Pages

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Local Flavor Swap

Gifts from the Land of Corn and Cows: IOWA

While touring the blogosphere a few weeks ago I tripped upon something new dedicated entirely to "SWAPS".  The blog is called Chaotic Goddess and is run by two wonderful ladies, Beth from Seattle and Angie from Salt Lake City. They happened to be running one called the Local Flavor Swap and I thought hey, bead swaps have always looked fun so why not try this? All I had to do was put together a gift package of items less than $30 including postage that were representative of my state, Arizona, and send it off to a pre-assigned partner. And that is truly when the fun began.

My assigned partner is wonderful lady by the name of Jolene who I got a chance to know by exchanging a few emails. I was thrilled to learn she was from Iowa City, since I had lived not far from there as a student many years ago. We return periodically to visit family and ride RAGBRAI, the week long bicycle trip, but had not been back in quite some time.  And as it turned out, she lived and worked not very far away from some of the places I had known best in eastern Iowa. So is that amazing or what? And I guess I should just get on with it and show you all of these wonderful gifts and mementos of one of my favorite places, Iowa:



Jolene included in the package a very sweet note describing the contents of the package which I will do my best to summarize:

  • Fresh Sweet Corn -  Iowa is known for corn and cows and I could not fit a cow in here.

  • Framed Photographs of Cornell College - Iowa is known for education and I thought you would like to see a picture of your old school.

  • Scarf - Represents our long cold winters.

  • Honey - Local from the farmers' market.

  • Soap - Picked it up in Amana Iowa.

  • Apple Butter - Made by me from apples I picked at Olson's Orchard.

  • Hot Salsa -Made from tomatoes, onions and peppers from our garden.


 
YUMM!


Now if you would like to see a few flavors of Arizona that I sent to Jolene be sure to click over to her blog here.
 
 
And click the icon here for the rest of the swap party:
 

10 comments:

  1. what a fun idea-to meet new friends and get goodies in the mail too-perfect

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great Iowa Goodies!
    Jolene sent a lot of yummy item. I took a look over at her blog and saw what you sent. Love the seed idea. It is interesting how people are connected and are not always aware of it. You signed up for a swap and got someone from an area you are so familiar with. The Field of Dreams made me laugh! But my favorite Iowa quote is "Are you supposed to be in Iowa?...Well then you are not that lost"

    ReplyDelete
  3. She sent fresh corn! I love it! :D
    Her apple butter, by the way, is AWESOME (we're down to the dregs, here, as I eat it every morning on toast). I'm thrilled she sent you handmade delicious stuff, and what a kick that you have places in common!
    Thanks for joining us for this swap...we're so glad you and Jolene had a great time with it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fabulous idea I am sure these familiar bits of old times had you smiling I can only imagine your joy. What a great pick of special items she has sent. WONDERFUL this has me smiling thinking of all the happy faces all around. B

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad you liked your box. My husband and I enjoyed going to your old alma mater. We enjoyed walking around the campus and taking pictures. You know they have a disc golf course on campus now too. Oh, you have a new football field where my old alma mater can beat you guys in football. *wink*

    I am also glad your family enjoyed the fresh sweet corn. I was so happy we had a farmer's market the day I mailed your gift so it would stay fresh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a fun idea and I love the goodies! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cool swap! I love this time of year when we can get fresh corn. It grows in MA too which makes me happy. The salsa sounds and looks so delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've always thought som eone should do a swap like this. You got 2fun stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those gifts are great, and so are yours - I saw them on Jolene's blog! Interesting game!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments. I enjoy hearing from you!