DIY Del Ray: Spring Del Ray Food Swap

Swapping homemade food, trading recipes and cooking techniques, getting to know neighbors—it's all part of the Del Ray Food Swap, a community event we've been hosting quarterly for the past year.

Despite hot and humid temps, the Spring Swap, held on June 1 at the Empty House Studio, was another fun-filled event and everyone went home with a basket 'o plenty.

If you've never been to a swap, the concept is simple: bring individually packaged and labeled food items and trade with others. The amount you bring is the amount you can trade.

The sky's the limit in terms of swapping items. We've seen canned items like jam and sauces, baked goods such as cakes and granola bars, things to mix into others (spices, salts, pesto and drink starters) and even fresh herbs and vegetables.

We definitely saw some unique creations this time around—marshmallows, salad dressing, limoncello, a sampling of 20-plus types of biscotti, homebrewed cider, just to name a few.

Plants were also popular—fresh cut herbs, daffodil bulbs, lettuce starts, even trees!

We also welcomed sponsors and special guests from Nalls Produce, the Dairy Godmother, Emma's Cafe (coming next year to Del Ray!) and azure b llc who brought samples to taste and donated items for our door prizes.

Visit DIY Del Ray for more photos and details about the Spring Food Swap.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can participate in the next swap, visit http://www.diydelray.com/delrayfoodswaps