Foodie Pen Pal!!

At the end of every month, I always see a number of tweets from people exclaiming how excited they are for their #foodiepenpal package and what yummy treats they received. This month, I finally caved and joined in on the fun for the month of May.

I can't remember the last time that I received a care package - not something that I ordered online or something that I ordered for my kids but a package just for me. It reminded me of my days at boarding school when I would receive parcels from friends and family. I was so excited to receive my package from Karen. Poor Karen had to navigate my minefield of food allergies but she sent along some amazing treats from Trader Joe's - one of my favorite stores. 

I was impressed that Karen was able to fill up the box with goodies that I have yet to try from Trader Joe's. When I opened the box, it smelled so lovely from this Lemon Verbena soap. 

I also received Spicy Smoky Peach Salsa, Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers, Roasted Plantain Chips and Zico Mango Coconut Water. I LOVED the peach salsa. I don't typically like fruit salsa unless I make it myself because they can tend to be overly sweet. However, this salsa nicely balanced the sweetness of peaches with a smoky flavor and was great with fish. And then, there was this...

YUM. These were seriously delicious. And no, I didn't share. Thank you Karen! I seriously loved everything in my package. You can check out what I sent to Meg over at Moments Like This. If you haven't joined Foodie Pen Pals yet, I would encourage you to do it! It's such a fun way to get to know other bloggers and foodies.

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  Here’s what the program is all about:

• 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 Penplas is open to US & Canadian 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 interested in participating for June, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You will also find contact information on that page for the UK branch of Foodie Penpals if you’re a blogger across the pond!

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!