Degustabox - December

Another month, another box of goodies from Degustabox.

Let me admit this. It's become a personal mission to try to get every item into one photo. It's challenging. They stuff a LOT into a box. There's almost no filler.

This month, I was a little surprised there weren't a bunch of holiday-themed items in the box, but to be honest, that was actually a good thing. It's nice to have a few things that aren't red, green, and pepperminty right now.

This month's box had a lot more "eat now" items than cooking-ingredient items, but that's fine. This time of year, people tend to entertain more, so it's good to have a stash of things that can be opened and served.

So here's the lowdown on what was in the box:

Pillsbury Purely Simple Cake and Frosting Mixes

This is a new line of products from Pillsbury, made with no coloring, preservatives, or artificial flavors. It's still dessert, but it doesn't include the extras that people don't like. I make a lot of cakes from scratch, but I also like to keep cake mix on hand for those cake emergencies that crop up once in a while. I also like to use mixes when I'm testing bakeware, because the results are so consistent.

The box came with a recipe for making a trifle with the mix using the cake mix, frosting mix, and strawberries. This time of year, I might go for a more seasonal fruit, but it would be a lovely dessert for a party. Or, you know, just make cupcakes and frost them.

Kala Beans

These are crisp dry fava beans, so they're a good option for people who can't have nuts. If you've eaten crisp chickpeas or soy nuts, you've got an idea of what these are like. Bonus, though, that that look sort of like large peanut halves, so they certainly look more like nuts than some of the other non-nut options.

Honey Acres Honey Straws

These are plastic "straws" filled with honey - perfect for honey-to-go for adding to tea, squeezing onto muffins, or maybe just having a little honey pick-me-up in the middle of the day. Honey Acres also sells full jars of honey. Yum.

Chips Ahoy Thins Cinnamon Sugar

I know the Chips Ahoy brand from their chocolate chip cookies - it was a brand my mom would buy once in a while as a treat. The Thins are completely different. They're thin. They're crisp. And these have cinnamon flavor.

Smuckers Fruit and Honey Fruit Spread

If you like jams and jellies, here's an option that's sweetened with honey instead of sugar. I'd suggest stocking up on English muffins to make good use of this, but it would also make a tasty glaze on ham or chicken or a pork roast.

Urbane Grain

This is an on-the-go meal made with ancient grains. You'll need to add water and heat it up, so it's great for stashing in your desk at work where you have access to a microwave. Not so great if you're going to be on the road. There are several different flavors, and they also sell larger packs of quinoa blends as well as bean an quinoa blends.

Ricola

If you have an itchy throat, these honey lozenges will make you feel a little better. The Honey Herb Supplement Lozenges have ginseng and vitamins besides the soothing honey. And they taste good, too.

Good Thins Sweet Oat and Flax

Looking for something crunchy to snack on? These thin little lovelies have oats and flax, so they're good for you. Great plain, but for a party they'd be happy to go along with a dip or a spread. Good Thins also come in a whole bunch of other flavors, so if you're not feeling oaty, maybe you'll like one of the others.

Loacker Gran Patisserie

Can you say dessert? There are chocolate-covered layered wafer-like cookies and cream. They looked really good, but the ones I got had a coconut cream and a chocolate-orange cream, and I'm not particularly fond of either of those. But the person I gave them to said they were really good.

Wise Popcorn

Yeah, I know how to make popcorn, but these guys make a good product. The White Cheddar is particularly yummy, but there are other flavors, too.

I receive these boxes monthly at no cost to me, so I can tell you all about them.