Gimme Your Best Pics

It's come to our attention here at Gimme that all of our swap photos are mighty boring... all we're seeing is piles of groceries! Where's the emotional human story? Where's the flair? Where's the general hilarity?!
From this moment on, we propose a competition: let's see who can give us the most interestingest/coolestest/funnerest/bestest photo of their Swap.
We want to see a Japanese Tea Ceremony with Texas Scream hot sauce... or you dressed as a giant hotdog offering the public free vegemite tastings as you walk around the streets of New York... or even just a shot of all your new goodies on the back of your pet pony. I know there are several swaps that'll be completed in the next week or so, so let's see what we can do!
Ohhh you want to know what the prize is? Well, um, a lifetime of good feelings? How about we'll make a big song and dance so all our readers will go and have a look at your site? Don't worry, we'll come up with something.

Japan / Texas Swap Complete!

The US West gets a little more Far East!



























Thanks to the kindness of a GimmeSwapper in Japan, Austin Texas is now much more kawaii as we enjoy cute socks and panda paper. The adzuki bean/matcha tea flavored Kit-Kats are minty fluorescent green and, uhm, may be an acquired taste, but the sushi cookbook and Amazon Sparkling Cola Candy rock!
We tip our cowgirl hat and offer a Western-style bow to our friends for broadening our horizons as well as our hips.
Lori
http://chatoyance.blogspot.com/

The Far East thanks the Wild West!


















As a fellow recipient of a package from Lori, I'm sure you can understand how floored I was by the sheer size of the box, not to mention all the great things inside. I already polished off a lot of the candy (conspicuously missing from the picture is the Moonpie, which was eaten upon opening the box) and featured the hot watermelon straws as the Japanese Candy Friday (Mexican Candy Edition) on my website. Quite a few of the foreigners in my town are from the Mexican-food-friendly states of California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, so I am planning on hosting a salsa party soon!

Anjali
http://www.giantjeansparlor.net

Check out more words and pics here and here.

Perth-ites Strike Back

If it's a share-off you want than a share-off you shall have, Lori!
I brought some Texan cookies in to work for a couple of the inmates to try...
James says 'Mmmmmmm.... sweet, sticky filling, fluffy marshmallow and a rumshus biscuity texture.....truly Texalicious.' James is a little slow.

Girls Gone Wild for Tim-Tams, or, Tim-Tam Slammin' Texas-Style

Perth shares Tim-Tams, unleashing Austin women.

We found takers for an Austin Texas Tim-Tam Slam, and the request went out for adult beverages -- these enterprising women were going to do it Texas style.
Hot coffee, a shot or three of something to add a kick, and it's Welcome To The Wild Wild West!

Austin sends slightly hung over thanks to Perth for sharing the Tim-Tam lurve! You can check out additional photos here.
Lori
http://chatoyance.blogspot.com/

South Australia/Texas Swap Complete!

More generosity from Australia!



Central Texas no longer has to live without South Australian treats and reading material.

In fact, we're ready and fully provisioned for a Tim-Tam versus Yo Yo taste test (er, except we ate all the Tim-Tams from Western Australia already, hint hint.)

Even more intriguing is the instance of marshmallow-cookie-sandwiches around the world. Texas has its Moon Pies and Little Debbie Marshmallow Pies, and Australia has its Wagon Wheels.

Are there other nations where marshmallow-filled cookies, excuse me, bikkies live?
GimmeSwappers need to know...
Lori
http://chatoyance.blogspot.com/

And what did South Australia get?


My life is now complete, that I have sat down reading The Austin Chronicle while eating snacks straight out of a Texan Supermarket. What I love most, day of the week cookies. Awesome. And the moon cakes, possibly the sweetest snack I have ever eaten.

Lovin this GimmeSwap.
Ainslie
http://ainslieliveshere.blogspot.com

Australia/Texas Swap Complete!

Australian Causes Texan to Doubt Photographic Ability.

Internet time? Nanoseconds.
Shipping time? Eons.
But it's all worth the wait for a good swap.





The awkward angles that ensue when a Texican tries to do The Tim-Tam Slam while taking a photo...

But waste no pity on that Texan, for lo, she has Ample Amounts of Tasty Goodies from Western Australia! And there is the promise of a real Tim-Tam Slam with other Texans later this week.

(How could she NOT share all this the GimmeSwap luv?)
Lori
http://chatoyance.blogspot.com

Western Australia Receives a Copious Bounty.


































I've repressed all evil spirits from my house thanks to the amazing Texan super-soap I've received, and I did it while chowing down on some yummy biscuits, reading the local Texan news and learning some nifty Texan recipes... AND I just happened to do it all whilst standing in front of a convenient Australian flag with my partner in crime.
The biscuits were great, I especially loved the random Texan kangaroo on the front of the pack! I also loved the block of drinking chocolate, though it doesn't taste very nice when you just eat a square.

A few notes on what i sent... Yup, it's not called Jell-o in Australia! That's some Aussie Passiona (brand of passionfruit flavoured drink) flavoured Jelly comin' atcha. The Anzac bikkies are from the Australia New Zealand Army Corps. Well, they're not FROM them cause they'd be moldy, they're in memory of the ANZACs back in Ye Olde Days. See, we're all learning useful information!

Thanks for the great swap Lori, I hope you have fun with the eucalyptus drops, they're just like chewin' on a real gumleaf.
Rikki
http://summeroliday.blogspot.com

More swap updates!

Texas / Arizona -- the pepper jam is in the mail as is the cactus jelly, along with mysterious other treats.

Texas / Japan -- a whole bunch of over-the-ocean goodies are en route, including colored socks for cookbooks and more!

Perth (aus) / Lille (fr) -- Crazy French lollies swaped for Aussie bird stuff, in the post as we speak!

Perth (aus) / New York -- Locally themed foody delights swappathon in the post.

Update coming in the next day or so on recently completed Australia / Texas GimmeSwap™ excitement!

Stay tuned...

EVERYBODY LOVES BEER

Got prohibition? Need Gimmeyourstuff™!!!

I am wonderfully happy to announce to you that Gimmeyourstuff™ has moved into the world of BOOZE exchange. Now you can experience that woozy morning after feeling from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!! Dave from Perth, and Lisa from New York are in the process of exchanging the best of their best local hop based, alcoholic beverages. We will post stories of their respective experiences (drunken-ness-osity-athon) as soon as it happens!!!

Gimmeyourstuff™ the possibilities are ENDLESS

Milo's Adventures Round the USA

The Spirit of Milo-Generosity is passed from hand to hand in Texas.
Chocolate, with it's abundance of theobromine and tetrahydroisoquinoline salsolinol, has been shown to positively affect mood. That certainly is the case here.

Willie reports, "I had my first Milo experience yesterday morning. Mixed it with a cold glass of organic 2% milk. A bit hard to dissolve, the Milo didn't look like similar American products. But the taste made up for it. Not too chocolately but rich and wonderful and even a little crunchy at the end. And I thought I saw a kangaroo in my backyard later that day."

New Swaps and New Members

Japan / Australia
Some crazy Japanese candy is on it's way to Perth, while some less crazy Australian lollies head over the sea to Japan.

Japan / Texas
Additional Japanese candy (and more!) is heading to Texas, while cookbooks, strange Mexican candies and other artifacts voyage to Japan.

France / Australia
Some very secretive French items are being exchanged for some also very secretive Australian items, to remind an Aussie in France of home.

New York / Australia / Arizona
I hear that some New York chocolate coated chips are on their way to Australia and Arizona very soon...

Our first bunch of exchanges should be nearing completion any day now, in the meantime, I'd like to welcome our newest ambassadors from Japan, Finland, Hungary and France.

If you have any specific requests for other people's stuff, or you've got something to swap that you think is pretty damn cool, drop us a line and we'll try to write a post for you.

Aussie Tim Tam Tips

Just received a packet of Tim Tams and unsure how to eat them? Well listen up folks, this here is called the 'Tim Tam Slam' and you ain't lived 'til you've tried it.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

The Tim Tam Slam is the practice of drinking a beverage by sucking it through a Tim Tam, an Australian chocolate-covered biscuit. The practice is done by sucking through a Tim Tam with both ends bitten off. According to the Toxic Custard guide to Australia, this procedure is done as follows:

1. Prepare a cup of tea (or other hot or cold drink)
   [I'd like to interject at this point and say DON'T try this with a cold drink or with tea... use coffee, milo or hot chocolate]
   
2. Remove the Tim Tam from the packet [usually helps]
   
3. Bite a small section off two diagonally opposite corners
4. Dip one corner into the drink
5. Suck on the other corner, which will mix the drink with little pieces of the biscuit
6. When the Tim Tam begins to fall apart in your hand, eat the whole biscuit
7. Obtain another Tim Tam from the packet and return to step 3

If anyone else has a strange ritual to share, please give us a bell.

Update: Milo shared by Austinite

Pictures to come from Guest Swapper Rrramone (Willie, are you listening?) as Australian Milo and other GimmeSwap™ tidbits made their way hand to hand from a happy Austin Texas recipient to the no-longer-Milo-deprived in Dallas.

IN OTHER NEWS:
France / Texas swap in process!
Stay tuned for more...

Texas/New Jersey GimmeSwap Complete!

Texan Joy Reaches New Jersey!


"A lament for the sad state of food affairs in NJ yields surprising results yesterday:

- Two jars of Stubb's barbeque sauce
- One bottle of Chipotle sauce
- A Texas cookbook
- A likewise local paper, no Britney pics but like Gloria Gaynor, I will survive
- Chocolate from down under, not Aussie down under mind you, but American 'down under'
- And, last but not least, African religious soap. I said African, people.

I am now grilling, reading, washing AND praying as we speak."

Cheers,
Bill G./Makethelogobigger
http://makethelogobigger.blogspot.com

Austin Gets Fun and Delicious Stuff!



"A wonderfully generous soul in Northern New Jersey kindly responded to an Austin Texas cry in the wilderness for an infusion of East Coast 'tude and treats.

What filled the Texas recipient with happy surprise delight?
Minty fudge!
Lots of yummy biscotti!
TEA!
Tawdry and great New Yawk tabloid newspapers!

And best of all...(parents, please make sure your children are not viewing):
An anonymous East Coast Jets fan's "salute" to Dallas Cowboys fans!!!



Now THAT'S what I call a GimmeSwap!"

Lori
http://chatoyance.blogspot.com

New exchanges in process!

Austin Texas / Calgary Canada
Hats for hats...three truckstop gimme caps for one white Calgary cowboy hat!

Austin Texas / Northeast US
BBQ fixins for Italian biscotti!

Austin Texas / Perth Australia
Cookies for biscuits -- mysteriously assorted Mexican cookies for Tim-Tams!

California / Victoria Australia
A wine lover's trade: Californian wine (Napa Valley region) for Victorian wine (Bellarine Peninsula Region)

Stay tuned for completion news and photos!

THE VEGEMITE CHALLENGE

So lets get this exchange ball rolling shall we. I'm offering VEGEMITE!!! The most Australian substance known to man. Japanese will like it because its a bit salty, Germans will like it because its heavy but good for you, the English will like it because we do everything better than them and Vegemite WALKS ALL OVER bovril. So I am calling for offers...

CALLING IN ALL INTERNATIONAL OFFERS FOR A SWAP FOR A BIG JUICY JAR O' VEGEMITE!!!

I will consider all offers... Offer anything you like! Lollies, biscuits, toys, clothing, CARS!!!

NEW "GIMME" STUFF

* *T A D A H !* *
We here at Gimme Your Stuff have created a BUTTON for your publicising pleasures. So if you want to link us (please please please please please), just copy the code from this page (it's to the left and down a bit) into your html script and WHAMMO you've gotta 'GIMME' button! Here is someone who has done it already - Go check it out! So if you wanna be the coolest kid on your digital block and be part of the GIMME YOUR STUFF (soon to be) phenomenon, get yourself a BUTTON!

We'd also like to call on everyone to email us pics or stories on your culture's foods... strange traditions weird eating methods... share!

Australia-Texas Exchange Complete!

Our message from Lori:

"My life before Milo was a pleasant life, by all accounts a good life. But, now that my friends in Australia have introduced me to Milo, tiny little bluebirds hover nearby warbling bits from Purcell and Sinatra, and total strangers stop me to give me affectionate hugs and large sums of money. Why? Who knows...except I suspect it's not only because Milo is THAT GOOD, but sharing fun around the world makes even the best chocolate drink mix even tastier.

BIG CHOCOLATELY THANKS to Thom and Rikki for being such cool cultural ambassadors!

P.S. -- I need instructions for how/with what to eat Vegamite. I tasted it (YOWZA) and suspect there's some tradition involved that's not completely intuitive to a Texas gal."

Gimme Your Posts!

Wow, this thing is really working, thanks for the absolutely amazing amount of hits for just 2 days of operation!
Just to clarify: to join up you need to make a post on your own blog which says what you have to offer. We can then make your link directly to that post, saving everyone time and effort!
Thanks for your support everyone, let us know if you set up a good exchange!

Welcome to Gimme Your Stuff (beta release).

The Background:
A new friend of ours from texas requested we send her a tin of Aussie Milo, and in exchange, she'll send some tex-mex for our enjoyment. When we received our much awaited package, it was like all our non-religious specific holiday celebrations had come at once. We wondered how we could share this joy with the world...

How it works:
1) Create a new post on your blog indicating what you'd like to swap, make sure you add a link to us too!
2) Add your link to our list of cultural ambassadors on the right. (If you don't see a space to add your details, click on the Gimme Your Stuff title bar to refresh the page).
3) Click other people's links to see what they want to swap, and contact them to organise your exchange.
4) Receive your cultural exchange and email us your pic and amazingly fantastic story.

The best will be published whenever we get around to it.
Tell your friends immediately, and happy swapping!