BBM: The Holiday Edition!

Hooooray! Today I received my fabulous package from my BBM partner, Pam of Pam's Pantry! I was so excited! *squee* I've got to admit.. just this morning I e-mailed Stephanie, the lovely hostess of BBM and author of the more often than not, too cute for words blog (her son is adorable!) Dispensing Happiness, to ask her if she'd let me know who my BBM partner was because I hadn't received my package yet and I wanted to find out if it had been sent or not because I get antsy that way (I can't wait long to open birthday and Xmas presents either.) hee! Had I waited just one more day!! Imma dork. I think we can all agree on that. I'm sorry, Pam, Imma dork who can't wait to open presents! Even though Imma dork and was a freakin week late in sending my own BBM package - Doh! Okay.. so you're DYING to know what was in the box aren't you? I KNOW that you are! Ta! Da! Starting from the top left and moving clockwise: 3 of Pam's very yummy looking recipes, including Pink Stuff, which is, and I quote "THE holiday delicacy at my husband's family's gatherings", her Cranberry Crunch Bars Yum! And last but not least as this sounds quite delish, her Zesty Quinoa with Broccoli & Cashews. I've wanted to try Quinoa in the worst way as I've seen a lot of my favorite bloggers using it. The card she sent, which was fabbbulllouss! Not only was there a picture on the front that she took during a hiking trip this year, but the inside and back cover is covered in handwritten detail about what was in my box as well as a few tidbits about herself - Congrats on your Masters, Pam! =) Directly behind the card is copy of her local newspaper's Holiday Cookbook. I love this - I've found some fantastic recipes in my own local newspaper's cooking inserts, so I can't wait to browse through this one! In front of the holiday insert is a locally made jar of the darkest apple butter I've ever seen. I am so breaking into that tomorrow morning and slathering it on my toast!! Next to the apple butter is QUINOA!! WOOO! Pam said she had just discovered it and liked it a lot so she thought she'd send some - I'm so happy she did! =)) Since it's in the same vicinity shall we all look upon and take a moment of silence for the bar of Dagoba Xocolatl? ...... Ahh yes.. a delectible combination of dark chocolate, cocoa nibs and chilies. And if there was any doubt, my friends, I've already broke into it - heavenly.. just heavenly. ;) Underneath the mighty chocolate is the cutest lil ornaments I've ever seen- they are tiny and at first I thought they were edible! hahaha! Here's the only part I'm not sure about (no, I figured out they weren't edible after I nibbled. duh) - I don't know if Pam made these or not? She said she's a crafty kinda gal (gotta love that!) so it would not be surprising had she made them. Either way, I've already decided that they will find their home amongst my penguins on the pine roping that hangs around my slider doors - have a looksee: Please refrain from looking at my cluttered shelves and cooking binders, books & notes.. as well as my patio furniture that's still on the deck on Dec. 22nd.. Carrying on.. Next we've got the cutest lil Santa Claus. He's made of 3 lil round boxes and each box is filled with sesame seed candy. Unfortunately, I won't be able to test if these lil seeds will bother me as Hubbs has already claimed them. Mmm hmm.. there's a shocker. But I get the cute lil Claus and he is a welcome addition to my Christmas decorations from here on out =) Okay do you see that orange flower? Is it not beautiful? It is! And it's made of paper.. and Pam made it! I love things like this, and orange is one of my favorite colors.. so this lil hand made flower will look great sitting atop my desk in the office! Finally (but not near least-ly!) we've got a bag of yogurt raisins - I've dipped, they are delish! And a bag of real cocoa nibs! Ohhh my.. the things I could do with these babies! I look forward to experimenting! This was a great package - I've been extraordinarily lucky, as both of my BBM partners have sent me things that I truly love. Thank you so much, Pam - you rocked my BBM: Holiday Edition! And a special thanks to Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness.. without her mad organizational skills and patience with naggy and antsy people like me e-mailin' her all the time, this terrific event would not happen! xoxo