NOTE: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all of you who entered! The winners have been notified, and they are #464 (Natalie), #1151 (Wendy), and #1307 (Gloria). Y’all have 48 hours to respond before we pick new winners! 🙂
I have a confession for you all and I hope it’s not too shocking: I am not a fan of jam. Not a jam fan. I like homemade freezer jam because it basically tastes like sweetened fruit, but most jam is just too sweet and sickly and cooked fruit-ish for me. If you’re dying to know what I put on toast or peanut butter sandwiches, I like butter on toast and honey on my sandwiches. Am I weird?
Well, I thought I hated all regular jam until I went to Smucker’s last month and I got to try their Orchard’s Finest preserves (and then discovered, in a cruel twist of fate, that they don’t sell it where I live). Even the names are pretty–Pacific Mountain Strawberry and Coastal Valley Peach Apricot and North Woods Blueberry and Fall Harvest Cinnamon Apple. And the jars? 
Don’t even get me started on the jars. Y’all know how I feel about adorable jars and bottles.
I love this jam because not only does it taste fabulous, but it’s fancier than your average jar of jam, so it’s great for holiday entertaining or gift-giving. Instead of just handing someone a jar of jam (anyone remember the Gilmore Girls where Rory and Lorelai forgot to get Luke a present in Europe, so they brought him a jar of jam and he found it lame?), you could fill line a basket with a festive tea towel and then fill it fresh croissants or homemade rolls and then add a jar of jam with a ribbon on it.
Or you could make a plate of these cookies and deliver them with a jar of jam and a copy of the recipe.
If you’re having a party, you could serve up a plate of crackers and slices of crusty bread with some of your favorite cheeses and a few jars of jam. It’s elegant and easy and requires zero to little prep (which is totally what I need right now!)
Because it’s getting close to Christmas and because it’s Thursday (which has always been my favorite day…don’t ask…), we’re giving away 3, count ’em, three of the following gift baskets:
-6 jars of Smucker’s Orchard’s Finest preserves in a cute little crate
-A set of spreading tools (or something similar)
-$100 gift card to Cooking.com
To enter, leave us a comment telling us how you’re getting into the holiday spirit right now! You need to respond here on this post in the comments section, not through email or on Facebook or Twitter. The giveaway is a short one! It will end next Tuesday, December 13 and the winners will be announced on Wednesday morning.
**Thank you to all who entered! This giveaway is now closed!**
Baking with my kids and seeing Santa at the mall.
I made peppermint candy cane cookies this week for a Christmas cookie exchange.
I have a Christmas tree candle melting until I get my real tree…and I am trying to get all of my handmade Christmas cards together to be mailed out!
Wow, that jam would be good to have on some toast while we put up our christmas tree this weekend. Starting to decorate to get into the holiday spirit.
I am getting into the holiday spirit by hosting my 11th Annual Cookie Exchange Party (lots of baking) and listening to Christmas music.
To get in the holiday spirit, I’ve been wrapping presents and watching Frosty the snowman with my kids! I would love some jam…but if you chose someone else I’ll love you anyway! Thanks for all the fun ideas — we’re making your frosted sugar cookies this week!
Celebrating Advent and decorating the house and making tamales. A favorite family traditoin for 39 years.
I’m getting into the holiday spirit by decorating the house with Christmas lights, stockings, a tree, etc.
I am getting in the Christmas spirit by reading Christmas books to my children and playing Christmas music. Thanks for the chance to enter.
Stringing popcorn and cranberries for the tree while watching Miracle on 34th Street. 🙂
Normally I go all out for Christmas: baking, decorating, gifting. But this year I’m prego and ultra sick… so I’m enjoying looking at the Christmas tree my husband put up and scarfing sugar cookies with my 2 year old. Not too shabby.
I put up the tree and will decorate it this weekend but, my favorite thing to get out is my collection of Nativities. I only have a few but I love each one and can’t wait to display them around my home.
I just got out my Christmas cards last night and am getting ready to mail them out. 🙂
I go to the AZ Temple grounds to see the nativity and light display. Beautiful!!!
Baking batches of cookies once a week to be ready for all of those cookie exchanges coming up!
I am learning the most beautiful song about Christ to sing with the church choir on Christmas day.
We’re reading Christmas books (and ordering new ones!) constantly. We also switched our bedtime songs to Christmas ones. And we bought everything we saw in Costco that was peppermint flavored! That was an impulse….
Wrapping sweatshirts for 2nd graders at an elementary school in poor section of our city. Our children are grown and gone…love to shop for these little ones! Next on the list, bake date pinwheels which is a tradition in our house.
I have been making ornaments, making Christmas decor always gets me into the spirit. Thanks for the giveaway
Finishing up decorating by getting out the ladder and putting up the high stuff, garland, stockings, etc.
We get out the decorations together as a family and start decorating! Kind of looks like Christmas threw up in our living room with a 3 year old helping…gotta love Christmas time!
Just making some candy for the neighbors and for my visiting teaching lady!
We are baking lots of cookies for the families of kids undergoing cancer treatments at our local hospital. It’s an annual tradition in our house.
One thing I have done to get in the Christmas spirit was to anonymously give a gift of money for a little boy I know who has Luekemia. I forgoed getting some of my other Christmas gifts so that I could help give this boy the gift of life.
Well it all started baking your very own WHITE Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Cake for Christmas church dinner and needless to say i had no left over of the cake and tomorrow making peppermint bark rice krisp treats tomorrow!! Also made the chicken and wild rice soup in love with!! I just love all the recipes in the calendar 2 out of 12 recipes so far two thumbs up!!
I am so with you about adorable jars and bottles. Love that. Sometimes buy a product just because it looks so cute. So I would love to win this prize.
And of course love the jam.
Just pulled out the advent calendar and opened up all 8 of the first few days at once 🙂
We have Christmas music playing almost constantly at our house. And homemade goodies, of course.
Shopping, baking, decorating house inside and out, oh and did I mention shopping! HO Ho Ho!
Planning cookies and trimming the new white tree w/ colored lights ftw