May Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

This was my first month as a Foodie Pen Pal. I’ve been reading monthly reveals for a while and finally couldn’t resist.  (I’ve done quite a few online exchanges in the past, both as a blogger and before blogging, and I’ve gotten some really awesome things and some really awful stuff, so hesitated to join in.)

Well, I picked a great month to do it!  I received a package from Ariel at Having My Cake and Sharing It 2.  When it came, I totally lied to my children (“Nothing to see here…”) and ran off to see what I got.  Patience?  Yeah, I don’t have any of that.

And I was so glad my children didn’t see what I got…

FourBarrel Friendo Blendo Espresso
Dandelion Chocolate
June Taylor Lisbon Lemon Candy

Ariel included a lovely note explaining each item and suggesting an order in which to eat the chocolates, so of course, I started with the chocolate.

Dandelion Chocolate makes small batch chocolates with single origin beans.  Ariel sent me three bars: Colombia, Venezuela, and Madagascar.  I followed the directions and had a small bit of each one the first night.  I was surprised at how different they all tasted!  Personally, my favorite was the Venezuela, closely followed by the Colombia.  The Madagascar was still really good, but the others were just so.much.better.

And then I stopped following the rules.  I did what any self-respecting beer lover would do.  I paired them with beers.  Just in case you are wondering, Colombia paired well with Stoudt Brewings Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout.  Venezuela went well with both Terrapin Beer Company Coffee Oatmeal Stout and Leffe Brune.  You’re welcome.

Sadly, this is all that’s left of the chocolate now:

The June Taylor lemon candy was quite yummy as well.  Ariel suggested that I could bake them into something.  We all know how likely that is… I ate them straight from the bag.

Last, but not least, Ariel included a bag of FourBarrel coffee.  I haven’t actually drunk it yet, in part because I just enjoy the smell of it sitting next to my computer, in part because I’m too lazy to go find my grinder, in part because I want to hoard it for myself and I’m waiting for Beer Geek to go on travel.  (I know, I’m an awesome wife.)  It smells so good that I can’t imagine it tasting anything less than amazing.

A huge thank you to Lindsey at the Lean Green Bean for organizing and to Ariel for the awesome items she sent.  I couldn’t have asked for a better first month of participating in the Foodie Pen Pal program.  Want to join in?  See below for the details!  And if you want to see what I sent, check out Enjoy with Joy.  (I can only hope she enjoyed her box as much as I did.)

-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!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!