the big reveal: foodie penpals exchange foodie gifts

ever heard of the foodie pen pals?  a while back, i came across a badge on someones blog and decided to investigate.  turns out that everyone in this group exchanges gifts of food with a randomly selected partner each month.  lindsay of the lean grean bean founded the group about three years ago and if you want to give it a try, visit her site and sign up.  this is the third time i have participated and it has been a lot of fun.

first you have to shop for your partner, how can you not enjoy that.  you do have to make sure they do not have allergies, dietary restrictions or preferences first but once you know, you can choose whatever you like to send them.  some participants send homemade goodies.  so far, i have just gone shopping, but i may have to try sending some homemade goodies-maybe next month...

lindsay recently decided to change things up a bit.  in the past, you were paired randomly and the person you sent a box to was not the same person who sent one to you.  however this month we were partnered so that we would swap boxes; my box came from kristyn of edmond, oklahoma and she received a box from me.  

the spending limit is $15 and i easily kept within that budget by visiting two ethnic markets in my neighborhood.  as a result, kristyn got a box filled with indian, latino and asian ingredients that she can cook with at home.  to see kristyn's box, follow this link.

my assistant, twitch, quickly turned the box into a bed.  there must be some rule of beds in the cat handbook that requires cats to take control of any and all boxes in the house.  trust me, if i place a box, any kind of box-no matter what size, anywhere in the house, i will have a cat sleeping in it.  or as in this case, on it.

you can't go wrong with cupcake stamps!

a serious box of snacks!  the canister is full of monster sized cookies and the bubble wrap is hiding a bottle of salad dressing.  it is almost as if kristyn knew me-cookies and salad dressing, my two favorite food groups...

twitch was looking for kitty snacks.  i offered her a cookie, she declined and that is okay, i really didn't want to share them anyway!

big and chunky and full of chips and nuts and kahlua.  now those are some serious chocolate chip cookies!

i like the way she repurposed the coffee canister with a map of oklahoma-crafty!  be sure to check out the website for the links to see the other boxes that were sent around.  and if you want to try, be sure to sign up before the 9pm EDT deadline on april 4th!