Blogging By Mail!

Today was my lucky day! Today, the mail-lady placed an unexpected package on my doorstep. And when I looked at the return address, all I could do was chuckle. Jennifer from All Things Jennifer was the lucky girl who got to put my package together. And of all places, Jennifer hails from the lovely city of Buffalo, NY. My dear husband is a Buffalo native, so I was rather excited to recieve this package. I had my hopes upon opening it... and I was not to be disappointed.

This is a box of love from Buffalo. And Jennifer will be thrilled to know that it all made it intact. Here we have a large bottle of the best BBQ marinade on the planet. Chiavetta's marinade. If you can ever get your hands on a bottle of this vinegar and spice based marinade- do so. It is wonderful. How did Jennifer know that just the other day I was using up some of our very last... this truly made my heart sing (and my stomach, despite the early morning hour). Next to that we have something completely new to me. Cronfelt's Loganberry flavored beverage syrup. I can't wait to add this to some soda to make homemade soda for the kids. It also suggests using as a syrup for ice cream. Can we say milkshakes all around? Very cool, and I can't wait to share it with the kids.

Next, I know Jennifer has been reading my blog and knows how much I ADORE Anchor Bar chicken wings. Because she included a bottle of the original chicken wing sauce (in mild- thank you so much!). That is not available anywhere around here, and just a few weeks ago I was thinking that I needed a chicken wing fix. I am now adding chicken wings to next week's grocery list. And lastly in the back row, is a bottle of the best spicy mustard around. Weber's horseradish mustard makes a plain sandwich sing. I personally like to add it to recipes that call for dijon mustard- it adds an extra snap from the horseradish. Mmmm. And then, last (but certainly not least) we have two treasures from Fowler's Chocolates. One is a "Truffalo Bar" which is puremilk chocolate with a fresh cream truffle center. And here is my confession. It was delicious. :-) The kids had gathered around me to open this package, and were so disappointed that the contents were not for them... that I had to crack open this chocolate bar and share. So I did. And we all sat together on the floor and savored the creamy melty chocolate. Wonderful. The other chocolate treats I am hiding in the fridge for me for later. It's a little "chicken wing" set molded out of milk chocolate. Too fun, and I'm sure will hit the spot when needed for a chocolate fix.

A big thank you goes to Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness for putting together the Blogging By Mail event. It was so much fun to put a package together and send it on. But I daresay it was equally fun to find a package on my doorstep. And in the process, I got to "meet" two bloggers that I've never known before. If you're curious about the package I sent, you can check that out at Mekuno Cooking. While I am sure that Stephanie stuck to her plan of randomizing how the bloggers were matched up, I find it fun that I sent a pacakge to the same town my brother-in-law lives. And received a package from the area my husband's family lives. Too fun.

And thank you so much to Jennifer. The treasures were so thoughtfully put together, and I'm looking forward to enjoying each one.