So… this month I thought.. “Hey, I’m a veteran now. I’ve done this once. I can do this without quite so much drama this time.” Lies I tell you. All lies.

This time I got hooked up to send DorthyMarie a package only to discover that she’s my complete polar opposite! She’s a pescatarian and I eat neither fish nor vegetable. Uh. Oh. That threw me right out of the gate. I survived… sorta… by picking her up some random treats in gourmet stores I found on my trip to Seattle and Portland. (Totally different story, but I went there to ride the 200 miles from Seattle to Portland on my bike with my friend Molly and 10,000 other cyclists. And we had a blast). I even rallied to the cause and found salmon jerky. Who knew?

When I got home from my trip I got this fab package from my new friend Becca from Pennsylvania. She sent me all kinds of fun local products. My husband immediately grabbed the TastyKakes and hoarded them for himself. He grew up on the East Coast and these made him feel homesick. I on the other hand grabbed the pretzel rods. She couldn’t have known but I’m a huge salt whore and love to sit and suck all the salt off of pretzels. I also immediately Instagrammed the picture of the Bacon Dressing to make my friend Jodi (who is the Queen of All Things Bacon) jealous.

Now the Chow-Chow was a complete new one on me. You think you know everything and then wham! You find out you have no clue. I’m saving this for an upcoming dinner party – I want to see what all my Californian friends think since no one I know has ever heard of it. I will also be cracking open the bacon dressing and whipping up some decadent salad with it – or just serving it with a spoon!

So much fun again! You should totally try this.