BadgerFoodie

Badg·er [baj-er] – a native or inhabitant of Wisconsin + Food·ie [foo-dee] – a person keenly interested in food.

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&pizza at the Hotel Hive – A Modern Pizza Place using Fresh Ingredients

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This is a restaurant review, it is the author’s opinion based on their experience at a given date and time.  Readers should know that their experience may vary.  I was not compensated by anyone for writing this review.

After spending a rainy morning checking out the White House, checking out the Lincoln Memorial, and getting a private helicopter flyby from my brother-in-law, we ended up at &pizza located at the Hotel Hive for a warm, dry, lunch. Interesting fact, the Subway you might see on Google Maps nearby is actually in the Department of State building and is not open to the general public.

From the outside, it may be easy to miss the entrance for &pizza. There is an “In” and an “Out” door on either side of a porch area with tables.

When you enter &pizza, you order on one end of the counter and they make the pizza on an individual tray in front of you. As you work your way around the counter, your pizza is baked, sliced, and boxed. On the far side you can add some final toppings as you pay and pick up your pizza.

&pizza Menu Board

Our group ended up ordering three different pizzas, White, Maverick, and a Craft Your Own with just pepperoni; and an order of garlic knots. The three adults in our group enjoyed each of the pizzas and garlic knots, and the two kids in our group (age 5 and 7) enjoyed the pepperoni pizza and garlic knots.

Personally, I thought the White pizza had the best flavor profile; however, the pesto sauce spread on the top of the baked pizza was a little overpowering to the rest of the flavors. The garlic knots were airy and had a light garlic flavor. They were a hit with the kids, so I only ended up with one.

The beverage selection was “unique” for our palates. I enjoyed the Mango Passion Fruit; however, the Ginger Berry Lemonade was a bit much. They did not have “traditional” soft drinks.

There was no indoor seating; however, there was a partially covered heated patio area that was comfortable on the rainy cold day that we visited. In addition, there is a porch in front of the building with tables. This particular location is located near George Washington University and had a steady stream of college kids coming through while we were there.

If we lived in Washington D.C., I would add &pizza to our list of regular spots.

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&pizza Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

2018 Sturgeon Bay Farm and Craft Market

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If you follow the Badger Foodie’s Facebook Page, you know that we love shopping at local Farmer’s Markets.  The Tomah Farmer’s Market is our favorite, likely due to its location; however, we attend a variety of Farmer’s Markets around the region.  When we are on our annual Door County vacation we always check out the Sturgeon Bay Farm and Craft Market, which we did today.

The 2018 Sturgeon Bay Farm and Craft Market happens every Saturday, rain or shine, from June 2nd to October 27th.  The market’s hours are 8:30am – 12pm, and it is held in the Market Square Parking Lot at the corner of 4th Avenue and Michigan Street.  There are over 65 vendors who offer a great variety of locally grown produce to choose from, beautiful flowers, and delicious foods.   This year we noticed it spilled over onto one of the side streets which was blocked off for the Market.

Besides the normal produce you would expect at a Farmer’s Market at the end of July, it wouldn’t be a Door County Farmer’s Market without cherries!  I was surprised to see sweet cherries still available at the Sturgeon Bay Farm and Craft Market because in year’s past we have only found sweet cherries at a couple of farm stands when we are up in Door County around this time.

If buying items to take home isn’t your style, a few vendors at the Sturgeon Bay Farmer’s Market have you covered.  Like the above stand that was making fresh made to order crepes.  There were also vendors grilling up fresh meat-based items, making kettle corn, and fresh egg rolls (and other deep fried goodies).

This Sturgeon Bay Farmer’s Market is called the Farm and Craft Market for a reason.  About half of the vendors are displaying their artistic items.  The above picture is of Dan Cihlar Masonry, which boosts “Door County’s Largest Selection of Concrete Lawn Ornaments.  There were other vendors selling everything from metal work, fine jewelry, knitted items, and custom wood carvings and toys.

If you are ever in Sturgeon Bay when the Sturgeon Bay Farm and Craft Market is happening, I encourage you to check it out!

 

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ButcherBox Review – Grass Fed Beef and Heritage Breed Pork Delivered to Your Door

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This is a review of ButcherBox.com, it is the author’s opinion based on his experience at a given date and time.  Readers should know that their experience may vary.  BadgerFoodie was not compensated by anyone for writing this review.  If you purchase a ButcherBox subscription from a link in this post, you will receive FREE bacon & $20 off your first order, and the author will receive a discount on future boxes if they decide to order another box. Rest assured that this does not influence the content of the review.

What is ButcherBox?

BLogo for ButcherBoxutcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork directly to your door utilizing a monthly subscription model.  Their meat is free of anitbiotics, hormones, and GMOs.  According to their website, their goal is to make 100% grass-fed beef more accessible than ever before.

The Standard ButcherBox comes with 7-10 lbs of meat, which according to the company is enough for at least 20 individual meals (at a 5-8oz portion size), which makes the price work out to $6.50 per meal.  When you order your box you can pick any combination of Beef, Pork, and/or Chicken that you prefer.  What you can’t do is specify what cuts of meat you want in those different categories.  In addition, each month you can add on specific items such as additional cuts of meat for an additional cost.

My ButcherBox Contents

I ordered my ButcherBox on Black Friday for a December 2017 delivery.  Since it was my first ButcherBox order I received one 12 oz package of free Bacon, and the Black Friday deal included 2 free Ribeyes, 2 Free Filet Mignons, and 2 Free New York Strip Steaks.

I knew I was guaranteed the free items, but I had no idea what the rest of my order would entail.  I had selected the Beef and Pork option (skipping the chicken).  When my ButcherBox order arrived, it included the following items:December 2017 ButcherBox with Black Friday Bonuses

2 – Filet Mignon 2x6oz
1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
3 – New York Strip 2x10oz
1 – Ground Beef Brck – 2x1lb
2 – Boneless Ribeye 2x10o
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz
1 – Bacon 12oz

However, a few days after I ordered, I received an email that stated:

Bank Error In Your Favor!

This is embarrassing, but very tasty! We accidentally doubled the amount of free steaks in your recent ButcherBox.

Not a problem you say… you know someone who might eat them? That’s great!’

I’m still not sure if this was a marketing ploy, the old “over deliver”, or if it was an actual error.  If we remove the free and “mistake” items, the December ButcherBox appears to have included the following items:

1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
1 – New York Strip 2x10oz
 1 – Ground Beef Brick – 2x1lb
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz

This would meet their description of about 20 individual (5-8oz servings); however, its hard to cut that 10oz New York Strip Steak into two 5oz services and still enjoy it the same 🙂

How was it shipped?

Packaging Material from ButhcerBoxI was hoping to provide readers with an unboxing video; however, with FedEx losing my package for one day it was delivered right before we had to leave the house for a friend’s wedding, so I had very limited time to check out the contents and get the meat into the freezer.

I’m still not entirely sure what happened with my delivery, other than it appears to have been an error by FedEx, not ButcherBox.  FedEx marked my package as delivered “left on the front porch” on Friday, only it wasn’t there or on any of my immediate neighbors porches.  I contacted FedEx and they stated that they would create a tracking case and look into my missing package and someone from that team would get back to me in a couple of hours.  Unfortunately, I was never contacted by anyone from the “Tracking Team”, but the package was delivered the next day, almost exactly 24 hours after FedEx had told me it had been delivered.  Luckily, as you will read, ButcherBox did an amazingly good job at packaging the meat, so it was delivered in great shape and was still completely frozen even with an extra day of transit.

ButcherBox ships its orders Monday – Wednesday with planned delivery during the week.  Occasionally, due to holidays or an unforeseen event that causes a delay, they may ship with a planned delivery of Saturday.  They recommend using a home address to avoid any issues with businesses being closed when delivery is attempted.  ButcherBox has multiple warehouses, so orders from the West Coast get shipped out of California, East Cost orders ship out of Delaware, and the rest ship out of Wisconsin.  You should expect an email to arrive the morning your order is shipped with the tracking information.  In my case, they used FedEx; however, according to their website they also use UPS.

Insulated ButcherBox bagThe actual shipment is very well packaged.  The meat is flash frozen and placed in a reusable insulated ButcherBox bag.  This bag is then wrapped in two insulated blankets, one around the sides, and one under and over the bag.

Resting right on top of the bag is a plastic bag that contains a specific amount of dry ice, which is calculated based on your location and the expected transit time. The dry ice may be completely evaporated when delivered as it does evaporate over time in transit.   I will be honest I was hoping for there to be a little dry ice left in my shipment when it arrived, as I love playing with dry ice.

Is it Worth It?

I’m still asking myself if ButcherBox is worth the cost.  If I look at the cost I paid, $119 (normally $129) for the items I received, it was a good deal.  However, looking at the normal ButcherBox subscription, if I take away the $10 discount, and the free (and mistake) items, my next box will cost $129 and will include an assortment similar to:

1 – Baby Back Ribs Whole
1 – New York Strip 2x10oz
1 – Ground Beef Brick – 2x1lb
1 – Boneless Pork Chop 4x8oz
1 – Top Sirloin 4x6oz

For my family, I don’t think the normal ButcherBox subscription is worth the cost, even when I factor in the convenience.  Living in a rural area of Wisconsin I can find the same quality of meat from local farmers, at a lower cost.  If I was in a larger city, where supply was more limited, and cost would likely be higher, I may have a different opinion.

Conclusion

My ButcherBox experience was great!  I had one small hiccup with shipping; however, I was confident that if I couldn’t get FedEx to fix the error, ButcherBox would take care of me.  Luckily FedEx was able to track down my missing delivery, and the packaging ButcherBox used ensured that the meat was not compromised.

The quality of the meat was high, and everything we have tried so far has had great flavor and texture.  While we haven’t used them yet the “ButcherBox Kitchen” section of their website, has some great resources for cooking each of the cuts of meat.  Getting quality meat delivered to our door was extremely convenient.

Overall, it comes down to the cost.  While my December ButcherBox was a great deal, future boxes will not include the free steaks or the $10 discount that I had received on my first order.  When I look at what we would get for the cost, and factoring in that our family routinely uses Ground Beef, Pork Chops, and Ribs, but we tend to save steak for special occasions, it likely isn’t worth it for our family.

I do think you should keep an eye on ButcherBox to see if you can find a deal similar to the one I found, and if you do, I would encourage you to purchase at least one box (with the deals) to try it out for yourself.

Want to try ButcherBox?

If you decide to try out ButcherBox, consider using the following link to receive a special deal:

Free Bacon & $20 off your first order:
http://fbuy.me/hcUoL

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