagne flute. When I had my SECOND cocktail, I noticed the stem was about half the length and hubs joked that #3 would be in a flat to the table tumbler, to save their stemware from the drunken accidents which got progressively more likely! LOL!

The menu is fixed price, there are 4 courses and you can have any three courses for $55/person or all 4 for $65/person. I'm a 20+ year vegetarian and hubs mentioned this when he made our reservation. Our server already knew this without me telling her! Nice touch! We went for the 4 course option to try as many things as we could while we were there.

After ordering, the meal was started with a three piece presentation of small bites. Hubs' involved mussel and escargot, mine a lot calmer with artichoke salad, a goat cheese pastry and homemade hummus. Ive been obsessed with hummus lately, so that was perfect! All very interesting!

Sorry... I already ate the middle bite! LOL!

Our favorite part of the meal was probably the Blue Dog Bakery bread with sea salt topped butter. Seriously. To. Die. For.

nom nom nom....

Next came appetizers. I misunderstood the ordering process and was served a crab leg horror show (horrifying to a veg! Haha) and hubs got a prawn dish. The staff completely freaked out over what they all assumed was their mistake and even after I insisted it was fine, returned with a salad to replace the crab, then suggested hubs change HIS salad course since the one they brought was what he had ordered. Just so, so, so over the top nice. The service has been the make or break point for us SO many times and I can't say enough about how wonderful they were!

Next came salads, which were wonderful! We both had a mixed greens salad with cherries and walnuts and a wonderful, rich balsamic vinagerette. So, so delicious!

For entrees, chef whipped me up an awesome ricotta gnocchi and vegetables dish and hubs had some kind of pork belly concoction.

Dessert was awesome. Cheese plate and accoutrements for hubs and an interesting and delicious strawberry ice cream with various sauces for me!

We picked up one of Chef's new Smoke & Pickles cookbooks while we were there and got the chance to have it personalized!

The main issue for most people, I'm sure, is the cost. Our meal was $65/person, cocktails were $12/each, mandatory 18% gratuity is added on (we always tip more like 25%, so that was no surprise, just made it hard to do some math at the END of the meal! LOL), coffee and taxes, made our dinner about $230. It definitely isn't something you'd do every day! But would we go back? In a heartbeat. It was a unique experience and a chance to enjoy a meal in what is arguably a Chef's dream circumstances. The place is world-class and is yet another gem in this fabulous, fabulous city!!

You can view the current menu for 610 Magnolia here if you'd like more accurate, foodie descriptions of what we ate! LOL! 

Our Local Box - June Review

I loved this box so much last month and couldn't wait to receive June's edition! Our Local Box released a couple of spoilers on Facebook to leak that this month's box would be a collaboration with Edward Lee*, a Louisville chef who has gained fame through various ventures including a stint as a contestant on Top Chef! I was intrigued and couldn't wait to see what he picked out!

This subscription features only products that are made/grown/etc. solely within the state of Kentucky. Since the box is based in my hometown of Louisville, mine gets hand delivered! How cool is that? :)

The box was HEAVY! Heres first looks:

This subscription has some of my favorite information cards. Big and glossy and thick stock. The items are individually described and the retail prices are given (it's nice as a blogger not to have to go look them up! First world problems! ;). This box included the regular info card attached on the underside of the lid plus an additional recipe card that is an excerpt from Lee's upcoming cookbook, Smoke & Pickles. The recipe is for "braised beef kalbi with soft grits and scallions." I'm not gonna lie. This recipe scared me a little. When I realized the ingredients went over into a second column, I kind of mentally checked out.... Hubs gave it a go, though (see below)!

The box contained four items, all four are included in Lee's enclosed recipe. The first three items are from Bourbon Barrel Foods. Hubs and I have friends who are investors in this company and we've been BIG fans for years, long before it got picked up by the likes of Williams-Sonoma! Every single thing we've tried has been PHENOMENAL. Seriously. The bourbon smoked salt and pepper are pantry staples for us so I was excited to get more pepper ($9). I bought my mom a subscription to this box and she was JUST telling me that she had used the end of the pepper I gave her a couple of months ago, so that timing is perfect! My hubs has wanted the soy sauce ($6) for a while and he's been putting pure maple syrup in his bourbon lately, so he loved the pure cane sweet sorghum ($12, says its a 2x sweet sorghum national champ!). He was all about these two items!! It's so fun to get a box that we can *both* enjoy! ;)

The last item was a bag of grits ($5) from Sunflower Sundries Farm, a major selling point being that the one pound bag has only ONE ingredient. Pretty amazing really. But, um...... How do you prepare grits?? I'll be looking that one up online.

Hubby got a little excited this last weekend and attempted the recipe. It took MULTIPLE trips to the store, including four different places to find beef short ribs! He figured out hours into it that there were no instructions on where/when/how to use the 1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar called for on ingredient list?? He winged that part and said it turned out great! Only problem was the recipe called for the WHOLE BOTTLE of soy sauce, so he still has NONE! LOL!

prep

MORE prep.... all good recipes make a mess, right??

Dinner is served! (no grits... still no clue... LOL)

This box cost $30 with my three month subscription and had a retail value of $32. I love that this box was all edible but what's really cool is how DIFFERENT this box was from last month's and from the inaugural month in April. I'm so proud to be a Kentuckian and it's really neat to think about this well curated, high quality box showcasing our awesome state's resources to people all over! My 9 year old asked, "does EVERY state have a box like this??" Wouldn't that be cool if they did?? But, nah, only bad ass Kentucky! ;)

* We have a hard-to-get reservation at Lee's 610 Magnolia on 6/21. I've wanted to go for a while and it's supposed to be quite the experience! Can't wait to check it out!  

** UPDATE: You can read my review of our experience at 610 Magnolia HERE! 

Our Local Box May Review

Out of the subscription boxes I'm expecting this month, I think I've been most excited about this one! It is such a unique concept and, of course, so close to my heart! Our Local Box offers a subscription service that "features a curated collection of Kentucky-made products." I LOVE anything that's made in the USA, much less made right here in KY! I was sorry I missed the inaugural box from this company last month but signed right up for a 3 month subscription - and bought my mom in Arkansas one, too, for mother's day!

My box was HAND-DELIVERED yesterday, placed lovingly in display mode in the corner of my front door! Yay! Treats!! Here's first looks:

The information card inside the lid is adorbs. Gives a little perspective on how Derby obsessed we've all been for the last few weeks, gives plenty of info on products (but not TOO much! ;).

Of course the first thing I dove for was the Banana Pudding Fudge ($8) by Cellar Door Chocolates, made right here in Louisville, KY! I've been a fan of Cellar Door for a while now and love trying all the unusual flavors they come up with, like cayenne pepper and green chile coconut truffles! I KNEW this was going to be delicious but I wasn't prepared for HOW delicious. OMG. It's described as "a rich juxtaposition of banana and crispy vanilla wafers that will leave you in a sugary coma." No coma for me, I'm a sugar pro! haha, but this piece disappeared pretty quickly! My afternoon brought occasional texts from my mom as she tried to slow herself by eating one little slice at a time (I would bet the house that hers is all gone this morning, too! LOL!). Don't hesitate. Buy it now. It's one of the best desserts I've ever eaten!

I'm also super excited about the two natural, handcrafted products from Rituals By Nature, a company in Florence, KY.

Magick Skin Balm ($7.50) is supposed to work on everything from scrapes and new tattoos to eczema and psoriasis. I've got it sitting in my kitchen, going to use it daily in hopes of some "magick" on my cuticles! ;) It smells DIVINE.... formulated with olive oil, organic beeswax, cocoa butter, lavender, vitamin E and dragon's blood. I adore it already for smell alone!

Carnelian Lip Balm ($6) is a best seller for RBN and I can see why! Comprised of beeswax, cocoa butter, honey, dragon's blood, vitamins and oils, it is SO smooth and creamy and also smells like HEAVEN - a mix of honey, orange and cocoa butter. I loved letting my kiddos try it, knowing how clean and pure the formula is, and they LOVE it too!!

The final item is Cherry Rose Green Tea sachets ($10.50) by Elmwood Inn Fine Teas in Danville, KY. We got talked into buying a massive amount of tea in Beijing a while back and have had PLENTY of tea around here for a while, especially considering that the hubs is the only tea drinker in the house. But these little pyramid sachets are gorgeous and smell wonderful! Maybe they will finally convince me to give up my massive morning coffee consumption and make the switch (probably not!).

Altogether this box had a value of $32 and the two subscriptions I purchased had a price per box of $30 (with tax in KY) and $28.30 (shipped out of state). Value was good for me! I LOVE getting a chance to learn about and try items made so close to home! I think this is an awesome way to support small business and try super unique products regardless of where you live! My mom and I can't wait to see what comes in June!