March Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

It's that time again, time to reveal the great food I got in the mail.

First, though, I think amazing shout and props must be given to Lindsay, who oversees this whole endeavor. There are over 1,000 participants each month and she corrals everyone into getting this done. Needless to say, there are some glitches and missed connections, but she really closes those gaps and makes sure it's done. She doesn't have to, but she does, which must be hella time consuming. 

So, thank you Lindsay and congratulations on finishing up your Dietietic Internship! I hope when you get that RD accreditation, you do not forget to work with whichever libarians are around. We all need each other.

So, yes, this month had a few more bumps than last time. The person who was supposed to send me a box never contacted me. After a week or so, Lindsay closed the gap on that one and connected me with Tiffany from Greeley CO, who immediately contacted me. After a few e-mail exchanges, I was once again excited to wait for my mail.

(Interesting small world factoid: My parents briefly lived in Greeley back in the early 60's.)

Fast forward to the end of the month and no sign of the package. Tiffany sent me the tracking number, but the post office couldn't find it. They claimed it was delivered. I pictured a few of my wacky neighbors feasting on whatever she sent me. But then I went back to the post office. And while they claimed it was nowhere, I saw the package SITTING ABOVE THEIR HEADS ON A SHELF. Lucky I'm so tall, I guess.

So, a bit of a mini-crisis, but all ends well. Now, what did Tiffany send me?

Carob almonds, red wine vinegar and assorted hot sauces! (I did say I liked spicy and sweet!)

Tiffany's note said that I shouldn't feel too guilty about the carob almonds. Now, I did have a brief 70s flashback to carob powder used as a substitute in health food, so I was a little nervous. But these were EXCELLENT! I suppose they would have been healthy if I hadn't eaten so many at once.

I would be lying if I said I didn't just try these sauces right out of the bottle. The chipolte was smoky with a nice creamy bite. The habanero had a great kick and the cayenne was perfectly hot!

I immediately had to use all three in dinner:

Some of the leftover chicken and matzoh "stuffing" sauteed up with collard greens and healthy doses of habanero and cayenne sauces. Next to that is a avocado/tomato/queso "salsa" with some big splashes of the chipolte sauce (along with some extra gefilte fish).

(Small world factoid #2: I was actually out of red wine vinegar, so that bottle was a nice coincidence, too!)

So thank you to Tiffany, who stepped up to avert foodie pen pal dissppointment!

I sent my package to Laura, who lives in Nevada and is dating a chef (lucky!) You can visit her site, Foodie Meets Chef, to see what I sent her.

And on a great sitcom end note...the post office sent me a final notice about this package AFTER I came and picked it up!