Foodie Penpals September Reveal

Does Foodie Penpals sound familiar? I hope so, I've been banging on about it for the past few weeks and today is the 'Reveal' Day!! Today every Foodie Penpal (wherever they are in the world) will unveil what they received in their foodie parcel! If you love what you see get involved here..

A shoebox full of mystery delights!

I received my very first Foodie Penpal parcel from Gill Holland and it happened to be the very first parcel she had sent so we were both novices. Not only is it exciting creating a box of goodies to send, the anticipation of what you might receive in your box is even more exciting! As part of the process your penpal has to get in touch with you to find out if there's anything that you're not supposed to eat or don't particularly want to eat. I wanted to be really straight forward but unfortunately had to list the gluten intolerance and the pregnancy related intolerance (smelly cheese/pate etc) but Gill was totally obliging and I loved that she asked if we had any events/milestones coming up that she could bear in mind, the only thing I could think of was our holiday.. So here's what we got:

A lovely letter to accompany the items in my parcel which included a list of a few fruit & veg currently in season, some of which made an appearance in my box, the first of which..

The cutest little beetroots right from Gill's Dad's allotment, complete with a delicious recipe for Hot Smoked Salmon, Beetroot Salad and Horseradish Creme Fraiche..

A lovely box of 'Calming Infusion Tea' plus some homemade and gluten free Fig & Apricot Tea Loaves. And I'd been craving fruit loaf the day I received these!

And a delightful little cake stand perfect for a cupcake or two mini tea loaves!

I mentioned to Gill that my favourite tea is liquorice & peppermint but didn't mention that Si's is camomile and this lovely box of 'Calming Infusion Tea' is Camomile, Limeflower, Lavender with Peppermint & Liquorice Root - perfect! I just love sticking my nose in the box and taking in the warming fragrance!

Gill put a lot of effort into my parcel and I loved it, it was seasonal, gluten free and had relaxing tea which was perfect for our holiday. Here's what I did with my new ingredients!

I had to use the beetroots before payday so couldn't make the exciting recipe Gill had suggested but did make delicious roasted beetroot with maple syrup and orange! 

I love these colours together.. Just chop up carrots and beetroot..

Add maple syrup, orange juice & zest, olive oil and roast in a hot oven for about 45mins-1hour until tender.

So there you have the unveiling of my first ever foodie penpal parcel. To find out more and to see the parcel I sent to Carol Anne, go to Rock Salt, or to see all the Foodie Penpal 'reveal' posts go to The Lean Green Bean.