Breakfast in a Box

Minnesotan Ross Sveback curates a collection of breakfast goodies.

What defines the classic American breakfast? Bacon and eggs? A pile of pancakes doused in maple syrup? A thick slice of toast slathered in butter and jam?

That’s what Ross Sveback, Minnesota’s male answer to Martha Stewart and regular Fox 9 contributor, asked himself when he was approached by Hamptons Lane, a monthly subscription service that curates themed collections of gourmet ingredients and kitchen tools. After trying out a cocktail box sent to him by the company, Sveback was ready to take on the challenge of choosing products for a November collection that exemplified a hearty morning meal.

 “People are spending more time inside, and I knew that if I picked the right items, it would be something that people could use for the holidays, too,” says Sveback.

When it came to selecting products, Sveback cooked up a list of his favorites and started reaching out to the brands to see if they’d be interested in participating. “I just thought about my favorite things—the products that I use constantly,” he says.

Hamptons Lane curated several prototype boxes using a handful of Sveback’s picks and tested them on a panel to ensure that consumers would feel the box provided the expected value of its $47 per month subscription fee. The resulting box is a collection of items to create an ideal sweet or savory breakfast: a small Lodge cast-iron skillet, egg-poaching papers to ensure a perfect runny center, pumpkin-pecan butter, a trio of maple syrups, and bourbon-salted-pecan mix for whipping up pancakes and waffles.

The box also includes recipes from Sveback (sausage-and-maple stuffed tomatoes and candied pecans for topping those pancakes, for example). The recipe-development is a process that takes him back to his roots.

“I started out as a food blogger six years ago, just trying to kill some time until I got a job,” he explains. “And now I get to do things like this. It’s pretty great.”

To get Sveback’s box, head to the Hamptons Lane website to sign up for the service—you can opt in and out of the subscription month by month depending on the theme.