So, this was my first try at being a foodie penpal. The idea was born by Blogger Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean and has blossomed to over 1000 participants in the US, Canada and the UK. When you sign up, you are paired with 2 other participants (in your country), one you will send a goodie box to and one you will receive from. The idea is to make it fun and the cost of the box is under $15. You ask your foodie penpal what they like, don’t like etc to make sure you don’t send nuts to someone allergic.Anyway, that’s the basics…
So, I was paired with 2 ladies who are not bloggers, so, I can’t link to their blogs. My foodie box went to a woman in Brooklyn and I received from someone in Arizona. I told my foodie pen pal that I loved unusual stuff and the more unusual the better and surprise me! 🙂
I’ll be brutally honest, I was soooo disappointed when my box came in. Nothing locally made, nothing homemade, no note about the items in the box. I did get a picture of a couple of kids on a Christmas card and a note that they were a slice of her life. Here’s the box I received:
Some Brownie Brittle, some water crackers from Israel, some bread sticks from Italy, a microwave candy apple mix and a handful of loose peppermint candy’s. I suppose if there were a note to explain that the crackers were a tradition from her childhood, or that the microwave apple stuff was a favorite treat for her, maybe I would have felt better.
The guidelines dictate that I don’t post what was in the box that I shipped out, but I can say that I logged a few miles collecting items unique to my area. Sent it out with a nice long letter talking all about what I chose and why.
Anyway, I am a foodie, I love cool food, I love unusual food. Will I do this foodie penpal thing again? Yes, one more time…
Interested in being a foodie penpal? Here are some details about Foodie Penpals.
-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 from the US or Canada and are in participating for March, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) 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!
*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup.
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