foodie pen pal II

I was paired for the Foodie PenPal event in November with an awesome new friend from Texas. Rubina is a sign language interpreter (isn't that cool?!) and lives in South Texas. Her birthday is December 4th--which she shared with me after finding out I'm days {seconds!} away from having a baby, and I should "aim" for that particular date. It was a true pleasure to experience some foodie love from the Southern Central part of this great country this month!

See? I have approximately 50 hours to go :)

Rubina sent along a delicious recipe for some Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars. They were awesome, and very moist. I love pumpkin, and the bars were instantly opened and they made it to...oh...about the next morning's breakfast. 

 Rubina also sent some authentic salsa verde, along with instructions, which I have with the ingredients saved--just so I make sure to make our Texas treats correctly!

 This is an up-close of the delicious Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars. They even had peanut butter and chocolate chips sprinkled in. SO good!

 See my perfect instructions?! I have a few days before I go to this for our dinner plans, but I'm thinking it would be a suitable dinner to make on December 4th, right? 

 Sweet State representation!!

 We also got some more sweet treats, in the peanut's theme. The Kind bars are so good, and the Mazapan was one of our favorite things!! Really different, but we liked it a lot. That's got to be my favorite part of the Foodie Pen Pals idea--trying new things!!

 Peanuts! and a lovely card from my new friend. 

Thanks so much, Rubina!! It was a great box of foodie surprises, and you were the sweetest person to "meet" via our joint love of food. Thanks for your generosity and thoughtfulness. 

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Wish me some hospital luck! 

Foodie PenPals, October edition

This was my first time at Foodie PenPals, after a good friend found this awesome link to this great idea by Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean. 

I was paired with a book lover in Michigan who received my box o'goodies, and a sweet new friend named Sandy Reynolds of Bakersfield, CA sent me some great foodie treats! 

I couldn't even believe she sent it UPS. It got here super fast. 

Sandy wrote me a letter outlining all of the treats and their histories. The box started out all festive too, with a pumpkin and spider and Halloween stickers sprinkled throughout the box. It was so fun to open and start to look around! 

 Now to the goodies: Clockwise from the top left -- Dewar's chews. Delicious, taffy-like chews in a variety of flavors. Sandy even went to the trouble of labeling them for me so I knew what I was trying!! A big hit with the husband.  The caramel pistachio was insane. By far my favorite, although we loved the PB&J one, and the others with the nut "filling"--so very delicious.

Next up: County Pumpkin Spice Granola. I love seasonal treats, and this granola was insane. So good!. Luigi's Seasoning was also a really great treat. We ate it this week on some grilled chicken and t-bone steaks on the grill, and it has just the right "kick". Really tasty, and I know we will make it last a long time, since it's only available at Luigi's Deli from Sandy's hometown of Bakersefield! 

The Butter Toffee Sunflower seeds were another big hit! Butter+Toffee and sunflower seeds means for easy snacking, and they were gone fast. (I may or may not be pregnant, and eat all. the. time)

Mr. Friendly Spider is next, and he quickly found a home in the webbed tree we have by our front door for the upcoming Halloween guests. 

Sandy went to the fair and found some Pumpkin Pie fudge, which is absolutely divine. It's creamy and smooth, and again--I love the seasonal treats! 

The jack-be-little pumpkin also made a quick transition in with our seasonal decor.

In all, this was a totally new and fun experience. I love trying new foodie things, and I was so pleased with the package that Sandy put together for me. It was thoughtful and delicious, and I can't wait until the next exchange! 

Thanks, Sandy!!

food, glorious food

we made greek burgers tonight: just a little mccormick's steak seasoning, oregano, kalamata olives, feta, and ground turkey. i formed them into patties and put a hole through them to aid the cooking process (turkey can be so tricky!) and we baked some alexis sweet potato tots to go alongside. then p had this brilliant idea to make some balsamic aioli (not a proper one, just one courtesy of hellman's) and it was delish! we had the burgers on pepperidge farms whole wheat buns and topped them with the aioli, tomatoes, and lettuce, and had the tots alongside, and we were in foodie heaven. it's so fun to come up with something that you know will taste good: just the basics of a mediterranean feast.