Empty Nester – Extraordinaire

Posts Tagged ‘foodie pen pals’

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal – August 2012

This month, after taking July off, I participated in Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsey at the Lean Green Bean.

.PHOTO TO COME.

Foodie Pen Pal – August 2012

My amazing pal treated me to tons (!!) of amazing things.  You’ll have to trust me. Although I photographed all the goodies, I failed to plan ahead and the photo was still in the camera when my husband took off for his adventures at the Burning Man festival in the deserts of Nevada.  Unfortunately, I didn’t document it all either, so I’m going from memory and labels.

My favorite part of the package was a bag of dates.  I offered some to my kids who did not enjoy them AT ALL.  No worries – more for Sheila.  Also included were jars of salsa and bruchetta that I haven’t taken the time to try.  My pal also sent some spicy mango that traveled with the photos of it  because Eric absolutely loves mango.  I’ve been snacking on spiced almonds and giant white beans.  We all shared the fruit and granola bars. I believe there were other items [and I know I loved everything], but I’m having memory issues due to migraine pain.

When the camera returns, I’ll update.

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Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

• On the 5th of the 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 can choose 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 residents & UK 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 in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Sign up at The Lean Green Bean

1-6/365

I had such a hard time writing that last post that I’ve gotten incredibly behind the schedule that I made to keep myself on track.  Here is a valiant attempt to get back on track.

I’ve made a goal to complete the 365 project.  Basically the goal is to take one photograph each day for 365 days.  I’m having fun so far, but worry, as always, that my life is boring and that no one will care.  I started on a Sunday and am supposed to [ahem] post weekly on Sunday, so I present to you photos 1-6 of 365.

WEEK 1 YEAR 1

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On Sunday – Mother’s Day Sunday, the final performance of Highland Junior High School’s “Willy Wonka Jr” ran. Alek was the Candy Man.  He was a true highlight of the show.  His love for performing and his absolutely capturing stage presense really created a remarkable and memorable character.

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Ravynn worked really hard on her “Making a Mummy” interest fair project for Northside Middle School.  This is a little peek at the mummies on day 40 – just before they were unearthed to create her display.

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 One of my favorite co-workers always comments that she would starve in my house because she “doesn’t eat weird food”.  I thought of her when I snapped this picture. Purple cauliflower, yellow carrots, and plain old boring broccoli 🙂

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 When Ravynn completed her Mummy project, she was incredibly proud and felt very special that her dad let her take one of his original paintings to complete her display. 

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 This month for the first time,  I participated in the Foodie Pen Pal program.  On Thursday, my first package arrived in the mail.  It was a very exciting experience for all of us. 

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 Friday was rehearsal for our annual dance recital.  I love my little bunheads 🙂