April Foodie Penpal Guest Post

For April, I sent a package to Geneva. From what she told me, it sounded like she liked the same things I did, so I put together a package of some of my favorite ingredients. Here's what she thought (I'm so glad you enjoyed everything, Geneva!):

My name is Geneva Brown and I received a package from Catherine who was my April Foodie PenPal.  It was one of my favorites so far.  It contained a Lake Champlain rum caramel dark chocolate bar.  I had never tried that particular bar, but was very excited because caramel with chocolate is my favorite.  The thought of having rum flavoring added was more than I could handle.  It did not disappoint either.
Also in the box were two packs of spices from Penzey's.  One was Herbs de Provence which I use all the time.  It is the best blend for vegetables.  I love to use it on egg recipes.  In fact I made an asparagus quiche on Sunday and used both of the spice blends.  The other one was Northwoods Seasonings.  It has rosemary, paprika, etc.  I know it will be wonderful on Potatoe Salad and fish also and am looking forward to trying it out on some of my favorite recipes.
Thank you Catherine for the great package.

Foodie pen pals February reveal!

Oh friends, it's been so long since I posted a FPP package!! I'm so glad to be back in the group.

This month my goodies came from Tracy and she really chose well for me! She sent a big bag of granola, som delicious peanut butter sandwich cookies, honey nut chex mix, 2 luna bars and some "Ultra Spice" chai. I opened the tea immediately- I love all the Twinings Chais, but I hadn't seen the ultra spice flavor before! I'm saving the Luna bars for a Nashoba day, since sometimes I don't have a lot of time for lunch and I like to have a granola bar on my way home (since it can take me 45 min or more to get home some nights... I may or may not stop off to run some errands) and the pb cookies have been dessert a few times, along with some caramel cookie gelato- definitely hits the spot! Thank you, Tracy!!

Interested in receiving your own delicious box o' goodies?

Are you interested in joining us for Foodie Penpals next month? Here are some more details:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE  to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

October Foodie Pen Pals Reveal!

3rd time's a charm, my friends! 

My first FPP package arrived late (thanks a bunch, USPS) and my second not at all. So I was very hopeful and excited for my third package, which arrived in a timely manner- only wouldn't you know, I left on the 22nd to go to Florida. I was able to open my package and gaze lovingly at the deliciousness inside before we left for the airport, but I had to wait til I got home to try any of it. Just one thing to make coming home from a trip less sad! (that, and the poor lonely tiny kitten waiting patiently for us!) I did consider bringing some of it as plane snacks, but I worried I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy it while dealing with plane annoyances, so I left everything at home.

My package came from Bethany at Accidental Intentions. I'd told her I love trying local goodies from places that aren't here, so I got some interesting Chicago treats!

On the left is a Chicago Mix flavored popcorn. I had no idea what this was. I opened it and peeked inside, and it's a bag of popcorn, half is orange cheese and half is caramel. It's a very simple concept, but really tasty! Pairing these two flavors reminds me of gjetost, which is one of my favorite cheeses- it's caramelized goat cheese, so it makes sense. I might need to track down more of this! (oh look! it's on amazon! And I was going to place an amazon order soon anyway, since I broke my French press carafe and need a new one...)

Next, Chicago Flats flatbread crackers. So yummy with cheese! This was my pre-workout snack tonight.

Assorted Tazo teas. I've already had all the chai teabags ;)

Milk and dark chocolates (ummm all gone)

2 single serving packets of Justin's Almond butter- the honey one escaped the photo. These are 2 flavors I haven't tried yet, since Wegman's doesn't have a huge selection of Justin's, just plain and maple and once upon a time, chocolate, but I haven't seen it lately. I haven't decided how to enjoy these yet. Many people seem to like eating them straight from the package... it might make a good post-workout snack later this week. Hmm.

So in the end, my 3rd month in FPP was a big success! I just had to delay the enjoying and the posting because of my trip and the hurricane, but these snacks were definitely worth the wait. Thank you, Bethany!!

How can you join in on the fun? Click here!
Here are the details:
On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

Foodie Pen Pals September Reveal!

Oh friends. FPP is not doing well for me. The first month, my package got stuck in Pittsburgh and squished. The second month, it never arrived at all. 3rd time's a charm, right? I just got my match for my 3rd attempt. Please please please, keep your fingers crossed for me!

I want to join in the FPP reveal day, but I don't have a package to share. I don't even have a picture of what I sent because I was in a hurry to get to the post office! sigh.

So here's a picture of Pansy instead. Her winter coat is coming in, so she's especially marshmallowy. She's quite taken with our new clock.

 I can tell you what I sent. I was paired with Lynn of Southern with a Twist, and I could tell from her blog she would enjoy more of a variety of food than some food bloggers! (because to be honest, I'm all for healthy eating and all that, but it makes for a tough package of non-perishables. For example, nut butter is rather heavy!) I got some Boston Baked Beans from the candy store right near where I work (and they're open later than we are, so I can always stop there on my way home!). I wanted to get some New Englandy, since Lynn lives in the south. Actually I wanted maple sugar candy, but I wasn't happy with the selection at the candy store.

actually here's what I bought myself that day. Yeah, it was just as amazing as you'd expect.

At the winery, we sell various treats made by local confectioners. The ones that usually catch my eye are the chocolate covered pretzels, which are a package of 2 pretzel rod covered in some manner of chocolatey (or white chocolatey) goodness, and sell for a fortune ($8 for 2 pretzels? mayyybe not). We used to have truffles too, but not since I started working there. But we have popcorn. Chocolate covered popcorn, white chocolate oreo popcorn, turtle popcorn... it's very tempting, sitting at the register and staring at me. The people who've bought it say it's delicious, so I got a package for Lynn.

I also sent one of my favorite new Penzey's spice blends, Muskego St. It's a garlicky tasty blend of some sort of goodness, delicious on broccoli and other veggies (the jar says also on chicken, but I haven't gotten that far yet).

And I made biscotti from my Sweet Maria's cookbook, which is an Italian bakery in Waterbury, CT that my dad bought me at the Big E a few years ago.

I hope she liked her package! And I hope mine comes soon!

Interesting in joining the fun? Here are the details! 
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

Go here to sign up!

USPS does it again! FPP

You'll recall my FPP post on Friday, 8/31, when I mentioned it was the FPP reveal day but I had no package to reveal.

Now I do! Thanks for USPS hiccuping and asking my package to hang out in Pittsburgh for a few days, I received it about a week late. From all my dealings with USPS, I know this happens often, and fortunately I've found that the packages usually arrive eventually (one exception, but that was customs' fault).

Anyway, without further ado, my first FPP package!

Bethany put together this package for me. When she asked me what I'd like, I couldn't really think of anything, so I told her I'm trying to find healthier snacks for when I'm stuck in the car all day (since gummi bears and biscoff cookies probably aren't the best thing). Lately I've been having to drive to Boston a lot, which takes me anywhere between 1.5 and 3.5 hours. And since I'm going all that way, I usually add in some other metro west errands, making my trip last most of the day and leaving me very, very hungry by the time I'm heading home.

She mailed me power bar energy bites, which I'm saving for a day when my eating/exercise schedule requires a little nourishment before my workout (since that's what the package recommends!). I also got a Good Nature granola bar which will be great for a busy work day- of course I haven't actually worked since I received this package, but I'm on both days this weekend. I also got some raspberry jam which is made near her, and this is perfect because I never got over to the farm to pick raspberries this summer, and therefore won't be able to make any raspberry jam! She sent some packaging to use for my car snacks, and a yerba mate drink that looks really intriguing.

Unfortunately, while my package sat in Pittsburgh, it appears to have been sat upon by something large and heavy. As a result, my banana chips, nutella to go and peanut butter did not survive the trip. However, I am inspired to get some banana chips and eat them with peanut butter. Not exactly something to eat while driving, but I can down a few while sitting in the parking lot between errands! Thank you, Bethany!

Now I'm busy getting ready for my next FPP package. I stopped in my favorite foodie fun store in CT for a few things, and now I need to add in a few other goodies. I'm also learning a lot of people actually bake something to send... I like that idea! I just have to think of what...