You've got Mail! From Australia!

The package arrived at my doorstep during the height of "Battle Bug" (a war we're still waging against a few hearty stragglers). A delightful little box all the way from Australia.

I wasted no time clearing off the first available horizontal surface and diving right in! (Sadly, I wasted way too much time getting my goodies posted here, and for that I extend sincere apologies to Cin and Stephanie.)

First out of the box, a generous jar of Wattleseed. Hmm... Wattleseed? Wattleseed: according to the Internets, an Aboriginal spice blend made popular by a pioneer in native Australian foods and used to add complex flavor profiles to sweets and savories. A little more web surfing reveals some must-try recipes: Wattleseed Pavlova and Emeril's Wattleseed Ice Cream.

Next up, a handful of chocolate bars... two adorable Cadbury "Caramello" Koala Chocolate Caramel bars and two bars of Ccoca Rhapsody's Nut Cove -- roasted hazelnuts, pistachios, and caramelized sugar covered in organic fair trade milk chocolate hand-crafted in Melbourne.

From sugar we turn to caffeine, in the form of Byron Bay Coffee Company's Classic Roast. Rich and smooth with hints of chocolate, it's been a hit at my breakfast table.

G'day mate... if I ever find myself visiting the land of Oz, I know what I'll get if I order a sanger and a tube of amber fluid. thanks to a handy dictionary of Aussie slang.

As summer fades to fall and I'm searching for an inviting book, a cozy blanket and a warm cup of soup on a chilly weekend afternoon, I now have Jacques Pepin's memoir The Apprentice waiting on my coffee table. It promises to be a story of strength and determination, growth and transformation... sprinkled with some soul-satisfying recipes.

And then there are the Tim Tams. These are clearly Australia's contribution to that small collection of foodstuffs (marcona almonds, pimentos di padron, Girl Scout thin mints, Caramel Sin) that I consider culinary cocaine. Cin suggests the Tim Tam Slam: "bite off (nibble) diagonal corners and use biscuit as a straw to sip your tea/coffee (make sure it's not too hot). Quickly place entire biscuit in mouth and wait for explosion." We haven't been able to try the Tim Tam Slam because we can't stop eating them straight out of the package. Another trip to the Internets reveals that these lovelies come in multiple flavors. For which there are recipes. A few more minutes with Google and I have a source for the entire product line in Texas. My uncle lives near San Antonio. I see a road trip in my future...

Thanks to Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness for hosting this installment of Blogging by Mail, and to Cin of My Favorite Things for sharing a little bit of Australia with me.

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