8.31.2012

August 2012 Foodie PenPals Reveal


The Lean Green Bean



In case you don't know about Foodie PenPals...here are the basics:

1) On the 5th of every month you receive an email with the name of the person you will be sending to.

2) You have 2 days to email your Foodie PenPal to get their mailing address, and work out any details about your package (such as allergies they may have, likes/dislikes, etc)

3) You create a Foodie gift for your PenPal which must include something handwritten. The gift part cannot be more than $15!! And, the handwritten part can be a note...a recipe...again, be creative.

4) You must mail your package by the 15th of the month.

5) The person you send to is different from the person sending to you!!

6) When you receive your package from your PenPal...take pics!! The last day of the month is the big reveal day!! Everyone posts pics and blogs/facebooks/etc about their goodies...

Now onto the good stuff...

I was SO excited about finding this little program!! I literally told everyone I knew about it. I had so much fun shopping for the person I was sending to, Amy. The only bad part of Foodie PenPals...is waiting for your box. I felt like Ralphie on A Christmas Story checking for my Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Pin. Every. Day.

I am not joking...

Anyway, Nancy was sending to me. You can check out her blog over at A Recipe A Day or follow her Facebook page here. The package she sent was very worth the wait!! Check it out...

 
My husband took one look at what she had sent and said "Wow. She nailed you."
 
And, it's true!! I am a total Hot Chocolate junkie...so that will not last long. I am trying to hold off on drinking it until it moves out of the 100s here, but it is literally sitting on my counter haunting me every time I go in my kitchen..."Mmmm....look at my yummy chocolatey-caramel goodness. I would be SO good with a cookie. You should bake some cookies & then drink me."
 
What was I just talking about??
 
Oh yeah...
 
The garlic bread sticks lasted about a day after I introduced them to some hummus.
 
And, though I have never really used corn meal in my cooking...I am excited she included it because a few days later I received my monthly copy of Cooking Light magazine which had a whole bunch of corn bread/muffin recipes to try from scratch!! Coincidence??? I think not.
 
The red box is a Spoon Bread mix, which I had never heard of, but stated on the packaging that spoon bread is similar to bread pudding. So, since my grandmother will be visiting us for the holidays I am stashing this away to share with her.
 
The white bag is a hushpuppy mix which I will be using TODAY because I have friends coming over for a little party. I will let you know how it comes out.
 
Sadly, I did not get to try the trail mix. It was promptly stolen my my husband.
 
This was my 1st time participating in this program and I highly recommend signing up if you can. It was super fun on both sides...preparing a package for sending & the anticipation of receiving!!