This is my very first reveal day and I am beyond excited about it! At the beginning of this month, I joined the Foodie Penpal program and I’ve had so much fun talking to people across the country, finding out their foodie likes and dislikes, and shopping for unique food items to send to my June penpal. Remember those penpals you had in middle school from the other side of the world? Well this is basically the same idea, but with food! Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean set up this incredible program where people all over the country, both bloggers and readers, are linked together each month to get to know each other and send around fun foodie items. Brilliant idea, Lindsay!
If you keep kosher and you’re wondering how you could be a penpal too, just note that everyone is welcome to give their penpal all dietary restricions, allergies, likes and dislikes. So I just told my penpal, Allison Sasso, that I keep kosher and that I hate olives and capers. Gotta give her all the details, right?!? I was so excited to get her package in the mail!!! I love that moment when you first open a package and can just get a peek inside. What could be in there? I can’t wait to find out.
What a cute note from Allison! She made it so pretty too.
And check out the fun foodie items she sent me!
Mixed-Up Salt: with salt, herb and spices, dehydrated onion and dehydrated garlic. I put salt on practically everything I cook and I think this is going to become a new favorite of mine.
Hungarian Paprika: Allison had no idea but I actually didn’t have regular paprika in my house…until now! Smoked paprika. Yup. Insanely spicy paprika. Yup. Now I can add Hungarian paprika that list. I’ve passed it a million times in the grocery store but kept forgetting to pick it up. So thanks for knowing exactly what I needed in my spice cabinet, Allison!
Falafel Chips: another thing Allison didn’t know about me is that I have been coveting a bag of falafel chips every time I’m standing in line at Marshall’s paying for more kitchen props, but they aren’t kosher so I could never buy them. Well, this bag of falafel chips from Allison is certainly kosher and I am ecstatic! These chips are super crunchy and taste just like a falafel ball. All I need is some hummus and pita bread.
And last, but certainly not least, Sunflower Seed Cookies: Man, it’s as if Allison and I have know each other forever. I have recently become obsessed with sunflower seeds and I sprinkle them on practically everything. These sunflower seed cookies are sweet, salty and so delicate.
After taking everything out of the box, it was time to eat! You know you want to come over and try these cookies and chips. There are still a few left…but they will be gone very VERY soon!
If you want to participate in the Foodie Penpal program, here is the info direct from Lindsay:
-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!
Sign up HERE!
***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!
