This month’s round of Foodie Penpals was an absolute blast. I received a package all the way from Puerto Rico! Dimarie sent a great package that catered to many of my ‘tastes’…not to mention that she included a really neat recipe & added to my hot sauce collection. She asked some great questions in her email to me and she really put in some fantastic items – including a recipe!

Thank you, Dimarie!

• ‘Spicy Quesadilla’-flavored tortilla chips – You can tell I’ve been busy because these are still in my house.
  
• Cornmeal, to use in her Corn Fritters recipe – which I have yet to make I’m hoping to do this on Sunday!
• Guava paste – often enjoyed with sharp cheddar cheese. I haven’t been able to try it yet, but I’m really excited to do so. I already know I’m going to buy some locally made cheddar to try it at the end of this week, to celebrate the end of concert season 🙂
• Mayo-Ketchup, with Garlic – She included this to go with the corn fritters. I am hoping to try it with french fries tonight.
• Mi Madre Pique hot sauce – 🙂 This was wonderfully hot (habanero). Yum!
• Tamarind sauce – I’ve never tried tamarind anything before – but I’m really excited to try 🙂

I’ve been pretty swamped with work and such, so thus my blog has been a bit quiet lately. I am hoping to remedy that in the coming week – I do have things lined up; I just have to post them. (Sorry, my lovely readers)

Meanwhile, my recipient, Gigi, lives in San Antonio. It’s such a cool place; I visited there with a friend & fell in love with the Riverwalk. Gigi does not have a blog, but wanted me to post for her so that she could share her box with you:

Anticipation, I love checking my mail box to see what my FPP has sent me! Jenny’s boys sent Bella some cute mice catnip toys. Bella was in Heaven when I opened my box.

• I’m looking forward to making risotto for dinner next Sunday. I promised Jenny I would share my recipe with her.
• Love the Jane’s Krazy Mix Up Salt. I added the mixed up salt to my steamed veggies last week. What great flavors!
• • Love my Plaid Cat Brownie Mix. I can’t wait to bake this weekend! I’m known for going to store openings and bringing brownies for the associates.
  • Ponzu Citrus sauce- Perfect sauce to add to my chicken tacos for Cinco de Mayo! Ole!!!!
  • I’m hooked on these Kellogg’s Fruit Crips. Great to munch on while sitting in traffic. Only 100 calories for this strawberry treat.

  Jenny, you are welcome to visit me anytime you want in San Antonio! Thanks again for all of the great treats. I’ll put the risotto recipe in the mail for you tomorrow.

  

Thank you, Gigi, for the wonderful email and I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed everything – and I’m glad that Bella enjoyed her gifts from my ‘boys’ 🙂

Bella attacking her new toys, Three Blind Mice

Want more information on Foodie Penpals? Here’s a few details for ya…

• 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 Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. This is because things might get too slow and backed up when trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.