I have been so lucky with my foodie penpals, and this month was no exception. My parcel from Selina arrived early, and I was so excited to get it open because she had already ‘warned’ me that it contained something fresh.

The package!

You can imagine my surprise when I unwrapped the box itself and found Selina had sent me a hand blender! WOW!

Of course, as I opened it, I realised it wasn’t a hand blender at all, BUT the replacement contents did not disappoint.

The fresh stuff

With June being asparagus season, Selina sent me some wonderfully fresh asparagus from a farm just down the road from her. I immediately threw them on the griddle and boiled some water for a poached egg. A quick, sure-fire recipe for hollandaise served well for a lovely sauce, and that was my dinner done! I think it was all the more tasty knowing that these asparagus spears used to be neighbours with my penpal.

British chorizo!

Next came the chorizo. I have been a lover of chorizo for a long time, but never realised we produced anything (of quality) here in the UK, so I was delighted to try the Bath Pig Chorizo. It was delicious, and I’ve already found a place near me that sells it.

Gin and pink grapefuit

And I washed that down with something I had never tried before. It was a gin and pink grapefruit cocktail. How refreshing is this? And the perfect drink to have with chorizo. I’ve had gin and tonic (just a few . . .), gin and bitter lemon, gin and an olive, but I don’t think I ever would have thought to put it with grapefruit. It was yummo and will definitely be having more of these.

Sourdough crackers

The chorizo and gin also went well with the Sourdough crackers. I was afraid they might be a bit like cardboard, but they were very, very tasty. And these went with everything. I tried them with a sweet dip. I tried them with a savoury dip. I tried them naked (them . . . not me). They’re good.

Buckingham Palace Guard

I also got a cool Buckingham Palace Guard (you can never have too many of those), so I feel safe and secure know I’m being guarded at all times. I am actually in the middle of cutting it out, so I can’t show you the finished product. I needed little nail scissors for it, which I finally found. It’s a bit like sewing and cutting out a pattern. But at least I don’t have to fit or pin this on anyone. And Selina also sent me a wonderful summery recipe for a salad that works well in hot weather. I’m sure that will come in handy any day now (please, please, please).

The the last thing was probably my favourite thing of all. It was a package of Burnt Sugar Fudge. And it was delicious. Each piece just melted away, and I had to ration that because the whole package could have easily been consumed quickly. But what made this my favourite thing was because it was Selina’s Grandad’s favourite, and by all accounts, he was a very special man. And I loved that she shared that with me in this way. I feel quite certain he’s proud that his grand-daughter is such a good foodie penpal.

Crumbly Burnt Sugar Fudge