EBBP#5 - the taste of Summer

Apologies for the break in transmission, but I nipped over to Paris for a few days with a friend of mine - it's a tough job but somebody has to do it!!  ;-)  So now I owe you a write-up on THREE Paris trips - last summer, this summer, and a brief sojourn in winter.  Watch this space for details...

But discussing my procrastination problem is not the point of today's post...  Today's post is far more important - it's the announcement of Euro Blogging By Post #5!  Hard to believe that Andrew's brainchild is in it's fifth incarnation, isn't it?  We have had three events with themes, and one without a theme, and all have been great fun, so no doubt there are those among you who are waiting with bated breath for the next one.  Well - wait no more!  It's here!

Let me first explain the idea for those who are unfamiliar with it.  EBBP is kind of like having a secret Santa who anonymously sends you a gift - a Santa who is as obsessive about food as you are yourself! The organiser (that's me!) makes a list of all those participating and assigns each participant a person to whom they have to send a parcel of food-related godies, on a pre-determined date.  So everyone who plays along both sends and receives a wonderful foodie gift - kind of like Christmas but without the family squabbles and all that dry turkey ;-)

Right, let's lay down some ground rules and deadlines:

1. If you are interested in signing up, please send me your name and postal address as soon as possible. Feel free to mention if you have any food allergies or serious dislikes and we can try to accommodate them.

NB - when we say Euro Blogging by Post, we really mean it. We have had people wanting to join in from the USA and further afield, but all this does is to cause problems with customs, parcels being returned etc etc, and increases the already substantial postage that some of us will have to pay.  So if you are outside Europe, please please do not ask to join in as I will have to say no!

2. As the responses come in, I will collate a list of who is participating and to whom everyone should send their parcel.

3.  Let's aim to get the parcels posted out on Monday 31 July - that will give you a couple of weeks and to think and the weekend of 29/30 July to prepare your parcel.  Please don't feel you have to go totally overboard with the contents of your parcel - apart from anything else, huge heavy parcels incur huge postage fees!  I am not setting a financial limit on the contents of the parcel, but aim to include maybe four or five items, no more.  Home-made is always nice, but please do bear in mind that a) the post sometimes takes longer than expected so PLEASE don't send anything that will spoil; and b) the postal services are sometimes less than gentle, so think twice about sending breakables and if you do, wrap them very securely with bubble wrap to prevent disasters.

4.  Over that weekend I will send out to each participant the details of whom they are sending their parcel to.

4.  Once you've sent your parcel, sit back and wait for your own to arrive.  Please e-mail me to let me know as soon as it does.  You will then also discover who your secret Santa is!

5.  Please post a write-up of your parcel (and photos, if possible!) on your blog and send me the link so that I can do a round-up of all the contributions.

Sound simple enough to you?

Well, there's one last twist in the tail.  I have decided to set a theme (those of you who know the End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza will be glad to hear it's not Beowulf...!) - "The taste of Summer".  Anything that indicates summer to you, whether that be something fruity, the ingredients for a salsa, whatever you like to dip into salsa, your favourite BBQ seasoning - just let your imagination run wild.

So off you go - seek summery inspiration for your parcels and send me your names and addresses as soon as possible so that I can start getting my distribution list together!

Comments

[sam]

AAARGH - you are killing me.
But what about the newspaper headlines??? I have been preparing my entry.
I was organised again. I had already cooked my dish. It's not sweet. Last month I did sweet.
This month I was preparing newspaper headline. Argh. Argh Argh.

[Jeanne]

Hi Sam
Erm, no intention of killing you, I promise!! And not entirely sure where the sweet thingy came in... but yes - fear no more! There will most definitely be an EoMEoTE at the end of July! And yes, the theme remains tabloid headlines!! So get your post up and ready for the end of July...

[sam]

ok i am confused - what about this sentence at the end of the above post:

so it will be taste of the summer and newspaper headlines together then?
my post doesnt reall fit with taste of the summer but i will try

[Jeanne]

OK, stop Sam - you're making *my* head hurt now!! :o)

I think this is a case of too many acronyms! Here's the story so far:

1. EBBP, aka Euro Blogging by Post, is the event that this post deals with, and it's theme is "Taste of Summer". Sadly though, you can't participate unless you plan to relocate to Europe in the next 2 weeks ;-)

2. EoMEoTE aka the End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza, hasn't been officially announced yet for July, but I mentioned last month that the theme is going to be tabloid headlines. The "deadline" for that (hahahaha) will be the first weekend in August - and I presume that's the post that you have ready and waiting in the wings?

So no worries - you won't have to combine summer & tabloid headlines (although that might be a fun challenge...) - the two themes relate to totally different events. And where the sweet thing comes in I really don't know! ;-)

[Andrew]

Oh the sweet thing is easy - it me !!!!

[Foodfreak]

There you go... it is on the way

http://blog.lebensunfaehig.org/foodfreak/archives/452-EBBP-5-Taste-of-summer-is-on-the-way.html