NICO | GALOPPO || journal

This was my first participation to Blogging by Mail, a foodblog event first organized by Nic. This edition was organized by Samantha. I was lucky enough to get my box from Nic herself, and boy was packed with lots of goodies!

The first thing I noticed was a really kind card, in which Nic describes all the treats that she had sent to me. I wonder where she buys these cards, apparently it’s not the first time she has surprised other BBM participants with cool vintage food-related cards like this.

But on to the treats! Nic put in two of her own creations, extremely cute Donut Cookies, and my favourite: Peanut Brittle bars. Crunchy, the way I like my cookies best (and apparently, so does Nic). They were a great car snack on my way to Washington, and terribly addictive! The combination of sweet and salty is always a winner for me, and luckily I’ll be able to reproduce them soon, as Nic has put up the recipe.

For the other items in the package, I still have to try them out. The first one, because I don’t want to spoil it on my crappy coffee machine. I plan to enjoy the pack of Peet’s coffee once I get my French press back. Why not with a couple of fresh pancakes, made with Bette’s Pancake mix? Being a European, I am more familiar with the crepe-style pancake (thin and buttery rather than fluffy and floury), but my sister for one has really enjoyed hers at the local Elmo’s breakfast place, so I’m eager to try. Even though I’m not the kind of guy that usually uses premade mixes, the included instructions on the back of the bag definitely makes the introduction easier. And they’re supposed to be good, Nic writes that Bette’s is a Berkeley institution. Moreover, I’m glad they’re the buttermilk kind (as opposed to the wheat ones, I think they’re a bit dry).

What else? Chocolate ofcourse! First in the form of 71% Valrhona chocolate, not just yet the Cote d’Or 79% kind from home, but that might a little over the top, even for me. And finally, an Australian candy: Violet Crumble. Actually, this one I tried, the inside a crunchy honey-flavoured meringue-like bar, covered with chocolate. To be honest, I didn’t really like it, but that’s OK, the rest of Nic’s package made up for it. Nic, you rock!