WooHoo! You’re a lucky man, John!! And lpink is a generous soul!

How lovely! Enjoy it with good appetite!

Just for your data points: Before the web, I partipated in online non-food swaps. They were well meaning but a pain to administer. Your random pairings version sounds better—less work—but for all the appeal of sharing, I still think it's a lot more than I'd want to take on.

Lovely!!!

I’m trying to think of foodie things that are distinctive to the area that could be mailed…. if there’s a trade, I’ll join in. :)

I'm curious about the way a Michigan cherry salsa is made. is it with tomatoes and cherries and spicy like a mango salsa, or is it a dessert salsa of some kind? Like a salsa you can dip your chocolate cookies into? :)

So nice.…lucky you!!!

We used to do food swaps. I never participated though, I'm pretty busy.

The gift package was to thank John for helping me, (once again!) sort out my food processor that broke, again! Now I'm back in business, and the new part arrived just in time for a holiday potluck! Then I got sick so my holidays weren't very productive. Strep throat (maybe) but for sure sinus heck! Not covid, I tested three times.

I tried to go with a bit of a low carb, charcuterie theme. I didn't do much canning this year, one small batch of salsa that was gone, small batch of pickles, and strawberry jam. I also tried to go with some unique MI stuff, but MI and WA are neck and neck in competition for agricultural dominance in a lot of crops! Especially in the fruit realm, as we have the Inland Seas to moderate our coastal weather creating a fruit belt.

One realm where we dominate is dry beans! I sent John as jar of locally grown and processed "Randall Beans." They are sealed in glass jars, and are not widely available but they are great, the glass jars avoid giving the beans a tinny taste that can come from cans. Another MI company that sells beans is Eden Foods out of Clinton but I couldn't find any of their cans, the supply around here is spotty.

I was really worried about sending the glass jars though, but that's what you get with home canned stuff. I sent a jar of home made pickles, MI is also number one in pickle cucumbers. I owe my existence to this, as my maternal grandfather met my grandmother as a result of him being a pickle buyer for a Heinz cannery and my great grandfather was a pickle farmer with eight daughters!

I felt bad that all the home made salsa was gone, so I got some of the cherry salsa. Yes, I guess kind of like some of the other fruit salsas like peach or mango. I've never had it. I thought it might be good with meats . . .

Also some beer mustard, MI being a watery state we have a lot of breweries.

The crackers were from Win Schulers, a pretty nice restaurant nearby, although it is past its heyday. So named after its founder. It was circling the drain before the pandemic, but I hear they have new owners now, so time will tell. The setting is nice for sure. They used to sell a famous "Bar Cheeze" spread which came in a small ceramic crock and was made with cheddar and horseradish, found its way on many an appetizer tray back in the 60s and 70s you could get it in the stores. Now they only sell it at the restaurant and I don't know if the new owners are even going to keep up with the tradition. The crackers are supposed to evoke that taste.

I hope nothing broke. I couldn't justify spending more on the postage than the contents cost to pay for the special handling treatment.

Ann T used to organize a swap every so often, where all those who put their names down to participate were assigned one of the others to send a package to.

She was great at that!

I swapped with a number of people.

This was from Annie ---

From Renee (beanthere_dunthat) --

And this was a care package Carol (dishesdone) sent when we were remodeling the kitchen.

I remember those swaps. They were a hoot and Ann_T did great job of coordinating so you never got the same person twice. I think I did most of them and I often run across a treasure and can't remember who sent it.

The last record I have is 2008. I can't remember how many years we did them. I can't even imagine how much postage has gone up since then, lol.

I have a Cats by Nina bowl that Eileen (browntoestoo aka barnmom and centralcacyclist) sent. I pulled it out today to hold a few pears.

USPS has a standard size box that Priority Mail will deliver anywhere in the US for about $25. ”Large Flat Rate Box”. I was in a bicycle parts swap group where we sent the same ”Box ’O Crap” from person to randomly selected person; although the physical box was replaced from time to time, as the contents and handing wore out the cardboard, its spirit carried on for many years. The game was to build up a bike with someone else’s crap components and send your crap components on to be built into the next person’s bike. ”Crap” is figurative, as there were some very not-crappy components sent as well.

The question is should a swap be set up so that each person is called upon to be the sender quite infrequently, or more frequently? I myself probably can’t get it together to be a sender more than 1X or 2X a year. And should one’s turn be at regular intervals, or randomly?

I like really the idea of a food exchange that one could opt in or out of. I did one of the prior exchanges. I had fun pulling together the items for my package. And still have a few of the items I received. The food items were quickly eaten. I can understand that pulling something like that together can be like herding cats.

Those exchanges were so much fun! I still have so many of the items I received and use them often and think fondly back to the exchanges when I do.

I became active in this group about the time I was completing my kitchen remodel which was in 2004, so it was within a few years after that.

Even though I never participated in the exchanges, I enjoyed reading about them. Still, I too have many wonderful memories and items from both in person and virtual exchanges with the generous and caring CF community. Besides JohnLiu TWICE in a span of about ten years helping me fix my aging Cuisinart food processor, I received a bread machine from OhioMom that I use all the time, soup bowls from San, ditto, a pie plate from JessyF whom I also met twice in-person, tomato seeds from Annie, Lascatx send me extra shelf spices when mine got packed away in my cross country move, and Sue Sharp sent me a Hobart mixer which I am now using at our Community Center. I also have met many a wonderful CF member at some of our get togethers in Philly and MI for Canny Camp and a few other occasions. Not to mention the countless recipes and great advice from many a sage member.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a really long "to do" list at this point so I'm not getting out much. I've aged and I tire easily so my calculation of energy extended vs desire to participate has gotten more expensive. Not saying I don't do or get out, but the number of times the stars align of me having time and feeling up to getting out or tackling a new project happens less often. And I'm just not cooking like I used to. I never much enjoyed it, and although I still like to eat good food, I have the energy to do it way less often and my current kitchen is not all that fun to be in. It could be worse, so that's not the whole story. I've lost a lot of motivation. I haven't canned as much either, although I hope to do more next summer. A community garden kept me way too busy last year and I have sworn to devote myself to my own gardens this year!!

Nice box of goodies, John! L, you "done good", if you will excuse the grammar.

I also enjoyed the swaps several times, but I know AnnT put a lot of work into them. I have items I use regularly from the swaps, a berry colander from wizardnm (Nancy), an Emile Henry pie plate that I got from David (lakeguy), one of AnnT and Moe's handmade wood and magnet knife holders. We did a Christmas cookie swap a couple of times too, that was fun.

L, I remember that Win Schuler's Bar Cheez, I haven't thought about it in a long time, but I remember the little stone crocks with the metal clips.

Annie