Austin to Boston Swap Package Arrived

I received my Austin to Boston swap package today. My swap partner, Rachel from the blog and then make soup, sent a package beyond my expectations. I'll run down the contents in a minute, and you can all come back for details on the contents in future posts.

But first, we both sent our packages last Thursday. Rachel sent hers via USPS and it arrived this morning, safe and sound. I sent mine via FedEx ground. It's not there yet. I'm disappointed.

Here is me opening Rachel's package. See the confusion on my face as I try to figure out what the three unlabeled items are. Rachel warned me in an earlier email, "Oh and if any of the items need explanation, email before tasting! Fair warning..." and "that which does not kill us..." I resisted my inner two-year-old's urge to put them into my mouth, and emailed for an explanation.



Finally, the contents:

The unidentified items were kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves and "wild" chili piquin all from Rachel's yard. That's the best. The pecans are from a neighbor's yard.

The packaged goods included Texmati mushroom medley wild rice, Roundrock honey and honey lip balm, Texafrance bluebonnet honey mustard, austiNuts dry roasted pumpkin kernels, Central Market peach salsa, Harriet's Original Texas ranch dressing (with jalapenos), Texas Olive Ranch mesquite olive oil, Full English Food rock buns, and New Canaan Farms Fredricksburg peach jam.

Rachel also included a shopping bag from H-E-B market and a copy of edible Austin magazine. The last item was a supply of business cards for her blog. I'm thrilled with this because I recently made a card for my blog. So now I know I'm not the only one. I had planned to include one in my box, but it fell out of my brain.

Thank you, Rachel. I'm thrilled with my package. I'll be reporting individual items in later blogs. We've already started digging in.

Olympics Day 10: Kenyan Rice and Beans

Saw some great Olympics tennis today. Congratulations to Andy Murray and Great Britain on the tennis gold. While I was writing this, I got involved in the final minutes of the US women's water polo game against Italy. Both coaches were ejected. We won by a score of 9 to 6. Now we have switched to US women in volleyball against Turkey. The US can lose and still take the top spot in the next round. I think I can write and watch at the same time.

Gail made Kenyan Rice and Beans that worked perfectly for lunch. The flavors were slightly unusual, but worked well with the dish. It was a good flavor profile, but came out a bit bland. We added some salsa to snap it up. The vinegar and sweetness did the trick. Gail found the recipe at All Things Kenyan.

I had a lovely glass of seltzer water with my dish. We searched and searched for a Kenyan beer, and finally found Tusker yesterday. The beer poured with the limp head you see in the picture. I mowed the lawn today, so this lawnmower-beer was a decent choice. It reminded me of Miller, which I think of as the perfect lawnmower beer, but Tusker is five times the price.