Foodie Penpals : February

This month I became part of a great idea known as "Foodie Penpals". It was started in the US by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean, and has been brought to the UK/Europe via Carol Anne at This is Rock Salt.

The basic premise is that food bloggers and blog readers get to know each other by sending thoughtful, food related parcels to each other every month- sounds great, hey?! Participants sign up and get matched to two people- one who you send a parcel to, and one who will send a fun parcel to you!

Then at the end of the month, everyone blogs about their lovely box of goodies and we can all share what awesome-ness is inside 🙂

This month I received a box from the lovely Alex from Trending Recipes. He lives in Portugal and when I asked if there was anything specific I would like, I just requested some unique Portuguese goodies and mentioned I had quite a sweet tooth...

Alex obliged by sending me a great selection of items, as well as a lovely letter explaining what everything was, and what I could use it for 🙂

First up were 2 marmalade cubes from a major company in Portugal which has unfortunately now since closed, so I feel extremely privileged to have been sent something which you can no longer buy! They tasted super sweet and fruity, exactly like marmalade!

The next couple of items included some coffee sachets from the most famous coffee brand in Portugal, and a tiny little bottle of port wine which Alex says would be great in recipes. I shall have to do some research!

Next up on Alex's list was Ginjinha, a favourite Portuguese drink made by infusing ginja berries (sour cherries) in alcohol. It's often served in shots in little chocolate cups according to Alex, something which I can't wait to try!

He also sent me some dehydrated flowers which look beautiful and would be perfect on salads or desserts.

The final items were some of Alex's favourite chocolate bars, Regina (he definitely got my sweet tooth memo!), and some jams- one variety in a really cool tube packaging which was apple and mint with port wine, and a jar of an awesome orange carrot and almond jam. Such interesting flavours! I tried one of the chocolate bars the other night- they have little pieces of almond in and are really tasty!

Thank you so much Alex 🙂 It was really exciting to receive a parcel of unknown tasty treats in the mail, and I am definitely looking forward to next month!

This month I also sent a parcel to Lenna and Max, who have just recently started a blog to write about their Foodie Penpal adventure, so head here to read about what I posted to them.

And if you fancy joining up (you don't have to be a blogger to get involved- you can choose to write a note for the blogger who sent you the parcel to post on their site if you like) then head over to This is Rock Salt to find out more! I highly recommend it 🙂

Beki x

PS. It's my birthday today! Lots of fun stuff planned- birthday post to follow tomorrow/Sat 🙂