Bevel & Bond vs John Boos End Grain Maple Cutting Board Review

A quick note on transparency before we jump in: The team at Bevel & Bond sent me their end-grain hard maple cutting board to test out and compare against Boos Block. While the product was provided at no cost, this review is 100% honest and uninfluenced by the brand.

My unboxing of the Bevel & Bond cutting board. It was a very nice unboxing with a premium feel to start the sensory experience.

Last year, I wrote one of my first blog posts about cutting boards, specifically, my Boos Block cutting boards.

My move to Boos Block was predicated on my initial move from plastic to wood cutting boards and then selecting a brand (Boos), and then the type of grain (edge or end), and then a price point I could afford. The great thing about Boos is a combination of all of these things at a wide variety of price points that can meet one's needs. We ultimately picked up a few boards over time including one for me and one for Mary Beth, plus a small one we just use for bread. Shortly thereafter, our son Michael made and sold cutting boards for his Sustainable Product Design and Innovation major capstone course at Keane State College. Turns out, it is a very pretty board and lighter weight which Mary Beth really likes and is now her go to board.

Summarizing my Boos Block post, one of the areas I sacrificed was choosing edge grain over end grain. The primary difference is End Grain looks nicer (crosscut) and is softer and will preserve the sharpness of your knives. End Grain cutting boards are more expensive as a result. Conversely, Edge Grain cutting boards are less expensive.

As I had to make financial choices, I choose an Edge Grain cutting board and choose walnut as I liked the deep richness of the color more than anything else. At the time, I didn't get into understanding the differences in the type of wood (i.e. walnut, maple, cherry), as my primary focus was plastic vs. wood. Turns out walnut is a great type of wood to use for a cutting board, and is the second best next to a hard maple.

Hard maple goes by a few different names including Northern Hard Rock Maple (Acer saccharum) and Sugar Maple. As an aside, we had the most beautiful sugar maple tree in our front yard for about 20 years only to have it get severely damaged in a bad storm, we had to take it down.

End Grain Maple Cutting Board

The combination of End Grain and Sugar Maple brings me to the purpose of my post. I had an opportunity to review and do a comparison against my experience with Boos Block and a newcomer to the cutting board industry, Bevel & Bond. Started recently from two cofounders, James and Jeff, they are ultra focused on just one product, an End Grain Northern Hard Rock Maple cutting board.

The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: 

"A great cutting board makes cooking a complete sensory experience."

There are a few things that caught my attention. As I was doing research on their website and product, I found that they were very pragmatic about sharing that there are real reasons a person may choose Boos (and other cutting boards), including selection of size, wood type, etc. In fact if you go on Boos' website, you will probably see 25 cutting board options. It was actually the pragmatic nature of their approach that I initially related to as it reminded me when I was in a sales role and would discuss the customers' needs and determine, in a very honest way, if my solution was right for what the customer needed.

For the Bevel & Bond cutting board, it measures 17 x 13 x 1.75 inches and weighs 10 pounds. It has nonslip feet and a juice groove. Unlike the Boos boards, which I believe just came shrink wrapped, Bevel & Bond ship in a premium black gift bock with a welcome card and care instructions.

My first use!

And here is the best part, you get all of this quality at a price point that is less than half of what you would have paid for a comparable End Grain Maple board with juice grooves at Boos at 18 x 12 x 1.75 inches. The Boos block costs $266.95 while the Bevel & Bond board costs only $129.99. As I shared in that initial post, it was the price point for the Boos End grain that was my deciding factor in going with the Edge grain options.

I have only used the Bevel & Bond cutting board a few times now, but my initial experience has been great. If you are in the market for a cutting board for yourself, or perhaps want to give it as a gift for a wedding, birthdays, or holidays, I would recommend Bevel & Bond. The combination of it being End grain, it's packaging, and it's price point, make it an ideal choice.

Here is a quick comparison of the two boards.

Brand	Boos Block	Bevel & Bond
Model	Maple Wood End Grain Chopping Block with Stainless Steel Bun feet, w/Groove 1-3/4" Thick (Bun Feet Series)	End-Grain Maple Cutting Board
Wood Type	North American Hard Maple	North American Hard Maple
Wood Grain	End	End
Size	18 x 12 x 1.75 inches	17 x 13 x 1.75
Juice Grove	Yes	Yes
Price	$269.99	$129.99

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bevel & Bond offer an oil or wax?

Yes, they offer a Board Balm Cutting Board Conditioner & Wax (6 oz) made of food grade oil and bees wax.

How do I fix my warped cutting board?

A warped cutting board means the wood is dry. This is the best time to add wax to your cutting board. Rub it into the board and let it sit overnight. I place mine on top of a small cardboard box to let it air dry on all sides. I then wipe any excess off with a paper towel the next day.

Where are Bevel & Bond cutting boards made?

The boards are made in Hubbard, Oregon.

Start Your Own Bevel & Bond Cutting Board Sensory Experience

If you’re curious to start your own Bevel & Bond cutting board sensory experience, give it a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

Misty Mountain Farm Goats Milk Soap Sensory Review

Misty Mountain Farm picture taken as we were leaving the farm.

When I was in college interviewing for my first job, I was interviewing with Hershey Foods for a sales representative job in Northern New England. That means my territory would have been New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. I would have been responsible for the grocery stores in those three states and stocking the shelves with Hershey's Chocolate Milk and other food products. I was down to the final 6 candidates and I withdrew my interest. Moving up to Northern New England at the time felt like the end of the world, especially coming from a kid who grew up and was currently living in New Jersey. Depending on where I would have had to move to, I am not sure I would have been any closer to Mary Beth who lived in the Metro West section of Massachusetts (that is not western Mass like the people who live in Boston think) but about 35 miles directly west of Boston at the time.

Since moving to Massachusetts, now 26 years ago, I have grown to really appreciate the three Northern New England states. Vermont is home to Stowe, where I shared two stories already, one about Smugglers Notch Maple Syrup, and the second about the Stone Hill Inn. New Hampshire has so many great areas, such as Conway and the home to the Mount Washington, which I shared when I was writing about my Cotopaxi jacket and hat. It also has one of the best little bakery's which I haven't written about because I am waiting to take pictures.

The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: 

"Of our five senses, smell is a direct path to the brain's memory and emotional sensors. This is why the aroma of grandma's cooking or the smell of your favorite flower brings back so many great memories."

The last of the three states is Maine, home of probably too many things to write about such as Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Kennebunkport, the County, which for those of you who don't know, is Aroostook County, where my mother-in-law grew up and met my late father-in-law when he was in the Air Force at the now closed Loring Air Force Base. Oh, I would be remised to mention that Aroostook County is potato country with potato fields as far as the eye can see.

The picture here doesn't do the view justice. When we first arrived, you could see mountains just outside the farm store.

You may also recall that Michael is a white water rafting guide up in The Forks, Maine. That is where this story ties together with our topic of soap. Mary Beth and I went to visit Michael this past week as he is getting close to wrapping up his second season as a guide. During our 3-day trip, I joined him on a rafting trip which is so much fun. It's also a bit surreal having to take orders from your kid. Following the rafting trip, we went to a waterfall not far from where we were staying and made a trip to a great sunset and another waterfall a bit further up getting closer to Canada in Jackman, Maine. The road is a logging road where every few minutes it seems, there is a logging truck barreling down the highway.

Picked up a few donuts and a Wild Maine Blueberry jam while we were there.

The next day, we made our longer trip up to the town of Greenville, which is at the southern tip of Moosehead Lake, the largest lake in Maine. On our way up there, we stopped at a great bakery, Abbot Village Bakery, and then made a special trip to Misty Mountain Farm. Mary Beth and Michael came across this farm on their last trip up there earlier in the summer. They had went to the bakery and saw a sign for the farm and made a left hand turn. They didn't buy much while they were there the first time as Mary Beth wanted to try it out first.

Both Mary Beth and Michael stated I would get along with the husband, Mike, who helps out on the farm. He was not only super friendly, he had a passion for all things made with the same love and care that I write about in this website. Over the last few weeks, we started using the lavender soap in our shower. We had been buying handmade soaps for a long time, mostly from a vendor at our local farmers market but he stopped selling at the market this year, so we were on a quest to find a new soap vendor.

Goats Milk Soap

I can say with the utmost confidence, that we found our new soap vendor. Renee, and her daughter Annabelle, have been making goats milk-based soaps for only the last few years and their business is busting out at the seams. Their business will have tripled this year as they have been expanding to a few local stores, selling at a few big farmers markets, and selling online. We had an opportunity to meet Renee and Annabelle briefly as they were packing up to head down to Cape Cod for a big multi-day farmers market.

Such a beautiful shop within their farm.

Mike shared they bring 2,000 products for each show and just about sell out each time. Then those customers order more online, thus causing their business to be doing really well. The great thing is that currently, it is just the three of them working with Renee and Annabelle doing it full-time and Mike just helping out when he isn't working his job. They work 7 days a week from morning to late at night making soaps, tending to the animals, and shipping orders. Business has been so busy that they haven't even had time to bar code their products so when we purchased our products, Mike was handwriting all of our products on a spiral notebook line by line.

For the product themselves, we are currently using the lavender goats milk soap. The things that I feel set this apart of the size of the bar and the aroma made up of ingredients including Goat Milk, Lard, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Kaolin Clay and Alkanet Root.

While I am not sure you may ever make it up to Greenville, Maine, or the town next to it, Blanchard, where Misty Mountain Farm is located, ordering product online is the next best thing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Misty Mountain Farm sell more than soap?

Yes, they also sell Apothecary, Body Butters, Lotion Bars, and Sugar Scrubs.

Are all animals on the farm pets?

Yes, every animal on the farm has a name and is treated like a pet.

Does the soap have any palm oil?

No, there is no palm oil used in any of the Misty Mountain Farm products.

Start Your Own Goats Milk Sensory Experience

If you have a passion a quality goats milk soap to elevate your sensory experience, try Misty Mountain Farm soap today and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Allen Edmonds Leather Quality Review: Are They Worth It

During the workweek, my current daily routine for selecting footwear is pretty basic, unlike the Allen Edmonds Leather Quality dress shoes, belts, wallets, and shoe care accessories I will review below.

I walk downstairs to my home office in the basement and slip on my very fuzzy slippers to keep my feet warm. Roughly 8-10 hours a day, they are on my feet during the workweek acting as a barrier between my feet and the cold basement floor. The basement is finished but the thin fake wood floor sits on top of a concrete slab that never seems to warm up, even in the height of the summer.

Me working a few years in 2020 with Franklin (left) and Lincoln.

There was a time in my career where I wore dress shoes on a daily basis. In fact, I wore them so much, I had to find a cobbler to fix the soles as I had put holes in them. I actually miss the times having to get dressed up and go out every day to meet customers (I have been in sales for most of my career). I have a closet full of dress shirts, dress pants, and dress shoes sitting in the closet collecting dust.

Speaking of dust, my son Michael is graduating from college in a month and needed some dress shoes for the occasion. We went into my closet for him to try on some of my shoes, as we have the same shoe size. When I went to pull out the shoes, I ran my finger across the front only to find a layer of dust. It had been a while since I wore the pair that he ultimately borrowed for his big day. I am a bit embarrassed about it as I could write my initials in the dust. I used to have covers for my shoes but since I was wearing them every day, I ultimately discarded them.

The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: 

"Take the time to take care of your shoes with polish, shoe trees, and a shoehorn. Your feet will love you for it."

Given Michael's planned career choice of being a high school wood shop teacher in combination with being a white water rafting guide in the summers, I don't think dress shoes will be high on his list of things he needs for himself. Matthew currently has a corporate job and there may be a time where he will get more dressed up and we did buy him a pair of nice shoes last year following graduation (more on that in a bit).

Emma and me at Bring your Child to Work day in 2015 (with me wearing my Allen Edmonds shoes). We were in the Link at Travelers Insurance, who was my customer. A few years earlier on the 50th anniversary of the Travelers Red Umbrella, they decorated the link (passage way connecting two buildings in Hartford, CT). It was so well received, they decided to keep them there, even until this day.

Growing up, I remember my stepdad, Bill, talking about shoe care. He worked in a warehouse so he didn't need them every day but on special occasions, he would put them on, such as for a wedding. The dress shoe was a popular brand, which is still around today as a premium footwear company. He also would talk to me about using shoe trees to help keep the shape of the shoe and using a shoehorn (which I thought was the coolest thing when I was little). For most of my childhood and into my college years, the brand he referenced I always viewed as a high-end shoe brand.

When I got to college, my dad and stepmom took me out the store to buy a nice pair of shoes for me to go on interviews. I was probably 20 or 21 at the time. I remember it vividly as we went into Nordstrom and the salesperson picked out a pair of black Allen Edmonds.

There were a few things I specifically remember about that pair of shoes. The cost was one that stood out, I believe at the time was about $200. This was a lot of money for a pair of dress shoes, especially as I worked at Kinney Shoes during high school and the most expensive pair was about $35. The second thing I remember is they were super comfortable.

https://youtu.be/0rXhUHGDfrw?si=Eex4S-M5fcf6iux8

212 Steps to make Allen Edmonds Dress Shoes!

Fast forward a few years. I had just started a new job and was working in an office, visiting customers. This meant I needed to add to my collection of dress clothes.

I don't recall exactly what happened with the Allen Edmonds shoes I had but one thing I remember is that specific shoe was really narrow and really didn't fit me as well as I had hoped. As a result, I think I donated them and went and purchased two more pairs of shoes. My friend and I went to one of the popular mall retail stores and I got a pair in black and one in burgundy. They were timeless styles as I had planned to wear these shoes for a long time, especially for the amount of money I spent on them, which was $140 each. I remember that because I didn't want to spend the $400 for two pairs of Allen Edmonds and I thought $140 was a great deal, especially since it was a reputable higher end shoe company.

These are my black classic Allen Edmonds. They have to be close to 25 years old or more.

I also purchased the shoe trees and shoe polish to keep them clean, even though that process never came close to going to a shoeshine guy in NYC or the airport. By the way, you may have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a shoeshine person nowadays, but 30 years ago, it was still very popular.

My very popular brand of shoes (remember I bought two of them), were pretty stiff and weren't easy to walk in. But I thought that this was a really good brand and it just takes time. After months of wearing these shoes every day, typically rotating between the two colors, they still felt as stiff as they day I bought them. As you can imagine, this was a big disappointment. I was out $360 of my own money plus the $200 my dad and stepmom spent on the original pair.

My favorite pair. I think I have had to get them resoled a few times over the years.

I had a few choices in front of me. I could either suffer or hope that someday the current shoes I had would break in. I could buy a pair of shoes from the brand my stepdad had, but honestly, I associated those with the older generation and not something someone in their early 20's would wear. Or I could look back at Allen Edmonds and make sure I purchased a pair of shoes that actually fit.

Allen Edmonds Leather Quality

I ultimately decided on a classic black dress shoe from Allen Edmonds. They were about $200 but I made the decision that these were going to be a shoe that lasted a lifetime. And it's true as I still have them today. They were very comfortable from the start without having me to break them in.

https://youtu.be/nzq85yCZDsE?si=5gzglCDWN41Ox1MH

Recrafting shoes is an art. This is a fun video to watch if you love to learn how things are made.

After a while of wearing them, commuting on the train from NJ to New York City, and then walking the streets of Manhattan a few days a week, the shoes got their workout, many times walking about 2 miles a day for each trip. After each trip in NYC heading back to Grand Central Terminal, I would often stop in the spice shop, although never purchasing anything. Here is a look at my first experience to spices at the end of my New York City workdays.

My three Allen Edmonds dress belts to match my shoe collection

Because of my daily wear, two things happened next. First, I wore out the soles, probably after about 5-10 years and had to get them resoled. I used Allen Edmonds service first and the quality was great. I remember the full package was about $100 at the time (or at least to my recollection) and did that once or twice over the years. I did ultimately find a local cobbler to repair the shoes at about half the cost, but finding one is like winning the lottery as well.

The second event that happened was I was so happy with my purchase, I bought two more pairs, one in brown and one in burgundy, both in the same classic style as the black.

Since then, I have purchased 2 more pairs of dress shoes from Allen Edmonds, both loafers. I found that I wear my black loafers more than any other due to the easy slip on an off.

My boat shoes.

I also purchased three dress belts to match the three original colors as I was always told that your tie and socks should match/complement each other and your belt and shoes should match. Not sure if that is true but that is the adage I have lived by all these years. My belts really need a polishing which I only think I did once for all the years I have owned them. I used to polish my shoes every few months but now, it's more like every few years given the infrequency of wearing them.

I have two other Allen Edmonds products. I have a pair of boat shoes that I wear when we go to Aruba, as well as my wallet, which I think I have had for 20 years now. I couldn't be happier with my decision 30 years ago to buy Allen Edmonds, and I became a repeat customer over the years, with my most recent purchase for my son, Matthew. If you are in the market for a pair of dress shoes, and honestly, a nice pair of stylish and comfortable shoes, I highly recommend Allen Edmonds. Don't make the same mistakes I did early on.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do Allen Edmonds products last?

A few of my shoes are close to 30 years old, with just the soles refinished a few times. They look good as new.

Does Allen Edmonds offer shoe repair?

Yes, Allen Edmonds offers recrafting services. You can access them on their website.

Do you recommend a leather or rubber soles for your dress shoes?

Personally, I like the leather soles, but we purchased the rubber soles for my son who I knew would appreciate the longevity and grip.

Start Your Own Allen Edmonds Sensory Experience

If you have a passion for looking good and being comfortable at the same time, step into a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes. They will elevate your sensory experience. Try it today and let me know your thoughts in the comments!

For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself. As well, since most of my collection is from the past, I have selected products that are similar in style in the links below.