A few months ago I read about the amazing foodie penpals run by @thisisrocksalt in the UK and @leangrnbeanblog in America. It’s a simple enough concept you join up and then each month you are given a name of a foodie penpal to whom you send a parcel, you then receive a parcel from another penpal. So a parcel each month of surprising, new foods to taste.. whilst having a good excuse for shopping for delectable foodie items sounded too good to be true! I had lots of fun making up my parcel for the very sweet Catriona in Glasgow who loved it (thankfully) and has written a lovely blog post about it which you can read here: http://whitecatherblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/spicy-thai-hazelnut-heaven/

I was like a child at Christmas waiting for my parcel to arrive and when it finally did today from Lex @LadyNom1 it was just lovely.. Very well presented minus one spillage and it contained two of my favourite things: alcohol and cheese! Ha.

I read the letter that accompanied my parcel first which was nice in itself as its been a long time since I have had a hand written letter and it explained all of the items and gave serving or recipe suggestions.

My parcel contained 4 items:

1. Dunham Massey Beer: Lex explained that this is a locally brewed beer and is great for cooking with beef so I think I’m going to save it for a special meal.

2. Marmalade: This looks yummy. This was homemade by Lex using oranges from her friends orangery. I wish my friends owned an orangery! She advised that this can make a lovely sauce when combined with white wine and coriander for chicken or duck so I will certainly be trying that out.

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3. Port & Duck Liver parfait: Unfortunately this didn’t survive the journey so well and was kinda smushed up out of the pot but some managed to stay in the pot so will give it a whirl later with some toast. This was homemade by Lex so I’m disappointed that it didn’t make it in one piece but that’s royal mail for you!

4. Burts Blue Cheese: Lex wrote that this was handmade by a woman in Altrincham and although I rarely eat blue cheese I’m quite excited about it as I love to try new recipes and she said its fantastic in a souffle which is what I intend to use it for.

All in all I really enjoyed my first foodie penpals experience, it was lots of fun and quite exciting for a foodie like me. I would urge anyone with an interest in food to join in.

I always have two lovely new blogs to follow which is a bonus.

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