Cultural Exchange

One of the best things about the Foodie Penpal program is getting a window into others' lives and cultures.  This month's both from Soonya was a perfect example--Soonya's family is Mexican-Korean, and the box included foods from both cultures.

 Soonya included a wonderful handwritten note (how I envy those who have better handwriting than I do, which is pretty much everyone) explaining that the miso soup was great served with a rice mixture that included jasmine, brown and sweet rice along with barley.  The ramen packets were deliciously spicy--David cracked one open the day the box arrived and ate it with leftover brisket.

 

The honey, which is made in California, is from a Mexican-run plantation.  It includes a gorgeous piece of honeycomb and I am looking forward to having it in tea.

 

Soonya was also thoughtful enough to include two cans of cat food for Ingrid, who turned 18 two weeks ago.  My gorgeous Siamese cat has been with me since I was 22--almost half my life.  She's a little slower and grayer, but still sassy and a fabulous companion.  I'm lucky to have her.

 

Thanks again to Soonya for a fabulous box!

So That Happened

So March...well, that (has mostly) happened.  I've been doing a disappearing act because I'm in (not directing, but in) a show that is opening tonight.  It's a truly odd, wonderful play called Dead Man's Cell Phone, which is about a woman who happens to be sitting in a cafe next to a man who has died, picks up his cell phone and gets sucked into his life.  Ever thought technology has made it possible for us to be less connected?  That's the moral of this play.

I act so rarely anymore that I feel insecure about doing so, but even more so this time because I'm the lead.  I've never been the lead!  Last night we had an audience for the first time, and I hope most of them found the play as weird and wonderful as I do.

In the midst of the final couple of weeks of rehearsal, I received this month's foodie penpal box from Ida in Kansas.  I loved this box, and David pronounced it his favorite of the ones I've received so far.  It features--for the second month in a row, yay!--great regional goodies.  Ida hails from Kansas, not too terribly far from where I grew up, and included some great treats.

The Kansas wheat kernels are great fun--crunchy and salty, and I am thinking about ways to incorporate some of them into a sweet and salty granola-type bar.  I've been using the honey straws all week in tea to keep my voice going strong for the show.  And homemade jam!  I'm swooning, although I haven't cracked into it yet.

But the piece de resistance is the chicken poop lip balm.  I'll admit I gave that the side-eye when I first saw it--who wants to put bird poop on their lips?--but was relieved to find on the side of the container that it actually contains no poop.  Whew.  And since I lose containers of lip balm like they're going out of style, it's awesome to get another one.

Fingers crossed and knocking on wood for a good opening night!  When I have my life back a little next week, I'll be posting this month's Cake Slice cake--a delicious honey cake with almonds.

Regional Flair

I love receiving the monthly Foodie Penpal box...because you never know what will be inside.

This month I received a box from Karen in Michigan, who sent Michigan specialties, including rocky road fudge, thin, crispy ginger cookies, a bottle of sparkling grape juice, and a cherry honey mustard pretzel dip.  These goodies arrived on a cold, drizzly Friday afternoon, along with a note describing Michigan's many vineyards.  Karen explained that St. Julian's was a childhood favorite--I am secreting the bottle of grape juice away for Passover, which is coming up much faster than I would like--eek!



I swear David ate two cookies before I could
even get everything out of the box.

The real highlight here, though, is that package of ginger cookies.  They are thin and crispy at the edges, but soft toward the middle--absolute perfection.  David tore into them and pronounced them some of the best cookies he'd eaten in ages. 



My favorite part of participating in Foodie Penpals is receiving regional specialties--I would never have thought that Michigan cherries mixed into honey mustard could be so good!  Thanks to Karen for this wonderful box--I really appreciate it.

If you are interested in learning more about Foodie Penpals, head over to The Lean Green Bean.

November Foodie Penpals

Wow!  I can't believe it's time for Foodie Penpals reveal day again.  Can I just say how much fun I've had doing this over the last four months?  I love picking out what to send to my penpal, but I'd be lying if I didn't say the best part is getting a box of goodies from a different part of the country every month.  If you're interested in participating or learning more, head over to the Lean Green Bean.

This month's box was courtesy of Leigh Ann in Florida, a/k/a the state with the climate least like the one I inhabit.  Imagine my delight when I opened up my box and saw these:

A gorgeous ripe avocado (no, a slimcado, which is apparently an avocado with less fat) and a Florida orange.  I can't tell you how ripe, colorful produce in the middle of our long spell of 10-as-a-high weather makes me feel.  The orange juice and zest went into the Thanksgiving bread pudding (really), and David devoured that avocado in sandwiches.

The box also contained fun mango chewy candies, honey, and post-workout supplements.  There was also a granola-type bar made out of quinoa--I'm packing that sucker in my purse when I leave for another business trip this weekend.

Thanks, Leigh Ann, for the fabulous treats!

On another note, is anyone else still working on their Thanksgiving leftovers?  We've turned the turkey carcass into broth and made turkey udon soup, and tonight I'm trying a recipe I saw on another website:  leftover cranberry sauce and brie panini with coarse mustard.  It sounds pretty fabulous to me--will report back next week on the results.

Which leads me to this question:  what is the most creative thing you've made out of Thanksgiving leftovers?

October Foodie Penpals

It's that fabulous time of the month again, where we reveal what was sent as part of the Foodie Penpals program.

I have to say, I totally love participating in this.  A box arrives on my doorstep after the 15th of the month, filled with goodies.  It's equally fun trying to pick out what to send to my penpal.  If you're not involved in the program currently, head over to The Lean Green Bean and check it out--this is my third month participating and it rocks.

My penpal this month was Rona from Berrymorin's Bits and Tips.  She sent me a gorgeous tea basket with a small teapot and six kinds of flowering tea, which is especially appropriate considering that it has suddenly become subzero in Alaska.  If it's going to be this cold, though, I really want snow!

My box went to Geneva in California, who was kind enough to supply this guest post in response to my "Baby, It's Cold Outside"-themed box.  Can we just say how envious I am that she got to attend a playoff game for the World Series?

I received a package from Krista all the way from Alaska. In the package were 2 biscottis. One was almond dipped in dark chocolate. The other was blueberry drizzled with white chocolate. They were so delicious with my coffee. I had them on 2 separate days even though I was tempted to scarf them both down the first morning.

 

Also in the box were 2 packages of hot cocoa mix. One was plain and one had picante spices added. I was lucky enough to get invited to attend one of the San Francisco Giants vs the St Louis Cardinals playoff game. I made the package of the plain hot cocoa mix, put it in my thermos and added some peppermint schnapps. Later that evening when it got chilly we drank the contents of my thermos and it warmed us up all the way down.

 

I'm saving the cocoa picante one for a special occassion.

 

There was a package of mulling spices in the box. I'm gonna use that to make mulled wine on New Years day when I have people over and make ollie bollen (a dutch donut). Making ollie bollen on New Years day is a tradition at my house that was started many years ago by my Mother-in-law whose family was from Holland.

 

There was a dark chocolate bar with spiced pumpkin seeds on top. I haven't tried it yet, but am sure when I do it will be excellent.

 

The last item in my package was a jar of maple cinnamon toast sprinkle. Sunday I made plain french toast, slathered it with butter and sprinkled on the contents of the jar. It was delicious. It took me back to when I was a little girl and my granny would make french toast and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar. The added maple sugar was a great touch.

 

I want to thank Krista for the package of unique goodies. October was one to remember.

Geneva, you are so welcome!  Now I have to plot a theme for next month's penpal...and make some French toast with cinnamon toast sprinkle.

I'm Back!

Too much to say in this post...but the executive summary is that On Golden Pond is open, it's going well and I would be starting to have my life back...if I weren't finalizing an enormous appellate brief that's due on Friday.  More on all of that later.





Sorry for the poor quality of these photos. 
Who said iPhones were so great?

I received my monthly Foodie Penpal box at just the right time, before I went into technical rehearsals.  The lovely Gigi from San Antonio sent me a sampler of dried fruits, candy and other treats, all packaged into little parcels that I threw into my bag and ate during the last week of rehearsals.  Who knew wasabi sunflower seeds were so good?  And that candy corn, something I have historically not liked, tasted good when flavored with blackberries?

 

It was an embarrassment of riches that arrived at exactly the right time.  Thanks, Gigi, for such a fabulous box!

 

In other news, David and I came out of the opening night of On Golden Pond to find the first snow of the year falling.  It didn't last past Saturday morning, but it's a sign that winter is on its way in Alaska.

 

Also, this week marked the end of the Jewish high holidays, so a belated l'shanah tovah to all those who observed them.

 

Back soon with the promised Vegas restaurant reviews and the first post-show meals!  But first, the accursed, appellate brief...

 



 

Out of the (Mail)Box

I love a good surprise.  That's not a shocking statement, but I particularly love boxes that arrive on my doorstep promising food-related goodies selected just for little ol' me.

This was my first month participating in the Foodie Penpals program put together by the lovely Lindsay over at her blog The Lean Green Bean.  The concept is that someone spends $15.00 to put together a box of goodies and mails it to you, and you put together your own box and mail it to a different person.  On the last day of the month, the penpals post what they have received.  What's amazing is that 1,300 people in the US/Canada participate each month!

I was the lucky recipient of a box from Ashley P. of Virginia Beach--Ashley doesn't have a blog, or I would plug it here, but she apparently has a sixth sense of WAW--What Alaskans Want.

WAW is a little skewed--our local daily paper, which is about the thickness of your average leaflet left on your door trying to convince you to buy lawn services or order Chinese food--periodically does a survey asking Alaskans what stores/restaurants they think should come to town.

Target was on the list for a long time, and now they're in the Alaska market like gangbusters.  Too bad that they are nowhere near my house.

The Olive Garden was the number one for years and years.  I was recently informed that Anchorage is now the proud owner of a newish Olive Garden, in which I have not set foot and plan never to do so unless a client drags me there. 

The number one now?  It has to be Trader Joe's.  I am not exaggerating when I say that people literally take an extra bag on vacation when they are venturing to a place that has a Trader Joe's, and fill it up with food.  The dried fruit is particularly popular, since it makes for great hiking/skiing/camping snacks and is wicked expensive at grocery stores here.

So imagine my delight when I opened my box and found tons of Trader Joe's goodies, including dried bananas and green mango.  David opened the latter immediately and started popping pieces in his mouth.  Ashley also sent brown rice-marshmallow treats (think a healthier version of a Rice Krispy bar), shelf-stable gnocchi (delicious with a brown butter-Swiss chard sauce a week ago), wasabi peas (spicy and delicious), a tin of green tea-flavored mints and a packet of her very own, delicious granola. 

To check out the penpal program, which is open to both bloggers and readers, go here.  Thanks to Ashley for the wonderful treats!

My box went to Sarah--you can check out her blog Sparkly Lil' Life here.

Have a great holiday weekend!