Passing Along The Joy

Four o'clock came and went today, and my pay it forward contest has ended. Yay to the 13 people who entered (really, only 13 -- odds are good, people!). You were good sports, and I got some good guesses and info on the delicious variety of Asian food I won from Parking At Home -- thank you again!

I will say that I've been enjoying many of the boxed items for lunch when I don't have the time to make something real. And when I've neglected to go to the store to buy something that is tasty and also suitable for lunch.

My favorite is the anchovy rice noodle soup. You might agree with me if you tasted it, but I don't think that many of you would agree to taste it in the first place!

The good news is that the food I've tasted thusfar has been yummy AND easy to deal with. I've figured out that the ones in containers are dehydrated soup type foods and just need to be filled to the line inside with hot water. That I can do.

And yes, the apple candies are REALLY apple-y. In fact, I'm going to send along a few of those to share with my pay it forward winner. Feel the love!

And according to my friend's mom, the mystery food that I couldn't decide if it was like oatmeal or something else may have multiple purposes. As originally intended, it is a breakfast food. It's roasted brown ride porridge. And no, I haven't tried that one yet. However, Parking At Home is also right in that frequently it's just crumbled up atop other soups, etc.

Parking at Home was also correct that the second mystery item was ramen noodles. I haven't made those yet, either, but I loved ramen when I was a poor college student, so I'm looking forward to trying the "real" stuff.

And now... for the unveiling of my mystery prize!

First, I have three books that I hope the winner will enjoy. Sandra Brown is one of those authors who writes a pretty entertaining novel that's really brain candy. I haven't had much of a chance to read since ummm my wee ones were born, but fingers crossed this will be passable. The Life of Pi is actually a book club book, so it's been read by me and has some underlining in it (sorry!) but it's a really thought provoking book while being a good read.

Second, I have some books for a small child. These are two that my wee ones enjoyed, and they aren't the most common. Crawlies Creep is a popup book where the creepy crawlies demonstrate their prowess (the owl blinks, the crocodile snaps, etc). I always loved pop ups! I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words is Mister Man's favorite. It was the first book he read by himself (outside the Bob books)!

Four refrigerator magnets are the next part of the prize. I thought they were so cute and homey. This is where having a stainless steel fridge doesn't work out so well.

Who doesn't need a cute little stuffed bunny? I never got into the collecting of Beanie Babies (my stuffed animal collection was already too large), but I always think they're so cute!

I know Little Miss loves carrying around purses, and the winner has a daughter (oooo, how's that for a clue?). I thought this striped tote would be perfect for her.

Now I have to hope the winner is Christian. Or at least celebrates Christmas. I love the old fashioned Washington Post look, and this ornament perfectly captured the look. I know I'm five months off, but preparation is a good thing, right?

And lastly, you all know about my apple-y candies. I'm going to share a handful of these with ...

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Timestamp: 2008-07-23 22:42:07 UTC

The tenth commenter was a new visitor to my blog: Shelly Overlook of Scenic Overlook! Congratulations, Shelly! I hope you like your prize. Remember to pay it forward with your own contest. Your prize won't be in the mail tomorrow, as I'll be in the office, but I'll try to get it out on Friday.

And if I ever receive my second PIF prize, I'll do the second PIF contest. However, I haven't heard from the contest sponsor since getting the first email saying I won (I did follow up once), so maybe not.

Tomorrow, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled blogging! Here's hoping that some of the new readers come back to visit again.