apparently, in hungary, on the eve of 5 december, children place their shoes on the window sill and when they awake on the 6th (st nicholas’ day), if they have been good, their shoes are filled with chocolate, fruit and other treats.

thankfully dora, from the purple fig, was not briefed about any naughtiness i’ve been involved with (although she did include a golden branch which is traditionally used to mete out any punishment necessary!) and yesterday i received a wonderful parcel of foodie goodies from her. also included was a lovely letter telling me about hungarian christmas traditions.

the parcel was sent as part of the holiday edition of blogging by mail, which is being organised by stephanie at the happy sorceress (check out this fabulous cake she recently made!).

blogging by mail, as you’ll know if you saw an earlier post by me about a parcel i received from germany earlier this year, is when you send, and then receive, a parcel from another food blogger.

my parcel from dora was full of treats and i feel very spoilt. as well as plenty of sweets, chocolates (including a lovely bar of fig chocolate to represent her blog) and nuts there was a honey biscuit, shaped like a christmas tree, and a jar of honey so i can make my own (do you have a recipe dora?). to accompany a festive pudding at some point in the coming weeks there was a bottle of the world-famous tokaji wine.

savoury treats were in abundance too, including a homemade jar of thyme infused blackcurrant onion relish to eat with some foie gras, spread on toast for christmas morning (that’s one thing sorted!).

plus there was a wonderful tasting italian blue cheese which apparently has a tokaji rub. i have to confess that this was opened instantly (its aroma teased me as i opened the package) and formed the basis of my supper last night! delicious!

thank you dora for such a wonderful parcel, so full of treats, and for your lovely letter. and thank you stephanie for arranging everything - if you want to see what everyone else was sent, visit the happy sorceress for a round-up of all the parcels.

happy holidays!