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B’s December Mantry arrived on Christmas Eve and even though everything was crazy around here, we still stopped everything and opened it up.

If you aren’t familiar, Mantry = the Modern Man’s Pantry. It’s a food of the month club that lets you discover the finest american artisan foods – and gives you ideas of what to do with them.

Mantry ships via UPS Smart Post. It starts out as UPS and is delivered by the Post Office. I think our package took 3-4 days?  It was on our porch Christmas Eve morning.

I always look forward to seeing what the Mantry crates look like every month.  They’ve been light brown, grey, dark brown, etc.  All over the place.  And we have saved every once since they arrived.  No idea for what (B hasn’t built that bar he was planning), but we have them all.

I sort of, but not really, knew what was in this box.  I entered a giveaway Mantry was having and it turns out that the prize includes the December crate!  I thought at first it might have just been something they put together for the contest, but it turns out it is this month’s Mantry.

The December Mantry theme is Mountain Man and includes the following six staples which were inspired by our rugged forefathers.  Here are the details:

~Juniper Ridge Douglas Fir Spring Tip Tea ($14):  This is what I call a manly tea.  We actually received it last December as well, and while I know that while we’d prefer all totally new items, more manly tea is okay.  Mantry is also supposed to have a recipe for the Douglas Fir Gin & Tonic on their site soon, which we will totally check out as well.

~Dragon’s Blood Elixir Hot Sauce ($7.50):  This is another repeat as we received this in the November 2012 Mantry!  I knew it looked familiar.  Maybe they figured we’d have run (ran?) out by now so we’d need another bottle?

~Vermont Smoke & Cure Pepperoni ($6.75): This is another item from November 2012, but I think repeats of like pepperoni are fine.  LOL!  B had a fancy spread of all his “meats” from various boxes out for Christmas Eve and it was a big hit!  I think next time I will try and remember to label them though.

~Chef’s Cut Real Steak Jerky Chipotle Cracked Pepper ($6.99): Now this is a new item and beef jerky is always a welcome treat.  Always.  I swear someone need to make a beef jerky box.  I know some individual brands have them, but I am thinking like someone should do a box with a few bags of jerky from a different brand every month!

~Dancing Dear Co. Buttermilk Pancakes ($8.99): this is another new item and is one that will be getting used within the next few days.  I love this brand and think they have great cookies so I have high hopes for the pancake mix!

~Noble Mikuni Wild Harvest Bourbon Barrel Matured Maple Syrup (Tonic 01) ($28):   At first I thought this was a new item, but it turned out we received this tonic back in October 2012.  Of course that’s long gone and I don’t buy $28 syrup so we will use this, but well, it’s not new!

All totaled I came up with a value of $72.23 for the December Mantry – “Mountain Man” edition!  While Mantry is $75/month, this is probably one of the most valuable Mantry’s to date.  They don’t typically meet / exceed the cost of the box, but B loves it so much he doesn’t even mind.  This wasn’t our favorite Mantry because of all the repeats, but had this been our first month it would have been amazing!  I’m hoping for all fresh goodies in the next year though.

Did you get Mantry this month?  What’d you think?  If you are interested in subscribing (it makes a great gift) or just want to learn more, click here.  Your man will thank you!