Foodie penpals – February 2015

IMG_1083I love a lot of things about Foodie Penpals. Obviously I love getting food by post (I mean, who wouldn’t?). I also love picking out goodies to send to a stranger, based on their answers to a few simple questions (for example “what won’t you eat?”). I have discovered bloggers who I have continued to follow ever since, which has been great, and I have even managed to convince friends to participate.

I most enjoy getting the  opportunity to try food or ingredients which are specialities to a certain country or region, so I am always especially delighted to be paired up with an overseas penpal. It can be a bit embarrassing sometimes as my knowledge of geography is terrible, so I often don’t know exactly where a country is, or confuse it with another country (like this time).

IMG_1084So I was really pleased to be paired with Rita from Vilnius in Lithuania this month, even though I didn’t know exactly where on the map one might find Lithuania. Andrew asked me to guess (my thickness is a source of constant amusement to him), and I told him that I thought it might be near Poland or Hungary. Somewhere East anyway.

Not bad eh? It’s near Poland at least. However, when he asked me to point it out on a map it turns out that I didn’t know where Poland was, as I was pointing in the general direction of Georgia. So there you go – a proven geography dummy.

Anyway, I asked Rita to send me across some local delights, and she didn’t disappoint. She sent me:

  • A piece of chocolate in the shape of Lithuania (it’s like she knew!)
  • Her favourite apple and cinnamon tea
  • Very Berri natural raspberry fruit strips
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Home grown and dried oregano

IMG_1105How fabulous is that? The cheese and crackers are for breakfast tomorrow, but I couldn’t resist using the oregano on my homemade pizza, which was our House of Cards season 3 premier treat, and it was delicious. The smell as I opened the package was delicious, and completely different from the powdery herbs you buy dried from the supermarket. I have decided that I have to try and do the same myself as it’s such a lovely idea to include home dried herbs in a foodie penpal parcel.

The penpal I was paired with to send a parcel to was Michelle in Glasgow, who described herself as ‘an eater’ which is brilliant. She, like me, likes to receive regional parcels of goodies she might not be able to get in Scotland, but is allergic to eggs and intolerant of caffeine so couldn’t have either of those items in the parcel (cake is okay, but not mayonnaise).

I put together the following parcel for Michelle – fingers crossed she likes it. Unfortunately despite posting it two weeks ago, Michelle hasn’t been in touch to say it has arrived. I am hoping she’s just enjoying the treats too much to let me know, rather than it has gone astray, but I will update this post when she contacts me.

The parcel included:

  • IMG_1082Bourbon biscuit spread – I came across this, and a custard cream spread, in Tesco and couldn’t resist buying it, but I couldn’t quite convince myself to try it either … hopefully Michelle will enjoy it.
  • Ancho chillies – Michelle said she likes spice.
  • Mama Sita’s bbq marinade mix – found in my local Asian shop, and am guessing it’s not such an easy find in Glasgow.
  • Cooking lavender – this is a recycled gift from a previous penpal. I loved the sentiment behind it, but I am not a fan of perfume flavours in cooking, so I knew I’d never use it. It would be great if Michelle wants to bake with it.
  • Oven baked nuts and beans.
  • Some Graze treats which include peanut butter as Michelle said she loves peanut butter.
  • A Creative Nature tropical treat bar.
  • A few chocolate almond cups made by me according to this Deliciously Ella recipe. Fingers crossed they arrived in one piece!

If you’d like to take part in foodie penpals in 2015, take a look over at This is Rock Salt for more information.

5 Replies to “Foodie penpals – February 2015”

  1. Kaffee und Kuchen says: Reply

    Great post! I just participated in Foodie Pen Pals for the first time this month and I’m excited to see what other Foodie Pen Pals got in their packages! 🙂 I also got a package from a Rita in Lithuania – small world!

    1. Fantastic – I just read yours as well. Maybe we will be paired up together too 🙂

  2. I need to say this..BOURBON CHOCOLATE SPREAD..BY THE GODS!!!

    1. Have you tried the custard cream one Lisa? I might have to buy some bourbon one to try myself now! Thanks for commenting 🙂

    2. Is it good? I accidentally ate half the tub of custard cream spread this week so I don’t think I want to risk buying any more!

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