First of all, let me say *thank you* to everyone who participated in the first week of the Holiday Cookie Exchange. I will be posting them again this Friday (& weekend), so anyone who wants to jump in, I'll see you then!
I just got back from Las Vegas. I was a little worried because I was going to be out of town on Friday when the exchange started, but I drafted my post and my great sister Stephanie baby-sat my blog until Saturday. Thank you, Steph!
We had a fun time in Vegas, but we were ready to come home after just a couple of days. I'll go into that more tomorrow and post some pics from the trip.
When I got home on Saturday, I was so pleased (ok, REALLY excited) to find a box from Vickie!
When I first opened the box, I was looking forward to the contents. But I happened to notice that the shredded paper filling the box was shredded paychecks. I was impressed. I've been given some expensive gifts before, but this takes the cake. (I know, I know - they were probably blank, but don't tell me...it'll ruin my high.)
Box from Vickie:
Fancy filler:
Here is what I found in the package:
And then inside of those:
When I was opening the box, before I could even get the flaps apart, I could smell the spices and the sweetness of lavender.
There is a basil garlic blend of spices to either make a dip, spread or sauce with. There was a pack of organic lavender from Vermont. There was a package of plantation peanut soup (hmmm, interested in trying that one out). And last, but definitely not least, were two traditional German wax ornaments that smelled like the most amazing cinnamon. Everything here is a feast for the senses!
Vickie included some recipes (which is good because I've never cooked with lavender) and I am looking forward to trying something new! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
This was so much fun, opening an unexpected gift from such a nice person! I can't wait to reciprocate!
Ok, so that covers the "vacation" and "box of goodies" parts from my title...please go check out Kristi's page, Interrupted Wanderlust for the 12 eggs part. It is an awesome adventure that we are sharing with Kristi (thanks for sharing).
Dawn
5 comments:
What a cool package-wrappings and all. I love getting stuff in the mail, and stuff that smells like cinnamon...well, it doesn't get any better than that.
And thank you for the mention. It's such a great feeling to be receiving all this support. Blog friends are the best. :)
Dawn, glad that everything made it there okay. Sadly the shred came from a box that I got from somewhere else. I think paychecks are meant to be cashed and certainly not shredded. I never looked at the shred that close! My goodness. I hope that you will try and Virginia grown peanut soup mix. It's not something that is not commom but I really liked it and took a chance that you are not allergic to peanuts. The German cinnamon ornaments were sort of food related. Just follow the directions and use that hair dryer if they lose their smell. The Lavender came from Virginia. The woman who sold it to me said that in the spring I can come out to her field and pick whole stalks myself. I am going for sure. She said it's organic and can be used in food. So I thought that might be something you have never tried before and it would be an culinary adventure. You will have to post what you do with it.
I wish that I could have sent you a famous Smithfield ham but they weight a ton. Maybe another time.
what a fun package to receive! Glad to read that you had fun in Vegas. So nice of your sister to blogsit for you. ;-)
Best,
Paz
Kristi, I agree! I had bought a candle for someone years ago with that cinnamon scent and searched for another one like it for years. These smell exactly like I remember the candle smelling - so good! I also agree about the blog friends comment!
Vickie, I am not allergic to peanuts and will definitly try everything! I'm glad that you included recipes for the lavender because I've never used it before! I'll have to find something that hopefully my boys will like. That sounds like fun, picking your own lavender. I recently met a woman who buys unstuffed bears and fills them with flax seed and lavendar (and sometimes other items for aroma). They are microwaveable and freezable, so you use them when you don't feel good! You should try that out! I am interested in it, too!
So, is a Smithfield ham supposed to be really good? Out here the best hams are from the Honeybaked Ham store...never heard of Smithfield.
Pas, thanks for stopping by! It was very good of my sister to help out, I definitely needed it!
Dawn, out here Smithfield hams rule. They are extremely salty and you have to soak them in an ice chest in water and then change that every 8 hours for about 24 hours. That help to leech out the salt they cure them with. Smithfield ham and biscuits are very popular here. They shave the ham and then put the shavings on a nice flaky biscuit. Shaving is not the same as slicing. Shaving is even thinner and more imperfect than a slice. I am not really wild about the saltiness of the ham but after it's been soaked it's a little better.
The lavendar is wonderful in Creme Brulee. Just tell the boys that it's pudding. If they like pudding maybe that will do the trick! lol!
Post a Comment