What? No martini glasses? LOLOL Well, I suppose you DO have enough of those....

Makayla LOVES Pocky, I'm sure your kids did too. Your kids did get to try that? (snicker)

I love the color of those blue napkins....

Annie

Carol, sounds like you got some fabulous stuff!!! Personally, I love the Penzey's spices...This sounds vaguely similar to another swap package that hasn't been received yet...

Ellen, as usual, you did a great job picking things out for your partner...(Ellen sent me my first swap package.)

Stacy

I've never heard of or tasted a Pocky! Sounds good though!

I love this package. Good Job Ellen!

LOL, Annie, the kids got a little taste of the Pocky. They must have, they're all gone! hmmmmmmmm, martini's and silly string could be dangerous, you know!

I knew what Pocky was only because it was mentioned in a thread a while back. Pencil thin cookies (the package says biscuits, I guess in Japan that means cookie?)dipped in chocolate. They were really nice cookies, addictive! The cappuccino chocolate bar from Germany was good, too :)

Ellen, thanks, again, I'm enjoying all your gifts!

Carol

What? No beef stew recipe from Robin? I had nothing to do with the silly string. Honest.

(cross forum inside joke)

Oh I love that theme! The little turtle toothpick holder is adorable--& those spices-Wow!! Silly string huh?-that sounds like a dangerous thing to mix with a martini Carol.

Wonderful package. My son loves Pocky. I had never heard of it until he brought some home one day.

Love the turtle toothpicks. So cute!

Beautiful job, Ellen. It all looks fun and tasty. But curiosity is killing me about the Ritter Sport that I spied in the photo. What flavor is it? Not that they make a bad flavor, mind you. Just that inquiring taste buds want to know. :o)

Karen

Carol, Great gifts...I like sandwich sprinkle in egg salad too.
Ellen, Fabulous theme.

Jayne

Travelling the word with your tastebuds -- what a neat idea! Wonderful box; the honey dipper is really cute.

Nice job!

Love Pockies. The turtles are adorable, also the bee. My kitchen colors are blue, yellow and white so everything would look great in MY kitchen. But I MUST know what silly string is.

LOL, Janet, I should go out and take a pic of the ceiling of my front porch!!! There is petrified silly string up there which we really must get off before we repaint - Will sprayed it up there a couple years ago, and by the time we went to take it down, it wouldn't come...

"I must know what silly string is..." We MUST send her some silly string, everyone, LOL!

Did you see the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks? It's the can of stuff that they pretended to spray out of their noses when they sneezed...

Stacy

Those California girls really know how to pack a swap package. I got a selection of salad seasonings from Penzey's in a swap and they were awesome. Very nice, Ellen. Carol have fun with all the great stuff!!

Very nice. Love your theme Ellen. The toothpicks and holder are so cute.

Ann

Great swap box. Ellen, you do it up right!

Nancy

Carol, I'm so glad it all made it there safely and in one piece. I was worried about the chef and the various bottles. Glad to hear you're happy and let me know how you like the sate seasoning. I bought it too and need to figure out ways to use it! It was fun ordering from Penzey's--one for you and one for me etc! Enjoy it all and use it in good health. Oh yes, one more thing. I expect photos of you with the silly string!

BTW Karen, the Ritter bar was Cappucino!
Jessy- just couldn't find a worthy T&T beef stew recipe...

The secret to great sate is high heat cooking. This makes the flavor of the spices, especially the coriander, much more delicious. The recipe works equally well for sirloin steak or chicken breasts. Serve the sates with one or both dipping saucessee the recipes below. Serves four with bread or rice and salad as a meal, or makes enough appetizers for a dozen people.

* 2-4 TB. SATE SEASONING
* 2 TB. water
* 2 lbs. boned lamb (shoulder or leg works well)
* 3 TB. soy sauce
* 3 TB. peanut or vegetable oil
* 2 TB. rice vinegar
* 30 wooden skewers

Combine SATE SEASONING and water in a medium sized bowl. Set aside to give the flavors time to develop. Trim meat of excess fat and cut into 3/4 inch cubes. Add meat and remaining ingredients to bowl, mixing well. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 2 hours. Before starting the coals, place skewers in water to soak. Stack charcoal 2 deep across bottom of grill. After lighting the coals, thread about 5-6 pieces of meat onto each skewer. Once the coals are very hot, grill sate in batches, 3-5 minutes per side. The sate should be crispy brown on the first side before turning. High heat cooking is the key to producing the most delicious sate. DonÂt be afraid to fan the coals into a high heat frenzy before putting the sate on the grill.

Serves: 4 for a meal, 12 for appetizers.

Prep. time: 20 minutes.

Cooking time: 6-10 minutes

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk.

* 1/4 Cup soy sauce
* 2 thinly sliced shallots (2 TB. minced dry SHALLOTS)
* 2 tsp. brown sugar
* 1 tsp. lime juice (the juice of 1/2 lime)
* CRUSHED RED or JALAPENO PEPPER to taste

Spicy Ginger dipping sauce

* 1/4 tsp. GINGER, powdered
* 1 tsp. GARLIC GRANULES
* 1 TB. water
* 1 TB. soy sauce
* 3/4 Cup of your favorite hot sauce

In a small bowl mix water, ginger and garlic, let stand 10 minutes so flavor can develop. Add soy sauce and hot sauce, mix. Great for chicken wings or sate.

Great gift box, Ellen. Are you sure it didn't get rerouted from me to Carol by accident???

Honestly, I hope you enjoy every bit of it, Carol! I hope we hear about lots of food you cook with the spices and some great Thai meals.

Karen

Carol - I was rereading this and laughed out loud at your UPS man - ring and run. I must have the same UPS man. Only mine does the drop and dash. I think he is terrified of Sadie. If you remember Sadie from my Typo pictures, there is a greater chance of getting licked to death then bitten.

The recipes using the Sate Seasoning sounds wonderful. Maybe I need to buy some. . . .

Doris, I once had a mailman who changed his route because of my old dog, Charlie, a german shepherd mutt. he used to love to sit in the bay window, and when he saw the poor mailman, he'd flip out and start barking at the window. The mailman thought one day the dog would actually go through the window to get him so he had his route switched!
Sadie looks like a sweetheart, I love the pictures of her with Typo! My friend has a Golden, a not so gentle giant, who knocks me over (I'm 6 foot) every time I walk in the door he kills me with love and kisses!

Thanks for the recipe, Ellen, you know you forced me to clear out the spice cabinet to make room, found some wooden skewers. Sate is in the near future! I'll report back!

Great package! Love all the penzey's spices -- I've never tried the sandwich seasoning, but I'm definitely going to pick some up next time I'm there. The ove-glove is cool too. I bought one on a whim at the drug store while I was waiting for them to fill my prescription (that's their plan, isn't it?). My 15 yo son LOVES it and won't use a regular pot holder anymore.

I think it's SOP for those UPS guys to drop & run. Our guy (don't know if it's the same one every time because I never get a really good look at him) drops the package, gives a sharp knock on the door, and runs. We don't have any dogs, so I think he's just in a hurry to get moving! LOL.

May, you are correct. They are paid some part of their salary based on how much they deliver. They don't dawdle!

We're having the Sate for dinner tonight, I have some beef cubes marinating in it now for dinner on the grill tonight, using Ellen's recipe above! I can't wait for dinner...

Oh good, let me know how you like it. It came from the Penzey's website. Dan is not around for dinner this week until the weekend but I've got some boneless lamb chops in the freezer waiting to make it!

Ellen, I made them and they were delicious. I didn't use lamb, the kids wouldn't eat it, so I cut up chunks of filet mignon that I had and marinated it for about 3 hours. I used two skewers each so it wouldn't flop off the sticks. Put veggies on the skewer so all I had to do was serve it with some rice pilaf. Whole family loved it, even picky Jodie. Forgot to put onions on the skewer and next time, the kids want pineapple on it, too! I'm definitely making it again! Thanks, Ellen, the sate is a keeper! Let me know how you like it!