Wednesday, June 25, 2008

International Snack Exchange!

So I joined the snacksters community on LiveJournal a few months ago, and just missed the sign ups for a round of international snack exchanges.  I waited eagerly for the next one, and then the community died.  BUT, I just got finished doing a snack exchange with Anouk from the Netherlands, so all was not lost! :D

We sent our packages out last week, and of COURSE mine came while I was in Seattle and after Chris had left the apartment...but my other roommate signed for me, and I had something to look forward to when I came back!  (I hadn't been looking forward to going back to the "real world", haha.)  So anyway!  It was great to be welcomed back to the apartment with this after a long drive on the Mass Pike through several rainstorms at midnight, and an even longer (delayed) flight before that from Northern Kentucky (oy).

So of course, pictures are in order!

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This was the mess I made unpacking the whole box...everything was wrapped so well!  Nothing was broken at all, I know there were some worries with the Kinder Surprise eggs (YUM) but they were fine! :)

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Chris pondering the licorice...and I'm sure he'll want me to note that he does not normally wear that shirt, haha.  It was a hot night.  Anyway, the licorice was surprisingly tasty!  I do not normally like black licorice, but this had a very good taste - it tasted strongly of coffee to me, which of course I love (just got back from Seattle!), and the half black licorice-half fruity licorice pieces tasted like they were made from real fruit!  I definitely enjoyed them.  Chris's favorites are the pyramid shaped pieces, which have the texture of tapioca (not a good texture to me, but he loves it!).

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The whole package!  I don't know if everything's visible (there was so much!  Even Chris said, "All this was only $25?"), but I'll try to go through it all...there are several baking-type things (apple tart and pancake mix can be seen in the picture) that I can't wait to try!  Anouk thoughtfully translated the instructions for me...I didn't even think of asking.  Thanks! 

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There are also these delicious ham and cheese waffle snack things - they are like Cheetos, but ham and cheese flavored.  Yum!  Those will be gone soon I think.  I haven't tried the bacon-flavored peanuts (I think that's what they look like, at least), but they look really good too.

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Then there are the chocolate sprinkles for toast, which I really wanted to try - the idea seems so funny to me!  What a good idea, to have chocolate on your toast :).  I also asked for some Kinder surprise eggs, 2 of which Chris and I ate as soon as I opened the box, and I'm saving the other for a friend.  I haven't tried the marzipan and chocolate dipped cookies yet, but I will be as soon as I take my lunch.  They look DELICIOUS!  I'm saving one for my mom, too, since she adores marzipan and it's hard to find the good stuff here.

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I also got a lot of cookies!  I can't wait to try them all - I found these really interesting because a lot of them look familiar to me, from my childhood, but I cannot remember where, when, or even if I really had them!  I really wanted to try the Stroopwaffles, because I remember having them vaguely at a friend's house when I was little, maybe.  Or I dreamed about them :-P.  But if it's what I remember, they were amazing!  I'm just wondering how I've had them before...

I already tried one of the XL cookies - yum!  I get the feeling that this post is getting a little long though.  So, I'll wrap up with a big THANK YOU!!! to Anouk (and Tommy!), and let me know if you want to do this again! I'm game :).  I can't wait to try everything else!

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Cheers!

2 comments:

Anouk said...

I'm so glad that everything arrived in one piece! Also good to hear that you have enjoyed the things so far. The pyramid shaped licorice is my favorite as well! We're going to send you other Speculaas when it's winter because the kind you have now doesn't even come close to what you can get in December. And then I will send you some tea from here as well because I thought that was such a great idea!

I really enjoyed this swap! We should do it again! :)

Regards,

Anouk.

Talka's Mom said...

Talka, Soooo nice of Anouk to include such a huge variety of great stuff! Keep saving that marzipan cookie for me, but I totally enjoyed the chocolate/crisp sandwichey thing! Delicious with your Seattle tea....thanks for my late snack...! xoxoxo
Mom