Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Dear XXX: My 1st Foodie Penpal Package

Towards the end of last week, I finally received my first Foodie Penpal package from Sarah of Zoe's Lunch Box. Since I live in one of the man doorman-less buildings of NYC, it is a constant battle with the USPS and Fedex to leave my package at my door or by the mailbox. This was one of those battles.  It took me almost a week before I was able to finally get the mailman to leave my much anticipated package! Arggh. It appears that my penpal this month, Sheri of Bring Me My Coffee, suffered the same thing with USPS who was supposed to receive hers last week.  I guess I should be glad it made it all after some horror stories I've heard. 

Usually my mailbox is full of the usual junk mail, catalogues for things I shouldn't be buying, stray invitations and thank you cards, and a few letters meant for one of my neighbors. Rarely bills actually since I signed up for paperless billing.  So it was so wonderful to receive this lovely package from Sarah.  I nearly jumped for joy at the goodies I found inside. It is clear that Sarah knows how to pack a lunch box because, boy oh boy, there was a little of everything in the box to fulfill every spectrum of my meals. 

 
But before I go into my goodies, let me introduce you to Lindsay of the Lean Green Bean who started the Foodie Penpals a little less than a year ago. And to show you the strength of the food blogging community: Foodie Penpals started with only 30 participants in the first month and has grown to close to 2,000 participants in just the US!  Incredible. Keep on reading for details below on how to join in the fun. Foodie penpals is open to bloggers and readers alike!

And now back to the fun of my package from Sarah. After I ripped the box open, I found her lovely letter introducing herself to me and telling me a little bit about putting my package together.  



Here is a list of everything I found in the box:
  • Box of spaetzle (German dumplings)
 
I used it to make an easy dinner last night.  Popped it onto the stove to bring it to a boil, strained and then threw in a spicy marinara sauce I had leftover and topped it with a bit of basil. Delicious! Enough left over for my lunch the next day.  Next time, I'm going to try to make my own spaetzle.
 

As part of my breakfast, I enjoyed one of the assorted granola bars included in the package. Cranberry and almond...what's not to love about it!



For my mid-afternoon snack, I made a nice cup of tea from the assortment of Tazo teas (including my favorite "Passion") and popped open the Pocky sticks and salted corn nuts Sarah sent to go with it. What a lovely break from the day! Completely random, but so are the best things in life I find.


Also included in the package but no less enjoyed were:
  • Trader Joe's Wasabi Roasted Seaweed to clear my sinuses. These were pure awesomeness even though I was tearing just a wee bit from the heat.
  • Crispy Ginger thins to dip into my cup of tea
  • Powdered peanut butter (I am very intrigued by this as I've never seen this! Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but mind you it will be used in creatively deserving of its uniqueness. Ideas will be accepted!)
  • Dried fruit including dried star fruit which I've never seen before. Yummy!
It is literally the gift that keeps on giving!  I am so excited to continue to eat my way through this thoughtful package that Sarah put together for me and will remember her and her adorable 3-year old, Zoe, with fondness.  Stop on over to say hi and check out her post on her Foodie penpal as well as the crazy & inventive lunchboxes she puts together for Zoe.  Blue ramen noodles should say it all. Needless to say, Zoe is one lucky little girl. I know that if I had her lunchboxes growing up, I would not be swapping lunches with the kid who was lucky enough to have bologna and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Now for those of you interested in more details on Foodie Penpals!! Here are the details you so patiently waited for while I rambled on in this blog. 

The Lean Green Bean

-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.
If you’re interested in participating for August, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

Enjoy the last days of summer everyone!!



4 comments:

  1. What an awesome idea! How come I didn't know about this? I guess I can't participate since I don't live in North America (no fair!). But what a wonderful opportunity to get to know other food-lovers and to sample new products and tastes. That German spaetzle looks awesome...love the dish you made from it!

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    1. It's fun! You should start one for Bangkok. I can't wait till month 2. :)

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  2. Oh man...I'd have done cartwheels if I got a package of spaetzle in the mail! What an awesome idea and you got some great swag :)

    And you can absolutely use peaches for the plum sauce. It's probably a much nicer, sweeter flavor than mine because June Plums are kind of tart. Mmmmm

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  3. Oh my word, this is the cutest thing EVER!

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