Little treats from Germany - blogging by mail

I almost ignored the doorbell when it rang at about 9 this morning. Mausel was comfy on my lap, I was in the middle of writing a sentence and our post doesn't arrive til much later. Fortunately I braved the possibility of a cold caller, as it was a postman with a little blogging by mail package from Germany! Yes, Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness has taken on the increasingly enormous task of inviting, collating and matching people for BBM, 10 items or fewer. It's such a lovely idea - blogging made real, and full of wee treats winging their way around the globe.

My little package came from Aniko at Paprika meets Kardamom - so called because of her part German, part-Hungarian roots. Her gifts were so thoughtful and personalised, and reflect her own culinary and cultural origins too. Here's what I got:

At the front there are two Christmas cookie cutters which will be perfect for the end of semester choc chip cookies :) I love making cut-out cookies and I've been contemplating some seasonal cutters for a while so I was very pleased with those. Next to them are some poppyseeds which feature highly in Hungarian baking (and lots of Eastern European Jewish dishes too). Aniko included a recipe for a poppy seed bread pudding which is a favourite in her family :) Above them is some 'Gute-Laune-Tee' or 'Good Mood Tea' with fennel, apple, anise, verbena, cinnamon and other spices. Can't wait to try that one to perk up a Monday morning! At the back are some gummy sweets - I might not know too much German but I can definitely understand 'ohne gelatine'!! To the side are Hungarian dried sour cherries - did Aniko know that I love dried fruit?! The sour cherries rang a bell about something Johanna blogged about a while back - and sure enough, she had been trying to make some fig and dried cherry slices but could only find really expensive sour cherries so she used apricots. My cherries are destined for that original recipe as it looks and sounds amazing! Next, some Hungarian paprika - another speciality and one that we're very fond of. The Scientist loves goulash, and Aniko has also sent a tasty-sounding recipe for pumpkin goulash which we're definitely going to try next week.

What an amazing little parcel - thank you so much Aniko! I had a hard time keeping my mind on my work for the rest of the morning while I turned over thoughts for what all these lovely ingredients could become. And that you Stephanie for all your hard work too!