Review: Book of the Month

There are strictly two types of readers in this world: those who always know what they want to read, and those who want to read everything but don’t know where to start. I fall into the latter category without question. I’ve got lists all over the place of books that I’ve read about and find interesting, but when it comes down to picking what to buy and read next, I suddenly feel terribly overwhelmed. And though the feeling of indecision when choosing a new book will always be a part of who I am, a newly-discovered, 94-year-old service has helped make the process much simpler for me this past year: Book of the Month.

How Book of the Month works:

Each month, a curated list of 5 new releases ranging in romance to non-fiction is announced, and members are invited to choose one from the list to make their Book of the Month for $15. If more than one title catches their eye, they can add up to two more books (either from that month or previous ones) to their box at a deeply discounted price. if they don’t like any of that month’s books, they can always choose to skip. When a month is skipped, the member won’t be charged, and their credit rolls into the next month.

Why I like it:

Along with the expected synopses of each book, Book of the Month also enlists the help of guest judges who not only tell you why they love the book but why you will, too. Past and current BOTM judges have been singer Alicia Keys, actor Abbi Jacobson, and author Jasmine Guillory, just to name a few.

Another cool thing to mention is that Book of the Month makes deals with publishers to offer early releases of highly-anticipated titles, many of which, go on to become monster bestsellers. It’s like being in an exclusive club of readers who know how special a book is before everyone else. And while all books that are curated for the month are new, Book of the Month also features some older or not-as-well-known titles that are available for purchase as well.

Is Book of the Month worth it?

This is a fantastic service for people like me who love to have a sample of the latest titles presented in such a way that limits the feeling of being overwhelmed. It takes a ton of the guesswork out of what to read next and gets you excited for what new releases are on the horizon, especially if you’ve been in a bit of a reading rut. But, having said that, this is not a service for readers whose “to be read” piles grow faster than books can be replaced. Book of the Month allows members to skip any month, but if you find yourself skipping two or more months in a row because you’re running out of room for the books you’ve got, this service ultimately might not be worth it for you.

Want to learn more about BOTM? Click HERE!

Review: Great Jones The Dutchess

More than any appliance or gadget you’ve got in your kitchen, the dutch oven is your workhorse because its versatility makes it perfect for a myriad of cooking tasks. Soup, stew, broth, jam, jelly, bread - you name it, you can make it in a dutch oven. In fact, if you buy nothing else for your kitchen, let the one thing you do splurge on be a dutch oven…and maybe a rubber spatula or two.

I remember the day I first got one, during a routine trip to Marshall’s on Boylston Street in Boston when I wasn’t ready for a long T ride home. It was in October, and around that time every year, as the leaves begin to change and the chill starts to set in, the store switches over from summer offerings to fall fare, complete with ornately-painted plates and charming autumn holiday tchotchkes. It’s all adorable and somewhat unnecessary, but what caught my eye that year was the Cuisinart dutch oven placed front and center on a table in the home section. My interest in food had by that time developed into a passion, and I was watching every cooking show and tutorial I could get my hands on. In many videos, the host had a dutch oven either in front of them or on display on an open shelf in the background. Of course, with massive budgets and the justification for such an expense, the dutch ovens I saw were top-of-the-line Le Creuset, always in perfect condition. Le Creuset dutch ovens are gorgeous enameled cast iron pots, made in France, with brightly-colored exteriors and cream-colored interiors. They’re meant to last you a lifetime, but lifetime-quality ain’t cheap - a brand new 6-quart Le Creuset dutch oven will set you back almost $400.

Still, the 5-quart dutch oven at Marshall’s that fall day was just as beautiful, and with a $60 price tag - a far cry from $400 - I just couldn’t help myself. So that little oven, with its glossy maroon exterior and sturdy body went home with me. Seven years later, my go-to pot, which looks pretty close to brand new thanks to meticulous upkeep, is still going strong. But with a smaller body and temperature limitations (I can’t cook anything past medium on the stove and 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven) it’s time for an upgrade. So, meet my new love, The Dutchess by Great Jones.

If you’re unfamiliar with Great Jones, it is a direct-to-customer cookware company that was founded in 2017 by Sierra Tishgart and Maddy Moelis, childhood best friends who set out on a mission to make quality cookware that’s not only aesthetically-pleasing, but offered at an affordable price point. With so many DTC cookware companies saturating the market at the moment, it can be hard for any brand to set themselves apart, but Great Jones has a not-so-secret weapon that blows everyone else out of the water: The Dutchess.

Designed to rival high-end brands like Le Creuset and Staub, The Dutchess is 6 3/4 quarts of enameled cast iron with a smooth coating on the inside and thrice-fired matte enamel finish on the outside. It’s currently available in 7 colors, and retails for $155.

What I love:

• Sturdiness: This thing has HEFT! At 15 pounds it’s not the lightest pot out there, but I feel confident that it’s sturdy enough to withstand any cooking project I throw at it.

• Size and shape: With its unique oval shape and nearly 7-quart volume, The Dutchess’ size is great for making big batches of stews as well as roasting large cuts of meat, and baking bread. The website even says that it’s big enough to roast an entire chicken!

• Price: While $155 is still a lot to spend on one kitchen item, it is massively more affordable than higher-end dutch ovens with the exact same capabilities.

• Color selection: My first introduction to The Dutchess was via Instagram when a large, pink dutch oven in a photo caught my eye. I wasn’t familiar with the logo, but based on the color I knew I had to learn more. Sadly, the pink color has been discontinued, but there are still several brilliant colors to choose from! When making my selection, I vacillated between the red (Marinara), and green (Broccoli) before ultimately deciding on yellow (Mustard). As soon as I opened the box I knew I’d made the right decision!

• Interior color: When making jams, sauces, or even browning butter, it’s important to be able to see what you’re doing to ensure you don’t end up with a burnt mess. Some brands, like Staub, sell dutch ovens with cast iron interiors. That’s perfectly fine for soups and bread, but not ideal for other tasks in which the food might blend in. Le Creuset sells dutch ovens with cream-colored enamel interiors that make it easy to see, but after extended use, the inside tends to discolor. The Dutchess offers the best of both worlds: a gray interior that’s light enough for proper color detection and dark enough to hide slight discoloration.

• High oven temperature tolerance: One major setback of my old Cuisinart is that I can’t cook anything in the oven past 350 degrees Fahrenheit. That means bread-baking is out, as well as finishing off dishes in the oven that require 375 degrees or higher. The Dutchess is oven-safe up to 500 degrees, and that is MARVELOUS.

• Stove-top agnosticism: Whether you have a gas range, electric stove, or induction cook top, The Dutchess can be safely used. This is especially helpful if you move house and find yourself working with a new burner system.

What I don’t love:

• Matte finish: One thing that bothered me right away was the matte finish on The Dutchess. All other dutch ovens I own or have looked at have a glossy finish that feels smooth to the touch. The matte finish on this oven feels slightly rough, and on more than one occasion, I’ve feared that any accidental slide on the gas range or bump from another pot on the stove is going to leave a huge scratch. So far, all marks have wiped off quickly and easily, but without the gloss, the outside has a bit of an “unfinished” look and feel.

• Weight: As mentioned above, this dutch oven is HEAVY. The weight makes it feel sturdy, but carrying this thing around can be a bit of a struggle, and cleaning with one hand almost impossible. If you’re making a soup, make sure to use your ladle for as long as you can because it’s difficult to hold this pot with one hand while trying to scrape out food with the other for longer than a few seconds.

I’ve had The Dutchess for just over a month and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with it so far. Even with the heat off for long periods of time, my food has stayed piping hot, and clean-up has been a DREAM. Like any cookware, how well you take care of it will determine how long you’ll have it, but I can tell that this is a quality piece that will be with me through many of my future kitchen ups and downs. And did I mention that I love the color? Yellow is the happiest hue on Earth, so even if you’ve burned that stew to the point of no return, at least the sunny color will put a smile on your face!

Learn more about The Dutchess by Great Jones HERE!

Review: The Spice House

From bone broths to baked goods, every chef will tell you that the key to taking food from “good” to “OMG THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE” is the pinch, dash, or sprinkle of whatever you’ve got in your spice armory. All my life I’ve exclusively purchased the name-brand spices from the grocery store, resigned to pay exorbitant prices for spices that never seemed all that fresh, and came in cheap plastic bottles. What was I actually paying for? The label.

Fast forward to April 2020, when the world came to an absolute standstill and the mere thought of spending any extra time in the grocery store left me screaming internally. Gone were the days when I could leisurely peruse the aisles, collecting ingredients and mentally building meals from there. The pasta shelves were empty, the soups long gone, and the fresh produce was lacking. The final resort was to turn to the trusty spice section. But even there, people had picked it dry, save for the specialty spices that come in the circular tin jars with a magnetic strip on the back and little product inside. What to do? What to do?

I’d managed to grab a few cans of chickpeas and decided that then would be as good a time as any to start making hummus, one of my favorite dips. The recipe I’d found online called for tahini, a sesame paste, and za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend. Finding the za’atar I knew would be a non-starter at our local grocery store, but maybe I could get the tahini? Nope, no luck. As I searched and searched in every place I thought it might be (except for the place it’s actually kept, which is with the NUT BUTTERS at our store!), I found myself continually coming up empty. After 20 minutes I decided to give up, figuring I could probably just make it myself. But when I saw that the tahini recipe called for QUITE a large amount of sesame seeds, and that the sesame seeds in the store were sold in super small jars for almost $5 a piece, I knew I’d have to find an alternative online. And it was during my frantic search for an affordable amount of sesame seeds that I stumbled upon The Spice House. And it’s been spicy love ever since.

Founded in 1957 by Bill Sr. and Ruth Penzey, The Spice House is a small-batch spice company based in Milwaukee and Chicago that specializes in everything from everyday spices, to rare spice varietals, special seasoning blends, hard-to-find extracts, and more!

Here’s what I love about The Spice House:

• Selection: All the grocery store classics like garlic powder and cumin are accounted for, but what REALLY blows me away are things like Egyptian basil, peeled ginger root, hibiscus blossoms, and berbere. Any blend, faraway spice, or seasoning you’ve ever heard of, chances are that they not only have it, but in different, region-specific varieties to boot.

• Potency: I’m not exaggerating when I say that these spices are STRONG! The shipping boxes themselves are pleasantly fragrant, but it’s not until you unscrew that cap that you’re met with a powerful PUNCH of spiciness. And unlike other spices on the market, even after several months of use, the smells and tastes are still incredibly strong and high quality.

• Price: Since many of the expiration dates on grocery store spice jars are set well into the future, you can’t be guaranteed that the small container of ground coriander seeds you just picked up hasn’t been sitting on the shelf for months. And yet, you’re still expected to pay full price. Prices at The Spice House are comparable, if not lower than what you’d find on supermarket shelves, and you’ll get more bang for your buck. On more than one occasion, I’ve opened up a flatpack (refill pack) or jar only to see product spilling out the top and onto my counter These containers are literally filled to the brim!

• Packaging: Already I’ve mentioned that most spices you find in the grocery store are housed in cloudy plastic containers that break down over time. The jars at the Spice House, often only $0.50 more than the flatpack option, are made out of super sturdy glass with gorgeous, airtight copper-colored lids that I know will be long-lasting. I also love that each flatpack and jar comes with spice origin stories and detailed flavor profiles; it’s a really nice touch.

• Shipping: Since I started buying from this company right at the beginning of the pandemic, I can’t compare what the shipping times were before the shutdown, but all things considered, shipping is still pretty fast! My last order shipped within 48 hours and got to me by the end of the week. Plus, their flatpacks always ship free!

Needless to say, I’ve been using up my old jars of supermarket spices as quickly as possible so I have another excuse to peruse The Spice House’s online selection again. New seasonings and blends are added regularly, and if you’re on the mailing list, you might even score some really good deals - I just got a free flatpack of my new favorite cinnamon with a recent order!

Will this be the last spice company I ever try? No way! In fact, finding the SH has shown me that there might be other amazing spice companies out there with quality selections to buy from. But for now, The Spice House is exceeding my expectations, and making everything I make and eat 100x better.

Check out The Spice House HERE!