March Foodie Pen Pals

I was so excited to be a part of Foodie Pen Pals this month as Aaron was away and I needed something to do during the first week of March. I made a box for the lovely Sasha from Los Angeles and her report is included in this post!

As for my box, it was sent by Hazel from Maryland, (originally from Scotland.) I was so excited when I realized she sent goodies all from the UK!

It made me so homesick for London. I loved Hazel’s “instructions," as well as a recipe for homemade Spotted Dick pudding, and a history and fun facts about Tunnock’s.

Here's what was included:

A great list of recipes and tips including the "proper way" to make tea. Even I learned  some valuable tips.

My favorite tip is no. 4: “Pour a small amount of water into your brewing kettle. This will ‘scald’ the pot. Discard the scald water immediately. (This step is used to keep your tea warmer.)” It really works!

Can of Heinz Spotted Dick Pudding, a classic sweet
 

Container of Bird's Custard powder, so many uses!

Samples of various teas included Yorkshire Gold, Tetley, French Breakfast, and a delicious loose leaf Darjeeling all the way “personally” from Delhi, India.

A giant package of the Scottish classic, Tunnock's caramel wafers

Overall it was a perfect tea/pudding time! Thanks to for all the great items, and all of the thought put into it! I meant so much to me to have a little bit of the UK back with me a year later.


Here's Sasha's:

March marked the first time I'd participated in Foodie Pen Pals and I was lucky enough to be partnered with Marisa from this wonderful blog. I've participated in gift exchange programs like this before, so I knew that you kind of never really know what you're going to get. Some people end up with super passionate pen pals, whiles others end up with someone who didn't really have time to make anything happen.
 

 

Luckily for me, I ended up with the former. Marisa clearly put a ton of thought into this package, and coming home after a 12 hour long work day to a package of goodies from a stranger was super awesome. I couldn't wait to tear into the package, and what awaited me was truly fantastic.

The goodie box consisted of healthy treats from her current town of Philadelphia. She included chocolate covered fruit from a local chocolate store, coffee (and a reusable cup!), homemade spicy kale chips, a small sampling of local honey, dried veggie chips, trail mix, a package of Justin's almond butter, a mint wafer, and an adorable journal filled with quotes and recipes to try.

To say this box was awesome is an understatement. It almost made me feel guilty about what I'd sent my foodie pen pal and definitely inspired me to go further the next time around!

If you've never tried foodie pen pal before, I highly recommend it.

Thanks again to Marisa for doing such a stellar job!

Your new foodie friend,

Sasha
Wanna join in the fun?

Here are the rules from Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean, the amazing host and creator of Foodie Pen Pals:

-On the 5th of the 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 can choose 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 Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK 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. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!


Love,

The College Cuisiner