Beacoup Choses de la Belle France, Kevinsent

My dog just had surgery, and I didn't have the heart to cut her out of this picture.

Jackpot!

Kevin of the great new blog The Card Papoy (which, incidentally, has some of my favorite post titles around), lives in France.  Unfortunately for him he is also a baseball fan, specifically the Blue Jays.  I offered to send him a bunch of Jays I have laying around in exchange for some yummy French stuff.  As for what he could send me in return, I gave the examples of chocolate, cheese, and mustard.  Well, Kevin sent all three in a big box with some sweet cards to boot.

But before we get to the cards, let's talk about the food.  The cheese is soft but strong-tasting, a tiny bit salty but a lot more sweet with a lot of that roof-of-the-mouth stinging goodness.  The chocolates are smooth and completely unlike what I buy here (mostly Russell Stover or Lindt's if I'm feeling saucy).  More soft and melty in the mouth than what I'm used to.  I'm trying to take my time eating them.  The mustards I have not gotten into yet, but I am super excited about the different flavors there.  Great stuff, all.

Okay, this is not a food blog:

Kevin has a good eye for fun and unique cardboard.  He also seems to love Stadium Club which I can relate to.  Whoever down at the Topps offices chose that picture for Erik Pappas is a sick man, but I love the brazen resolve on Tim Naehring's face that says "Watch your ass, umpire - I'm getting this bastard out."

It's amazing to me how many baseball cards feature a football.  It makes sense what with the slight overlap of the seasons and the fact that many of these guys must have played football in high school (apparently Rangers prospect Russell Wilson is also a footballer of some kind.  Isn't that wild?).  The BJ Birdy is one of my favorite cards from this package.

We are the Pelicans now, formerly the Hornets.  I really wish we had the name Jazz back.  It was pretty perfect.

Thanks for the card, Monsieur Kevin!  I'm already stockpiling Blue Jays for you, but if there's any American food I can send you (McGriddles?) I'd be happy to oblige.  I do live in New Orleans where we have access to some excellent sauces and spices.

Vive la France!