Foodie Penpals September 2012

Hello! Happy October 1st! I’ll be back tomorrow with some pumpkin talk, but for now let’s take a quick look back at September, and last month’s Foodie Penpal swap. I sent a parcel to Jessica who, as she doesn’t have her own blog, kindly took some photos and wrote about the things I sent her…

This month was my first to join the foodie penpals group, and I was excited and a little bit nervous. After we received our matches I contacted the person I was sending a parcel to, and waited for my penpal to contact me.

Lucy’s email was lovely to receive - apologising for being late (it had only been a couple of days!) because she’d been snowed under with back to school stuff. I replied back with a few guidelines about what I would and wouldn’t like to receive, as well as a few general foodie things I was interested in to try to help her figure out what I might like.

I asked Lucy to post my parcel to my work address because it’s easier for me, and on the day I was due in to the office I was greeted by my lovely foodie penpal parcel. Lucy had really hit the nail on the head by choosing to pack my box with a selection of naughty and nice treats - I’m a complete snackaholic and LOVE trying new things! Her hand-written card explained why she’d chosen what she had.

Fudge’s florentines: these were opened when we had family drop by for a cup of tea, and they were an indulgent treat that went down very well :-) I shall definitely seek them out in shops local to me.

Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt: Lucy described this as one of her favourite chocolate bars and I think it might well be mine now too! The salt went perfectly with the chocolate, which was not too bitter at all.

9 bars: labelled as gluten free and dairy free I wondered if they would also be taste free, but I was completely wrong. These were delicious, and quite filling too - they made the perfect snack when you want something healthier but not bland.

Urban Fruit dried raspberries: I generally like dried fruit, but had never tried dried raspberries. However, these were a little sour for my palette. I’m planning to put them in a cake to balance the sweet/sour taste.

Humdinger veggie snack mix: I thought I would like this, and I did. A fab mix of toasted, salted veggies including wasabi peas which I adore. They didn’t last long!

So, thank you Lucy for a fantastic parcel full of interesting things to try - they were all new to me. I’m already looking forward to the next foodie penpals match.

I received a parcel from Louisa who writes at Loupy Lou's Blog. She was going on holiday to Wales and let me know that she’d be sending my parcel a bit late so that she could include some Welsh treats. My parcel arrived on Friday, so I haven’t managed to try everything yet, but I immediately tucked into the Welsh Cakes – love them!



I also used the mushroom ketchup in the mushroom risotto I made on Friday evening. I didn’t eat any (it was for Liam, my little sister and the children while I was at Body Pump) but they reported that it was tasty! Has anyone eaten Laverbread before? I’m not quite sure what to do with it! One of the suggestions on the pack is to spread it on toast and then top with scrambled eggs and grilled cheese, so I might try that? I’ve also never had smoked sea salt before so I’m looking forward to giving that a try!

Thanks Louisa!

If you want to take part in Foodie Penpals, head over to Rock Salt’s blog and fill in the form. The lovely Carol Anne keeps us all organised each month (thanks!), and I love swapping emails with different people and thinking up things to send…great fun!