Showing posts with label reveal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reveal. Show all posts
Saturday, February 14, 2015
July Foodie Penpal Reveal Featuring Samis Strawberry Salad
It’s time for another fun Foodie Penpal reveal! This month, I received a box of goodies from sweet Sami. Sami lives in upstate New York, and she picked up some fun stuff for me during a recent family trip to Canada. My package contained some sweet maple candy, two mini jars of delicious Greaves fruit jams, a jar of Italian salsa, and an ADORABLE pink monogrammed straw-cup that was hand-decorated by one of her daughters! Sami also took time to write me a very sweet letter telling her trip to Canada and some background info on all the items she sent. I took the cheerful glass to use at my office, and it really brightens my day! The candies taste just like maple syrup, which is definitely a good thing in my book. We haven’t opened the salsa yet, but I’m saving it for the next time we have company...I’m curious to see how it differs from the Tex-Mex salsa that we have here in Texas. I might make a batch of fried raviolis to serve with this salsa...seems like a match made in heaven.
Knowing that I like to feature a recipe using at least one of the products that I receive each month, Sami included a recipe for her favorite salad...which just so happens to have strawberry jam in the homemade vinaigrette! I earmarked some of the strawberry-rhubarb jam she sent to make her salad, and I’m going to share it with y’all today. The only minor tweaks that I made to Sami’s recipe were to use sheep milk feta in place of goat cheese...the flavor and texture is quite similar to goat cheese, so I thought it would work just fine. I also used candied pecans instead of walnuts. This salad is super-quick to whip up, and it pairs perfectly with grilled chicken or fish on a warm summer night!
Step 1: Make the vinaigrette by adding the following ingredients to a bowl or small measuring cup: 1 tbs. strawberry jam, 1.5 tbs. balsamic vinegar, 3-4 tbs. olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste. Whisk well to combine.
Step 2: Add 4 cups mixed field greens to a bowl, add dressing, and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the greens on a chilled platter and top with the following ingredients: 4-5 chopped strawberries, 1/3 cup chopped candied nuts (I used pecans), and 1/3 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese.
This salad was so refreshing on a hot Texas evening! I make a similar salad that Ive featured in here before. The homemade vinaigrette that Sami includes is the difference: its sweet and tangy, and the fruity olive oil works so nicely when combined with the other ingredients. You could easily make this a main dish salad by adding some diced chicken breast.
How would you like to join the Foodie Penpal fun? All you have to do is visit Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean to sign up! Youll be paired with a fellow food lover to send a package to...and youll received a food package in return from another participant. Its like Christmas morning every month when your package arrives...trust me!
Knowing that I like to feature a recipe using at least one of the products that I receive each month, Sami included a recipe for her favorite salad...which just so happens to have strawberry jam in the homemade vinaigrette! I earmarked some of the strawberry-rhubarb jam she sent to make her salad, and I’m going to share it with y’all today. The only minor tweaks that I made to Sami’s recipe were to use sheep milk feta in place of goat cheese...the flavor and texture is quite similar to goat cheese, so I thought it would work just fine. I also used candied pecans instead of walnuts. This salad is super-quick to whip up, and it pairs perfectly with grilled chicken or fish on a warm summer night!
Samis Strawberry Salad
adapted from Foodie Pen Pal Sami
Step 1: Make the vinaigrette by adding the following ingredients to a bowl or small measuring cup: 1 tbs. strawberry jam, 1.5 tbs. balsamic vinegar, 3-4 tbs. olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste. Whisk well to combine.
Step 2: Add 4 cups mixed field greens to a bowl, add dressing, and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the greens on a chilled platter and top with the following ingredients: 4-5 chopped strawberries, 1/3 cup chopped candied nuts (I used pecans), and 1/3 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese.
This salad was so refreshing on a hot Texas evening! I make a similar salad that Ive featured in here before. The homemade vinaigrette that Sami includes is the difference: its sweet and tangy, and the fruity olive oil works so nicely when combined with the other ingredients. You could easily make this a main dish salad by adding some diced chicken breast.
How would you like to join the Foodie Penpal fun? All you have to do is visit Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean to sign up! Youll be paired with a fellow food lover to send a package to...and youll received a food package in return from another participant. Its like Christmas morning every month when your package arrives...trust me!
Friday, February 6, 2015
June Foodie Pen Pal Reveal
It’s the end of another month...which means it’s also time for another fun Foodie Pen Pal reveal! This is such a great monthly event that was started by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. Come on...what’s not to like about receiving a box full of yummy food that’s been hand-picked for you by a fellow food lover?!?!? This month, I received a fantastic box of goodies from Calee. This is one lucky gal...she lives and works in Napa Valley. If you haven’t been there before, trust me: this place is pretty much heaven on earth. We were lucky enough to spend a few days in Napa in 2009...and views like this had us tempted to quit our day jobs and seek out work as professional wine tasters!
When we arrived home from our Oregon trip, a big box of goodies was waiting for me. A present sure makes coming home from a lovely vacation so much easier!! Being a kid at heart, I tore into the box immediately! Take a look at all of the fun goodies that were inside:
Theres individual packets of flavored nut butters, an 18 Rabbits bar, spicy pickled garlic, smoked chipotles, some very spicy habanera sea salt, VERY yummy homemade granola bars, and...? She also sent me a bottle of her homemade vanilla extract...which smelled absolutely heavenly. I immediately grabbed a bite of the granola to sample -- it is SO good! The bar made an excellent breakfast one morning with some yogurt, and that spicy salt really upped the heat level in some grilled chicken that I made one evening! I immediatly started thinking about how I could showcase her homemade vanilla in a fun recipe for y’all.
I knew that I had found something unique and special when a Facebook friend posted a picture and link to a recipe for Vanilla Ice from the blog Oh My Veggies. Vanilla-flavored ice cubes that won’t water down your favorite drink...but will enhance it instead? That’s totally genius, as is the name (...ice ice, baby...)! You can get the recipe for these intensely vanilla ice cubes by visiting Kiersten at Oh My Veggies. I added my vanilla ice cubes to glasses of chai-flavored tea for a refreshing Friday evening pick-me-up. As the cubes melted into the iced tea, it added a creamy vanilla flavor to spicy chai. Trust me, folks: you REALLY want to make a batch of these off-the-charts ice cubes ASAP...you can thank me later!
If you want to join the Foodie Pen Pal fun for July and receive your very own totally cool food box, here’s the scoop:
If you want to join the Foodie Pen Pal fun for July and receive your very own totally cool food box, here’s the scoop:
-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 residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. 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.
-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 residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. 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 interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th!
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