chocolate | Lake Michigan-Upon-Thames

As you can clearly tell, my blogging is still in its infancy. But I learn new things with every article I post, so I WILL get there – I promise.

This site wasn’t up and running in time for the last round of Foodie Penpal reveals, but I think we’re really good to go this month. This particular posting is about the package I gathered to send to lovely Lisa in Craigavon.

I have historically used all kinds of shopping sources to fulfil the penpal requirements. I would really like to use our Farmers’ Market that comes to Epsom every month, as more and more unusual vendors are selling their wares. And it’s all local stuff – which is kind of the point, right? But our once-a-month market shows up on the first Sunday of the month. And our new Penpal matches aren’t sent out until the 5th of the month, so unless that first Sunday falls on the 6th or 7th, I’m stuffed. So sorry Lisa – no local-to-Epsom products in your parcel this month.

I was lucky enough to visit the Lake District earlier this month, however, and I tend to picture all of the Lake District like a Beatrix Potter sketch. So with countryside that cute, I knew I could probably find at least a couple of items there . . . and I wasn’t disappointed. A combination of traipsing through Grange-over-Sands and Cartmel really provided me with a variety of things that I just wouldn’t find here in Surrey. So I did pick up a few things for the parcel.

But I knew I needed more items once I got back home, so I did the ‘farm shop’ google and found several within an acceptable radius. I chose one and went for it. Boy, did I strike gold! I found a place called The Larder, and it is a magical shop with local grocery items – and some very unusual things. It’s a quite petite shop, but it still took me about 20 minutes to walk around and see the whole thing. And this is where I did the rest of my shopping. Note to my future recipients: be watching for more items from here!

So here are a few things that went into this month’s parcel –

Ready for the goodies!

The first big decision, of course, is what box to use. I now tend to keep all the boxes that I get stuff in, just for the foodie penpal, so we might need to move house to incorporate the extra cardboard I’ve accumulated.

Chocolate handbag

In Grange-over-Sands, there is the most delightful chocolate shop (I kind of feel like it’s more of a “ye olde shoppe”), and one of the things Lisa said she liked was chocolate. And what girl doesn’t like a handbag, so a combination of the two seemed appropriate.

Pretty pasta

Lisa also told me she likes pasta, and this was so pretty that I had to get this – also from Grange-over-Sands. I think it must have other flavours in it, but I just liked the colours.

Smoked garlic

The rest of the stuff came from The Larder in Cobham. This freshly smoked bulb of garlic was just so aromatic, and nice and light to post! So that went in – although I did double wrap it in two zip-lock baggies to try to contain the aroma.

Snacking Salami

Battered broad beans

I had send the snacking salami as it looked really nice, and then I happened upon the battered broad beans. I have to say that I glanced at it and thought the flavour said “Mojito”, which has to be great on anything, right? It wasn’t until I got home and was wrapping everything up that I realised they weren’t actually mojito-flavoured. Sorry, Lisa . . .

Ladybug!

Lemon & Black Pepper chocolate

And finally – a few more sweet things, because you never can have too many – some lemon and black pepper chocolate and a lucky ladybug!

What a fun package this was to put together. I wonder what the next one will bring?

Okay okay . . . I know it’s almost mid-June, but it’s never too late to do a reveal, I think. This month, my Foodie Pen Pal was Rachella. Rachella is a fellow American living in London, so we compared a lot of notes – mostly on good Mexican restaurants in London. I might need to test them all.

Thai Tower

But my parcel was so diverse, and it was a true joy to open up and wade through. I got so many goodies – some familiar and some very foreign, so it was a voyage of discovery. The first thing I got to was this tower of Thai, which gives me Thai oil, Thai seasonings and Thai paste. Boy, does this smell good. I think this won’t last long here. It might make it till tomorrow, but I’m kind of doubting it.

Chiles

My next goodie was a can of jalepeno chilis. During my exchange with Rachella, she discovered that I really enjoy hot food, so chilis are always a good bet. I like that these are whole. I can do many more things with these.

Chili rub

Moving on through that theme, I came to this three chili rub. This, I know, will be a big hit in the household (apart from the cat). It smells wonderful, and I can’t wait to try it. It may have to wait until after I do the Thai dinner, but it won’t have to wait long.

Junior Mints

The next item I grabbed just made me laugh out loud. Who doesn’t like Junior Mints? Although I appreciate the Big Bang Theory link, I think they will always remind me of Seinfeld.

Dried figs

I then grabbed a packet of dried figs, which I’ve never used before, so I am very excited about that. I love fresh figs, and I know I can incorporate these into something very yummy. Time to do some research.

See’s candy

I also got a handful of See’s candies, which I believe come from the west coast of America, where Rachella is from. These are the perfect items to keep energy levels up while I’m working. I can’t wait to try these.

Twinings

Of course no explanation is needed for Twinings tea. You can’t live in England without becoming a tea addict. And Twinings is definitely one of the better cups of tea you’re going to have. I think, as this is neatly packed in a sealed packet, I’ll put this in my bag so I can have a lovely cuppa on the go sometime.

Nutter Butter

Next came a tub (now near empty) of Nutter Butter bites. For those not familiar with Nutter Butters, they are a peanut shaped cookie sandwiched with peanut butter. So these are just the little bite size cookies that you can pop in your mouth without anyone noticing (unless they get close enough to smell your peanut butter breath). These are good with the aforementioned tea.

Chocolate Bears

And finally, I’m not quite sure what to call these or where they actually came from, but they are just the coolest little chocolate cookies. When I looked at the outside, I thought they’d maybe be the equivalent of Animal Crackers, without that little box they used to come in with the little shoe-lace handle. But no – these are actually all little bears that are filled with chocolate. But each one of them is painted with a different personality. So one’s a nurse, one’s happy, etc. I kind of feel bad eating them. Well . . . not THAT bad.

Little Bears

All in all, I think I made out pretty well this month, and I thank Rachella for her efforts. You did a fine job.

Lake Michigan-Upon-Thames

A Gale of two cities . . .

Tag Archives: chocolate

June Foodie Penpal Reveal (what I sent out)

May Foodie Pen Pal reveal