October 2012 Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

It's foodie pen pal reveal day!!! HOORAY!!!!! Got my box Monday and was sooo excited about it. I had been waiting and hoping just crazy excited. It's just nice to get a package in the mail now and then that is specifically for you and has delicious treats in it. So this is my trick-or-treat FPP box.

When this loveliness arrived after my run I immediately took it home and ripped open the box - ok I didn't RIP open the box, just cut the tape. I pulled out the pretty orange card with a description of what was inside - all local Washington state items and homemade goodies. Libby - my pen pal for October also collects salt and pepper shakers so she shared some with me.

Firstly we have apple butter - OMG! I had just had some after Rugged Maniac at Cracker Barrel and was thinking to myself "Sarah, you need to go buy some." Well now I don't have to. This is delicious and I could totally eat it by itself but I'm restraining myself and using only a little at a time on bread items or oatmeal.

Yes, ran a 5k mud run Saturday Oct 27. In the 35 degree weather in Missouri. Brr but fun. Back to the food!

Then there was this loveliness. Apple Cider Syrup - OMG now I just HAVE to make some pancakes, maybe some cinnamon pancakes with apple slices and then this syrup or cook down the apple slices IN the syrup. Ooooo so many options. I could drink this, tastes like cider.

An then there is applesauce, I adore applesauce. I don't buy it enough that's for sure and with apple season I should really just make some. This was cinnamon-y but not over the top and had a nice apple flavor but wasn't tart like some get - you know to the point you pucker. No this was perfectly balanced. And I loved it so much it was finished off in 2 days. I told myself I would share these things with Mike but I just couldn't help myself and he told me to just enjoy. So I did.

Totally snarfed it up all by myself. Hehe. Sorry honey. Love you!

Libby also sent over mulling spices for hot cider or tea or whatever your imagination can think up for this. I will probably go buy some apple juice and make some cider. This smells amazing! I may just hang one of those little baggies in my car window and have my car smelling so deliciously Fall. Mmmm, nothing beats that cider smell. Well, except for maybe a handsome man all clean and showered up and dressed up ready to go out for a night on the town. (Yes you Mike).

There was also Rhubarb Rosemary Jam. Wasn't sure about this. I like rhubarb. I like rosemary. Hmmmm, so I tried it. Smelled a lot of rosemary upon cracking that jar open. Was unsure but I live by "try everything once." I actually enjoyed this. Would be good on wheat toast or something simple. You wouldn't want to put it on something too crazy. Would work with savory or sweet dishes. Maybe could turn it into a glaze for pork chops. Oh the creative juices are flowing today hehe. 

I can't recall if I said that I liked peanut butter or not. Libby had asked what our favorite fall flavor was, we said apples/apple cinnamon. So that is why we have all the apple stuff. But then, yes then, there was this loveliness of peanut butter goodness that was honey roasted. OMG I am in love with peanut butter (as far as foods go). It's gotta be my #1 favorite food on the planet. So yes, I was stoked to see this in the box, though somehow the post office cracked the tub and some of the peanut butter was in the box and not in the tub. I think I just about salvaged as much as I could, from the tub not that box eww. I have it in my fridge to be on the safe side too. Delicious peanut butter. Will be using this for a while. If it lasts that long.

These are those adorable salt and pepper shakes I was talking about. The seasoning comes out their butts. Too freaking adorable. Perfect to go next to my hippo salt and pepper shakers. :)

A few final words before I leave you for the day. Happy halloween for one, this is my lion costume for the work contest today. Also Mike and I will be hosting a guest blogger for their reveal of the box we sent him. :) Super excited for our first guest blogger.

You can go see what Libby got here

Here is how the FPP system works:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your pen pal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your pen pal 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 pen pal! -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 Pen pals 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 pen pal 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 Pen pals 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 November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by November 4th as pairings will be emailed on November 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

Go out and cook and maybe join FPP for November.

22nd Pig Roast 2012

So Mike and I attended the 22nd Annual Pig Roast on October 20th. His family has this roast every year and roasts a pig, well, they haven't done a whole pig for a little while so they did two shoulders. 

So we left at O'Dark thirty in the morning to arrive around 9 or 9:30 am at the cabin.

We did get the chance to see the sunrise together and it was absolutely gorgeous. Great country scenery with a beautiful sunrise. Great way to start a day.

So 3 1/2 hours of being on the road and two pit stops later we arrived at the cabin, which is located in "middle of nowhere" USA. It's not somewhere you would just think to go and the people around the area are definitely redneck. But it was definitely a gorgeous area. The colors of fall and all the foliage. Absolutely beautiful area.

So we arrived, unloaded the truck and figured out what we needed to help with. So we checked on the pig. Well, pig pieces. Mmm, couldn't wait to dig into that, but it was only 9:30 am and the pig wouldn't be ready until about 1 or 1:30. The fire was started around 4 am that morning and the pig was put on around 4:45 am. So the pig had already been slow cooking for about 5 hours. Mmmm, that's gonna fall right off the bone. Couldn't wait.

They do have this nifty little motor to spin the pig to keep the cooking even. From what I caught from conversation they pieced it together, which is actually pretty cool. Kept the pig evenly cooked and ultimately delicious. They had a fire going and had some hickory or mesquite smoker chips/bits in there too to give it a bit of flavor.

Look at that pig, ain't it beautiful and delicious looking?

Yeah we all pretty much sat around that baby a good part of the morning, munching on the snack foods like crackers, cheese, fruit and chips in eager await of the main event.

Of course waiting on food can be a little boring, not that conversing with people isn't fun. Mike took me out on the 4-wheeler for my first ride. I've never been on a 4-wheeler. I have been on a dirt bike but cannot say my experience with that was pleasant. I did hold onto him a little to hard when we first took off down the road. Mike told me on a few occasions to lighten my grip and that I didn't need to hold on so tight. Of course going 50 mph on a vehicle that doesn't have any seat belt or really any safety feature to keep you on makes me a little nervous to start out. I eventually got to the point where I just held onto the bars on the back of the 4-wheeler and started to really enjoy it. After we had stopped and saw the lake he let me drive it back. That was fun. So got to ride and drive one for the first time. How cool. :) However, Mike didn't think I drove fast enough - it's my first time, I'm not driving 50 mph. I'll stick to 30.

So when we got closer to actually eating Mike's dad began to baste it in some good old KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. Mmmm, that just made our mouths water even more.

Mike's Uncle and cousin did the meat carving. The smoke ring on that meat was about 1/8th of an inch and it was sooo delicious. The bone literally pulled right out of the meat. It was amazing. Mike said it was the best they had had so far. There was soo much food beside the pig. There was broccoli cheese rice casserole, macaroni and cheese, fruit tray, veggie tray, bean dip (which is evidently legendary and so delicious it disappears faster than you can blink) and then there was a delicious dutch oven black forest cake that Mike's sister made. She evidently is not cooking inclined so this was something many doubted would turn out and we were all skeptical due to the instructions of specific amounts of coals on top and underneath. So it was turned and watched for 40 minutes without looking. All wondering if this thing would turn out. It actually turned out quite well. Found that it was moist and delicious. I only got a small bite because it disappeared pretty quick and I really didn't want and entire bowl of it. There was also pumpkin pie and apple pie on top of the promise of s'mores later (which I did have.)

After being stuffed to the brim and sitting back while our stomachs settled. It was a pretty great time getting to meet his aunts and uncles and cousins. Sat back, listened to stories and laughed at his dad being his dad. His family cracks me up. I truly enjoyed myself and I know Mike did too.

We stayed the night at the cabin and his mom and dad, Mike and I sat around the fire until about 9 pm and had some drinks. I had some Jack Tennessee Honey with Diet Dr Pepper while Mike had some with Coke. That's good stuff. Smoother than Jack's original Tennessee Whiskey.

The next morning we helped pack up and make sure things were picked up, put away and locked down. Mike and I took the 4-wheeler's out one last time. He made me drive my own this time. It was a beautiful crisp morning and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and was getting more comfortable with the 4-wheeler. Came back to the cabin, loaded up the 4-wheeler's and locked up the cabin. Soon headed back to reality. I had taken Friday and Monday off to ensure a truly relaxing weekend. My weekend hadn't started off so well because Friday morning as I tried to leave I had a flat tire - not cool. So I was delayed about 2 hours from leaving my place to arrive at Mike's. Good thing we left Saturday.

So Sunday we spent the day carving a pumpkin and making dinner for ourselves and roomie and another friend. Grilled chicken with vegetable kabobs and macaroni and cheese Mike's mom had made and sent home with us. Pretty delicious if I do say so myself.

Monday we went to the gym then ate at my favorite local sandwich shop, Mighty Melt. I love the bread there. Their sandwiches are pretty good. I'm trying to replicate their bread - of course they don't give out their "secret" signature recipe and won't tell me what kind of bread it is. Grrr, means I have to figure it out on my own. Which in and of itself is frustrating but gives me an experiment and plenty of bread around the house.

Monday we also went out on Mike's layout boat and tried out his new motor for it. Worked pretty well. Much faster than the push pole. Was entertaining and helped scout out areas he could hunt ducks. He's hoping to get some hunting in Tuesday this week and possibly Sunday next week.

This weekend I was involved in Rugged Maniac's 5k mud run in Weston Missouri at the Snow Creek Ski Resort. Can I just say the hills there were absolutely insane and totally not meant for running or climbing up.

It was crazy on that account on top of the fact that it was cold and had water obstacles. I ran at 12:30 and it was still only 35 degrees outside. There were 4 water obstacles. It really wasn't too bad once you got through the first obstacle. At that point your legs are numb and you just keep pushing through. I finished in roughly 51 to 53 minutes, considering my 3.15 mile time averages about 28:30 minutes so to add in around 15 obstacles that's not bad. I plan to do warrior dash in April in KC. Should be a lot of fun. I felt like a beast going up the mud wall with the rope. You really have to use a lot of upper body strength. I can't say I've ever had fantastic upper body strength but with the Insanity workout I just finished it has helped quite a bit.

Front: Before & After

Back: Before & After

I am at the very least quite impressed with my results. I wasn't expecting it honestly. Mike has had really great results as well with his, haven't taken his after pics yet. Though today we did get some good pictures together. My friend took pictures for me for my Christmas cards as well as some pictures of Mike and I. So all in all we have been doing well and not really been cooking a lot. I have baked a lot of bread and will update once I've made about 10 more loaves, I'm sure it will take that much haha. 

Tomorrow Mike is thinking about doing a smoked turkey breast or a smoked brisket. Either way it sounds delicious and I am totally jealous that I won't get any ;) Lucky roomie.

So that is all for this recap of where we disappeared to. Been busy is all.

Go out and cook folks.