Foodie Penpal Reveal - August 2012

It's Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!!!

This was my first month doing Foodie Penpal and I must say, it was an interesting first experience!  I'll start with what my penpal sent me...then I will get to the fun story :)

I was paired with Megan from New York!  As soon as I read her email I was excited to see what I might get, I have visited New York once and could only dream of all the wonderful foods that are born there... New York Style Cheesecake, New Yorker Pizza, etc. Only I failed to let myself believe the realization that those items are not necessarily shippable items...especially to the great state of Oklahoma that averaged 100 degree weather throughout the entire month of August.  However, she took my subtle clue of my love for salty/sweet snacks and did not disappoint!

Meg was sweet enough to send a great variety of items that I could snack on throughout the day.  Chocolate covered pretzels (heaven), gluten free chocolate chip cookies (She read that I was experimenting with Gluten Free), and my favorite - the ultimate salty/sweet mix of various nuts with raisins and m&ms!! 

I must admit that this mix is almost gone - this has satisfied my 3'o clock munchies all week!! 

She also included a balsamic glaze that she had for the first time recently at an Italian restaurant, this is the one item I haven't had a chance to try yet, but I can't wait to incorporate it into a meal...hopefully this weekend (a post will follow use!).  THANKS MEG!!!!

Now for the other side of the story...

So I found some apple butter from a company here in Oklahoma, and thought it would be such a wonderful idea to send some apple butter to my new friend Christine, along with the dry ingredients to Apple Butter Bread... HA!

Three days after I sent the well packaged box (may I please mention here the excessive amounts of bubble wrap that was used along with "Fragile" stickers on the outside of the box...) I received an interested voicemail...

"This is the United States Postal Inspector from the State of Wisconsin," (Oh no....) "I am calling regarding a parcel that has been leaking a powdery substance, we need to identify the parcel immediately..." (OH NO...)

Yea...so any who, hopefully they received the voicemail I sent in return stating that it was only a bread mix, flour mostly... but to say the least, Christine still hasn't received her package and I WILL be sending her another during the month of September :)

Can't wait till next month!!

What is Foodie Penpal you ask? 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.

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

You must submit your information by September 4th as pairings will be emailed on September 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!