Guest Post: August Foodie Pen Pals

I have a special treat for you all - a post written by someone other than me! So without further ado, let me introduce to you Rebecca Doyle...

I’m definitely a ‘foodie’ but I’m not a blogger, so please excuse my lack of writing skills. August was my second month of foodie pen pals, it also happened to be a surprisingly busy and discombobulating month, but I’ll spare you the details.

Georgie’s parcel couldn’t have arrived at a better time – I was struggling with two OU deadlines and in a fair bit of pain from a spinal condition. So I was in a somewhat delirious state when I opened the box… Georgie’s handwritten letter (with photo included!) talked me through the carefully chosen contents of the parcel. She’d gone with a Spanish/Mexican theme after I’d told her that I was brought up with Spanish and Middle Eastern culinary influences.

I dived in… to discover not only some chilli crostini, but also some homemade chilli jam – things were looking up. I had to try these two together straight away. A yummy, sticky chilli jam with a really feisty kick on the crunchy crostini – oh yes, a winning combo already! 

Like a demented, deadlining nutcase, I munched through way too many of these in one sitting, the chilli firing a new enthusiasm and clarity for the assignments I was tackling. Thanks Georgie! Also in the parcel were some homemade custard tarts. Not those horrible bland, anemic, eggy ones that our post-war relatives seem to enjoy so much, but those of the Portuguese variety. Oh dear, how did you know, Georgie? Delicious. They were also great the next day heated briefly in the oven.

Next up ... a chorizo, one of Georgie’s favourites, and something I’m also a little partial to! She had kindly included a Thomasina Miers recipe for Chorizo and Potato Quesedillas – which looks delicious. However, I’m afraid this chorizo didn’t get as far as those lovely looking quesadillas, but I will try that recipe soon.

After sampling a couple of little slices with the crostini and chilli jam (very nice too), I used the rest of it that evening in a very simple potaje (stew) with ingredients I had to hand – butter beans, potatoes, red peppers, lots of garlic, some oregano and thyme from the garden, smoked paprika and some tomatoes. Real comfort food inspired by the recipes of my Spanish abuela.

Lastly, there was some homemade Mexican hot chocolate mix. I love a bit of cinnamon in my hot chocolate – perfect for late-night study. Thank you so much for creating such a fun parcel, that helped fuel me through those essay deadlines that I’m so rubbish at hitting. Thanks also for introducing me to your blog and all your
great recipes. Stuffed peppers this week!

Thanks to Rebecca for a lovely and horrendously ego-boosting post. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter - @beccasbonbons.

August Foodie Pen Pals

I know, I know... It's September now isn't it? Autumn is looming eerily upon us, although it feels like we're still waiting for summer. But this post is better late than never! This month I received a parcel from Carl Legge of http://www.carllegge.com/ fame. He is a permaculturalist living on a peninsula in Northern Wales, so we are quite far removed from each other, but looking at his blog I was very excited to see what would arrive this month. I would thoroughly recommend his blog for reading! Unfortunately, we had some trouble with a certain courier (who I'm sure will never be trusted again!) who managed to damage the box and it ended up leaking. Part of me is still suspicious that "damaged" meant the delivery driver eating it's contents but we will never know.

Today my box arrived and a small crowd gathered at work to watch me open it. It was very clearly very well protected this time, as I pulled back the multiple layers of bubble wrap, feeling like a kid at Christmas. Carl's box was lovingly put together with a comprehensive letter of explanation, two recipes and everything labelled gorgeously. 

Drum roll please for the contents of my box...

First up we have fresh herbs from his garden! As lovely as our flat is, I do miss having a garden now and Carl has told me that an indoor herb garden may be possible - good news! So these were very well received. There's Chives, Flat leaf parsley, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Prostrate Rosemary, Bay leaves and Oregano. I'm especially intrigued by the oregano, as I've never cooked with the fresh version before!

Three different types of garlic... Three. I nearly had an aneurysm. These are all homegrown by Carl. There's Early Purple Wight, Garlic Music and Chesnoil White. I am in garlic heaven. I've made three different garlic butters for Rob and myself to do a tasting with. We both favoured the Early Purple White variety as it seemed to have a more pungent flavour than the others. Vampires beware!

A bottle of homemade chilli oil. Everyone who had eaten my food knows that I get a bit enthusiastic with the chilli. I even put fresh chillis on my salads at lunch. Carl warned that this may be a little bit hot but I tried some straight away and it has a lovely kick to it! Not too hot for this daredevil however... He also included the recipe for this, so I will be making my own supply shortly.

Then came the Billy Bars... I will share with you what Carl had told me about their name as it's a great story... 

"The name of these spiced muesli bars is an old one with a family history.I wanted healthy but tasty bars for my young son which didn’t have the processed sugars and fats in of most commercial ones. So I invented my own. Now when my son was little (and even now) if he asked what something was called I would answer  William” as a joke. So when I was looking for a name for these bars, I chose the alliterative ‘Billy Bars’."

You can find the recipe for Billy Bars here: Billy Bar Recipe

I tucked into one of these immediately and shared it with a few colleagues. It was very well received! Tasty but without the guilt of having a donut or some other artery clogging treat.

Finally was a Soda Bread Mix. My experiments in baking bread have been less than successful in the past. Paul Hollywood I am not. But Carl assures me that I'll be fine with this one! It's a mix of wholemeal spelt flour and white tybalt flour from his favourite Welsh Water Mill, Felin Ganol, in Ceredigion. He has included a great recipe from Dan Lepard’s book Short & Sweet, which I will hopefully be trying this weekend! Please cross everything you can for me. 

Carl also included a beautiful egg candle made by Deb, which I have added to my already worryingly big collection of candles.

I've been very lucky to have such great foodie pen pals so far, and am already planning for the next swap. If you love food, this is a great project to get involved in and you don't need to have a blog to be a pen pal! The Europe branch is up to 200 members and growing, so I implore you to "get involved". Think of all the tasty food you could be receiving every month!

Foodie Pen Pals: July Edition

"What's a foodie pen pal?" I hear you ask. It's a straightforward concept really. Every month you are assigned a foodie that you must send a package of tasty and delicious morsels to. This foodie could have their own food blog, or they might just enjoy reading other people's blogs whilst enjoying food themselves. On the 5th of the month you are sent a database containing all of the foodie penpal matches for that month. You are told the name of your recipient, their email and links to their blog and/or twitter account. Seeing the entire database, you can also look into who will be sending you a box this month. Once you've sent off the box you've painstakingly created, you can sit back and wait for your own to arrive. The idea is then to blog about your experience and the box that you received.

I was more than excited to discover this venture and within half an hour of uncovering the idea, I had joined and was anxiously awaiting my first match. My box this month is from Paula who writes All About the Bake (definitely check out her blog for some incredibly tasty looking treats and recipes!). We had a really lovely chat prior to the box creation and I discovered she used to live in my neighborhood back in the day. I love the family feel to her blog, as if I needed anything else to make me broody... But the pictures of her kids baking and enjoying life are no less than adorable. Her blog being entirely bake based meant that I was apprehensive to see whether Paula would share one of her creations with me.

I walked into the office, rather wearily, on Monday morning to discover an exciting parcel on my desk. I have to say that Paula's handwriting is absolutely gorgeous! It was the perfect Monday morning antidote and I was bouncing around with excitement for a good while. Here is my box for July:

Paula included a beautiful hand written letter explaining what she had included and why. Everything felt really personal, which I loved because it's always interesting and exciting to share your passions with others. 

The first thing I noticed was these bad boys. I am a huge Reece's Cups fan, although I don't like peanut butter without chocolate to accompany it. I'd seen Reese's Pieces before but had never tried them (I was always too distracted by the cups). Even though it was 9.10am, I am ashamed to say that I ripped these straight open and devoured each and every last one. They are like M&Ms but filled with peanut butter. I am in love. I am now inspired to make chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes and cover them with Reese's Pieces! It was a good start.

The next thing that I indulged in was a cup of Charbew Strawberry and Cream tea. I am a big herbal tea fan and who doesn't love strawberries and cream?! These smelt incredible and I even reused my first teabag twice because I didn't want to waste a single drop of it's delicate flavour. They even donate 25p to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, a cause which is close to my own heart. 

This little jar intrigued me. I was lucky that Paula had taken time to explain what it was because otherwise I would have been completely stumped. Soffritto paste is used as base for sauce, soups and stews and is a broken down mixture of carrots, onions and celery. It originated from Tuscany, Italy. It is not to be confused with the spanish 'Sofrito', a paste made from garlic, onion and tomatoes. Paula told me that she uses Soffritto as a base for risotto. Risotto is something I have yet to conquer, but last night I did and I will post the recipe in due course!

These little bastards (please excuse my French), have been distracting me from work all week. They are extremely moreish and addictive. Yesterday I went home with a dress covered in salt and nut residue. Generally I'm not a huge nut fan, but these are a revelation. I cannot stop eating them. They are comparable to popcorn kernels with a roasted, salty flavouring. The office has smelt of popcorn since Monday because of my new addiction. Mpphsff nurff srfffrrm (sorry, can't speak, eating more corn nuts).

Another item in my box was a Schwartz Grill Mates Mojito Lime Marinade mix. I, like any other modern girly girl, love my cocktails. Mojitos being one of the most summery, and summer is something we have definitely been lacking as of late. Unsure what use to put this to, I think I will wait until the next barbecue we have and create some chunky chicken kebabs with peppers and onions, maybe with a touch of fresh lime and chilli for a kick. 

Ah, the pièce de résistance of my box. The homemade Rosemary Loaf Cake. I am a big fan of fresh herbs and love our herb garden at home, as does Paula - well, not our herb garden... that would be a bit strange, I mean her own of course. With this cake, I was the most popular person in the office. I shared it with anyone I could think of, to spread the joy and tastyness throughout Barnes! It was incredibly light and floral for a loaf  cake, which meant I could eat lots of it without feeling too guilty for piling in the stodge. The sugar covered crust was so pleasurable to eat, that I pinched many of the crunchy parts before anyone could get a slice. I felt honoured that she had gone to so much effort - to make me a whole cake! If anything, you could really see the passion and love that had gone into it.

Finally, another personal touch from Paula, was the huge broad beans from her garden in Lancashire. My dream is to have a little cottage in the country (à la River Cottage) with a huge vegetable patch and orchards... and horses... and baby lambs... and lots of homemade pies. We used to grow runner beans when I was much younger, and so these really transported me back to happy childhood summers of picking them straight from the plant and crunching. That lunch, I used them to make myself a delicious lunch. So I shall leave you with a recipe:

Broad Bean, Beetroot, Pea and Ricotta Ciabatta

This was such a quick, simple and flavousome lunch and was a great way to feel indulgent whilst eating fresh veg at the same time.

Ingredients:

 -2 Slices of Ciabatta (toasted ideally)

- 1 Cooked Beetroot, diced

- A Handful of Broad Beans

- 2 Tbsp Fresh or Tinned Peas

- 1 Tbsp Ricotta

- 1 Clove of Garlic, finely chopped or crushed

- 1 Tsp Oregano

- A Squeeze of Lemon Juice

- Drizzle of Olive Oil

Directions:

• Toast your ciabatta if you can as it will help support the topping. I couldn't when making mine but it was still lovely to eat. Make sure it is cooled before moving on.
• In a small bowl, mix the ricotta with the oregano, lemon juice, garlic and seasoning.
• Spread the mixture evenly across your ciabatta.
• Sprinkle your broad beans, peas and beetroot across your slices.
• Season with some black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Enjoy!