Last Friday was particularly cold and grey. It had been a long week and I didn’t have much intention of doing anything besides writing a bit and cuddling up with a good book. Around 3pm the intercom buzzed announcing the postman was here with a package. Package? I didn’t remember ordering anything (an uncomfortable withdrawal from the holiday season). The Crate & Barrel box arrived (already pretty exciting) and then I realized this must be my Foodie Penpal package!

When I told Gregg, my penpal for this month, that I was a locavore and would appreciate any special local finds he could send me, he did not disappoint. My box was brimming with local goods from the great (COLD, he stressed) state of Minnesota. Boy, did I get spoiled this month.

Chocolate from his favorite place, Abdallah Candies. The best dark chocolate salted caramel candies I’ve ever had, a solid dark chocolate bar, plus a milk chocolate moose that tried very, very hard to make the journey in one piece but failed a bit. It was just as tasty and it actually made me feel better that I didn’t have to tear off his antlers, it was already done for me.

Honey from Jeralyn’s hometown and wild rice. I didn’t even know rice was grown in the US, let alone Minnesota! AND HOMEMADE SALSA that if I wasn’t so lazy to go out and buy chips would be gone by now. Now I can my own salsa too, but I get my produce from the greenmarkets. Gregg and his wife Jeralyn grow all their produce on a 20×40 plot right outside their door. Just a bit jealous.

Thank you so very very much Gregg and Jeralyn! You really made this locavore happy! And thanks as always to Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean for organizing all of this. If you want to join foodie penpals, here are the details:

• On the 5th of every 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 are 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 Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 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.

If you’re interested in joining, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You must submit your information by March 4th as pairings will be emailed on March 5th!

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