This month’s Foodie Pen Pal reveal comes a few days late but this month’s goodies came all the way from Japan. I was so excited to receive these goodies from Leah who  currently lives in Japan.

She sent a wide range of foodie finds with descriptions of each one which was super helpful! Chris and I already broke into the fruit jellies, and they were some of the best fruit candy I have ever had. I spent some time in Japan several years back visiting a great friend who was teaching in Japan, and this box definitely brought back fond and delicious memories of experiencing the Japanese culinary culture first-hand years ago.

Top row: Okinawa Soba – different from the mainland soba, Taco Rice – An Oki standard. Leah uses brown rice + TVP or turkey with it. Chestnuts – to cook with rice for a winter meal. Bean Packet – A mystery find. I’ll let you know how it tastes Leah!

Bottom Row: Salt from Miyajima – Wonderful from salt from a beautiful island, Ben Imo Fritters – Heavy like a rock – then you made them right!, Mix jellies – So tasty and you can eat the inside wrapper, Pork Jerky – typical fare in this island culture

Here are some close-ups of all the goodies.

Chestnuts and Bean Packet

Postcard from Leah describing the goodies, Fruit Jellies and Pork Jerky

Okinawa Soba and Taco Rice

Miyajima Salt and Ben Imo Fritters

A huge thank you to Leah for such a wonderful box of surprises and to Lindsey for hosting Foodie Pen Pals. I sent my goodies to Becky of Olives and Wine . Check out her post to see what I sent her. Want to join in on the fun? Here’s how!

Foodie Penpals  is so much fun! Here are some details from Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean . In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-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 & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 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 from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please  CLICK HERE  ( www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/ ) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

*If you’re from Europe, please  CLICK HERE  ( www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/ ) to signup.