October Foodie Pen Pal!

Last month I signed up for a cool new program: Foodie Pen Pal!! Here's how it works: You sign up before the 5th of the month, then you are assigned a recipient and a sender. You pack a box of $15 worth of "foodie" things (can be homemade or local flavors or whatever) and send it to your recipient (you connect with them to find out their preferences and/or dietary restrictions). The sender does the same thing for you!

I sent my recipient some Julio's seasoned corn chips, Native Texan salsa, Taste of Austin coffee, San Antonio Fiesta blend chili powder and habenero pralines!! She lives in Florida and she said that she shared many of the items with her family and they enjoyed all the Tex Mex flavors. She even ordered some of the pralines online!

The box I received was from a woman who blogs at Bake No Prisoners. It was delivered on my birthday, which made it that much more exciting! She did a great job decorating the box for Halloween.

Inside were lots of Halloween- and Fall-themed treats, some homemade, others store-bought.

The box included pumpkin granola bars, pumpkin seeds, Yogi tea (!), Halloween bark, and some cookies (along with the cookie recipe). Everything was awesome (especially the Halloween bark!) and I even used the pumpkin seeds in my homemade bread. The recipe says they're optional and I never had them before so I always left them out, but I was excited that I could include them this time!

I've signed up for November and already sent my match a box of South Texas favorites (very similar to the one I sent my October match). I'll be receiving a box from a fellow Texan from Houston this time! Can't wait to see what's in store!