GIVEAWAY: The Collective Yoghurts & Gourmet Parcel NOW CLOSED

NOW CLOSED.

In order to say thank you, I've teamed up with The Collective, a Kiwi-originating company now conquering the UK yoghurt scene (I adore their passion fruit and Russian Fudge flavours), who have kindly agreed to donate a months worth of their delicious yoghurts to a reader of Adventures of a London Kiwi.

*plus*

I'm going to add a little 'something something' and make up a Foodie Penpals-esque parcel of gourmet goodies which will be delivered (separately to the yoghurts) to an address of your choice. It will take food allergies into consideration and contain £25.00 worth of hand picked goodies, unique to you, by answering a few questions over email like;

- Sweet, Savoury or a mixture?
- Good or naughty?
- Do you follow any particular diet such as vegan, vegetarian, low carb?

Life is all about adventures - in this case, Timtams may be involved.

Further info on The Collective and their utterly delicious products here

 

For the gourmet parcel you may be thinking £25 isn't the most massive value - for that much in your average-high-street-hamper that would get a bottle of chutney, some crackers & maybe a cheap bottle of plonk. The nice thing is I don't have a profit margin to make, and this is what approx. £10.00 gets -->
#justsayin

I'm also keen to share some of the delicious products my Foodie Penpals have introduced to me.

Personalised to your likes & dislikes it could include;



How To Enter:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• This competition is open to UK residents only. Please read the rules below
• Leaving a blog comment is mandatory and failure to do so will void any other entries
• Closing date -  27th April 2013 12.00 pm

*Terms and conditions

1. This offer is only open to UK residents (sorry international peeps)
2. One prizewinner only
3. The Yoghurts will be dispatched by The Collective directly to the winner as soon as possible
4. Adventures of a London Kiwi will post the gourmet parcel Special Next Day Delivery but is limited to the reliability of Royal Mail
5. The winner will be contacted by email within 48 hours of the end of the competition with and the gourmet parcel dispatched within 72 hours of the winners reply

How Entries and Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first by making a blog comment. Click 'leave a comment' at the bottom of the post and leave your reply. The comment won't show immediately as it needs to be moderated, however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of your entries.
• Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void.
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf.
• For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries.
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Hackney Broadway Market

Tucked away on Saturdays in the midst of East London is a secret (well, to me) full of locals and deliciousness.

Flanked by a full variety of shops selling almost everything else you can think of, the Broadway is busy and buzzing with the hum of good foods and smiling stallholders. There is also a green not far away, where you can enjoy your spoils.

Have I piqued your interest yet?

Quality Specialty and Variety are the market's watchwords, and I for one can attest to all of the above. Coffee, olives, cheese, spit-roasted chicken and pork, fresh seafood, bread, fruit and vege, creole prawns, oysters, African jollof rice, mushroom risotto, samosas, eels with pie mash and likker, pastries, cakes, vintage clothes, records...

It's surprisingly easy to get to the market where 'barra' boys have been selling produce since the 1890s, the nearest rail stations are London Fields (a few minutes walk away, 10 minutes to Liverpool Street) Haggerston on the London Overground and Hackney Central near the Empire. The nearest tube station is Bethnal Green & from there it is 2-3 stops on the bus & a wander away.



But wait Kiwis stay tuned, there is more...

Ps. please check out the lovely Guest post and blog by my lovely fellow expat Kit, posted over the weekend!

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Foodie Penpals - The Czech Edition

I love Foodie Penpals, it's definitely my worst kept secret. This month that adoration hit up a major notch when I was paired with a) one of my first and longest friends here in London and b) the lovely Jade at Wild Pickings whom I sent a box to (she runs a foraging walk business in Wales - why oh why don't we live closer?)

{Ps. London & UK based foodies, I've got a giveaway of Foodie Festival tickets in May, details here!}

When we used the box as an excuse to catch up, I also fell in love (sorry puss).

Forget Royal Mail, Puppy Post is THE BEST 

My first taste of proper Europe was spending 10 days in Alena's hometown of Prague, and it will always have a special place in my heart - between the history, beer, Svickova and friendliness (I've found the key in any country is taking the time to learn the phrases: Please, Thank you, and I'm from New Zealand hehehe).

Thank you again Alena, such a lovely and thoughtful foodie package!

  

My favourite meal whilst in Prague was Svickova; a Czech delicacy of Slow cooked Sirloin, Cream Sauce, bread dumplings and jam; closely followed by Pork Knuckle and Goulash served in a hollowed out loaf of bread that you eat with the Goulash. We've found a couple of pubs in London that do the above, but Alena kindly has included Svickova with Pasta (a quick alternative) and Goulash sauce mix. They have been a perfect antidote for the winter weather we are still having.

 

Did I mention the freshly baked Creme Egg cupcakes which may not have made it home, or even to the Shard later that night?

 

I received a plethora of goodies including snacks ready for eating; delicious Chocolate Waffles Tatranly, a Chocolate coffee bar Kofila, Kinder Easter Eggs (which lasted all of about 3 seconds) and Cocoa Pudding which I've not had a chance to try. I'm intrigued by the Cocoa Pudding as Alena says it has a tangy note to it (much like salted caramel I suspect?)

A few weeks ago they kindly hosted us for dinner, which included homemade cheese balls (below) that we ate with Czech Tartar Sauce Tatarska omacka which is delicious. Lighter than the UK version this is softer and lighter, going perfectly with fish fingers.

 

 

Savoury snacks were also on the menu; Smoked cheese that looks like baled hay with a lovely tang Parenica, naughty string cheese Korbacik and Tcinky which are similar to pretzel sticks.

 

To add to my spice cupboard Alena also included a 7 pepper steak sauce (black, green, white, red, cayenne, jalapeno & sechuan!) and Lovage Libecek a herb that I've quizzed her about several times, which she uses in soups. I can't wait to try them out!

 

On top of all of this was included a beautiful card, and recipes for the ingredients.

 

It's just a shame I couldn't fit puppy in my bag too!

 

Alena and I have had quite a few adventures together, and I look forward to the next ones we have in the near future!



Camping during the Olympic Opening Ceremony

Fancy a lovely thoughtful box of goodies arriving on your doorstep? Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and is administered in Europe by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month. You will get to know two lovely people and are assigned one person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to receive something in the post that's not a bill. Join in today!

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Guest Blog - Foodie Penpals February

Foodie Penpals doesn't just connect bloggers with other bloggers, but also connects us with the other half of the coin - foodie blog readers. This month I sent to Allison, a reader who uses the moniker ChocVeg. (I love the order of her nickname with chocolate taking precedence - definately a lady after my own heart). She has been vegetarian for 30 years and I really enjoyed looking for Allison's parcel, and having to think outside the 'meat & 3 vege' box.

Foodie Penpals is a hobby that combines shoppping + foodie-ness + contacting nice people definately =  a winner (here are a few past boxes).

She kindly did a round up for me.
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Here is my February #Foodiepenpals selection from the lovely Kiwi Emma in London.
I hadn’t spotted that the postman had left the parcel sitting on my logs, safe and dry until I came back from a neighbour’s after a glass of wine!  What a lovely surprise and thank you so much Emma!

The box was bursting with goodies, most that I had never seen before in rural Surrey!!
These are very interesting single slices of special breads made in Germany – great for me as I am a keen sourdough bread maker and experimenter, a bar of salt chocolate which is lovely, especially late at night! And Franks flapjack bars. 

These are just the best and are made in Camden in London apparently!  I am not sure if they are widely available, but they are more than a snack, are healthy and lovely with chocolate in them – and so delicious I need a local supplier! Chocolate and dates mmmm! [Emma: Here is the website, I should have sent it to you!]

So onto the healthy things….!  Lovely mango slices – great to snack on during the day, and caramel coffee crackle popcorn which I am waiting for someone to share it with me! (oh yes and rice chips that disappeared very quickly that evening!)

And then even more healthy snacks!  Lovely dried mushrooms which I love, wasabi peanuts which I haven’t ever seen or tried, so another first, and then a popping corn to go in the microwave!  Never seen this before either so will pop it in the microwave when I’ve got a friend round for film night and hope for a laugh!

And to finish, some very useful garlic and chilli cooking paste to keep in the fridge – always useful, and some blood orange and ginger marinade for roast veggies!  Great for vegetarians like me, and can’t wait to try it.

So thank you so much Emma, for this very generous and delicious selection of lovely things!  I hope you also received some great goodies, and maybe some things you have never seen or tried before!

Best wishes,
Allison/chocveg

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I'm so glad you enjoyed it Allison, and I love your backsplash! Definately needed in the dready winter-time!

Vegetarian options are getting so much better these days, in fact I bought a few doubles, especially the blood-orange and ginger marinade.

It got me thinking again about being a vegetarian. What is your favourite vegetarian dinner?So, the downlow: Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and administered in for Europe by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month, you are assigned a person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to receive something in the post that's not a bill. Join in today!

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Transatlantic Foodie Penpals - Special Edition

The highlight of the end of the month for me is opening a carefully picked foodie package from a fellow Foodie somewhere in Europe (this month the East Midlands of England), so imagine my delight in addition this month, upon opening this baby, all the way from the United States of America (is it just me saying that in my head in an American drawl - no? Good).

 

 

I tried to resist even opening it until after Dinner the day it arrived, hoping to negate the damage we'd do to our waistlines whilst sampling the box. I managed to leave it alone for at least the duration of Dinner, with only a quick peek. Thankfully Dinner was quick - Everything-in-the-fridge soup takes no time to eat!

Julie(who blogs at What Julie Eats - check it out here), thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. Thank you for the time, the thought and the effort you took to send this little piece of America trans-Atlantic to my little patch of Old Blighty! It is fantastic.

Right, where do I begin? (sorry the post it sounds a little hyper, Julie like me leans toward a sweet tooth - yes!)

These 3 held the most fascination in the box for me I think. Us Brits read a lot of American blogs, and everywhere Trader Joes is mentioned, and it always seems to be in connection with really interesting items - don't these Butterscotches (which I love) look delicious? Look, I've got my own Trader Joes stuff now (I'm such a nerdizzle). Julie also send me Taco. Skillet. Sauce. A little bit of a Yank-flavoured swoon - it's proper Mexican sauce, by Rick Bayless, a celebrity chef who specialises in Mexican food. My hubby even licked his lips in anticipation. I'm also renaming my saucepan a skillet. It just rolls off the tongue. And then, a cinnamon & sugar grinder - how clever! I've been enjoying using this to season my morning porridge.



How much did I end up enjoying the butterscotch you ask? That much. Mmmm, perfect, especially warmed slightly.

These Cherries are deliciously tart and the cashew brittle - oh the brittle. Both are really lovely - the Cherries I've been eating at work as a snack and the brittle I've been rationing out to myself. As Julie points out, it's very American (this particular kind made by the Amish(!) it's also very moreish. The chocolate chips - well, we do have these over here too, you can settle the bet with your Gentleman, but I totally agree that one can never have too many chocolate chips, and in the great American tradition, these are earmarked for Chocolate Chip Cookies. How could I not?

Lavender is such a strong childhood smell for me, it's my Mum's favourite scent and we always had Lavender plants whilst growing up. The nonpareils we are set to enjoy, and the fruit slice Candies (hehehe, so American to be called Candies, funny that) are fascinating, and probably destined for cupcake decorations. So cute.

I LOVE mango - it must be the Foodie Penpal psychic vibe hitting off again, I've just run out of the ones in my desk stash, and these will hopefully last a little longer. The Jelly Beans have some cool flavours - pomegranate - and come with Julie's personal recommendation. It's really fun the idiosyncrasies that we appear to have in common - as kids we adored fruit strips (though we called them by another name) and I still buy these today...

I'm sad to report one small casualty during the journey (or possibly my excited tearing open of the box) plus a candy bracelet (not pictured). I loved candy bracelets as a kid.

Aren't these Candies cute, AND patriotic? The peanut chews are a particularly Philadelphia candy, and are delicious.

I can feel my waistline expanding as I type.


Last but not by any means least, two Theo bars of chocolate. As you can see, one of them didn't make it very far out of the box. I can confirm we enjoyed it's minty deliciousness. I love fresh mint, and the bar had the same pungent earthy-ness as fresh mint, a nice contrast to the Dark Chocolate. Isn't the wrapper of the second cute?

 

 

So far in my explorations of the box, my favourite items are the Chocolate, the Cherries, the Cashew Brittle & the awesome off-piste New York highlights map Julie kindly drafted for me.  Julie, you are an absolute legend. I actually don't know what karmic waft has lucked me in so well.

 

I think I've discovered a new sweet partner-in-crime, and a new obsession, nut brittle. My Dentist will be thrilled!

Fly Royal Mail, fly! [Edit: the parcel has now arrived on US shores & Julie is itching to crack it open, whew!]

We went a bit off-piste - thank you Twitter - and arranged our swap privately, but if you are interested in joining in;

 

 

So, the downlow: Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and administered in the UK by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month, you are assigned a person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to receive something in the post that's not a bill. Join in today!

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Tastes of the East Midlands - Foodie Penpal February

This month, not only did I receive an amazing Transatlantic parcel, but I was shamelessly spoilt by my lovely Penpal Jax, based in the East-Midlands.

For a long time, Britain has had a bit of a dodgy reputation when it comes to the gourmand side of life, but I defy anyone to recieve a box such as this, and say that things haven't changed.

Let me begin with the Salami. Made by the Suffolk Salami Co. it's made on their family farm from home reared pork. It's especially important with 'horsegate' going on at the moment to know what is in your food - and it's delicious. Rich, spicy - perfect. We used in in a scrumptious Black Bean casserole & as antipasti.

Fact for the day courtesy of the Suffolk Salami co.: The word Salami comes from the Italian "salare" meaning to sale. The Roman Legionnaires were often paid with salt, hence the word salary which also comes from "salare". They then used the salt to make salami.

An item missing from my later pics you'll notice are the honey oaties. They were scrumptious! Kindly handmade by Jax, they were the best biscuits we've eaten in years, and we've eaten a few. Accompanying a hastily made cup of tea (we decided we should really have an excuse to rip into them) we quite simply demolished them. There is something so much more delicious about homebaking. I also got the recipe for them. Yus!

The only truffle oil made entirely in England.

 

 

 

Fantastic. Just brilliant - I've been enjoying dabs of this on my eggs, and in wild Mushroom soup.

Then we have the Three Chilli Jam. How can you resist it, and with an ingredient list like the one below? No preservatives, no chemicals, no nasties. It has quite the kick to it. Hubby in particular has been delving into this, accompanied by some good English Mature Cheddar and crackers.



Last but not least, I really have enjoyed the apple and ginger juice. I've love that you are home brewing Cider - good luck and enjoy :)

Thank you Jax, I can't quite believe your generosity and thought put into this parcel; and it absolutely showcases some of the best of British (and the East-Midlands). My penpal Allison sent me a really kind email when she got her box, saying she enjoyed hers.

So, the downlow: Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and administered in the UK by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month, you are assigned a person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to receive something in the post that's not a bill. Join in today!

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A Taste of Greece - Foodie Penpals January 2012

I asked my Penpal, Ioanna to send me the items that meant Home/Greece to her, and was blown away by what I recieved.

I love Foodie Penpals.  

And boy, oh boy have I got plans for these...

The mastic Ioanna says can be used in baking (puddings, deserts etc) which I'm really looking forward to, but I really can't wait to properly try the Saffron out - I have a few savoury and sweet (!) recipes bookmarked, including Saffron Fruit Loaf. I'm very lucky that Ioanna included this in my Foodie Parcel, and I can't wait to explore it with the true attention it deserves... I feel a blog post in my near future...

Freshly picked Mountain Tea - apparently is enormously popular in Greece, and used most often in winter when levels of physical activity decrease and colds, aches, and pains increase. It is said to have a positive effect on almost anything that ails but, most notably, it is used for colds, respiratory problems, digestion, the immune system, mild anxiety, and as an anti-oxidant. It is also used as an anti-inflammatory and to reduce fever. We have been enjoying it in the morning and it's a very very nice herbal tea.

These Pasteli are so very good, a beguiling mix of Honey, Sesame and Crunch. They didn't last very long, about 5 minutes!

The photo of these lovely Olives I took before we opened them - I had to as hubby and I are huge Olive fans, so I knew they wouldn't last very long, and I was right! We had them with friends, serving them with Feta and Pita Bread. Heavenly. It almost felt like a Grecian summer, even though there was still snow on the outside pavements.

These have a really interesting texture, kind of like a cross between a Mintie Sweet and and an antacid tablet, but are really good for you - see the pic below;

Thank you Ioanna, such a lovely pacakge, it was just so lovely! I sent my parcel to Milou a lovely blogger from The Netherlands.

So, the downlow: Foodie Penpals was created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and administered in the UK by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month, you are assigned a person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to receive something in the post that's not a bill. Join in today!

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