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….baking….and more, baking!!! I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!! :O)
Wrapping gifts while watching my baby girl play with her Little People nativity!
Working at my seasonal candy job making all kinds of Christmas treats. And we’re setting up the tree tonight!
We have a list of Christmas activities written on a large piece of paper — it’s taped to our basement door, right in view of our table, so we see it every time we sit down for a meal, and then we discuss what we’d like to do from the list that day! 🙂
Getting into the Christmas spirit started happening when our family hung our ornaments on the Christmas tree. Each year everyone gets one that had special meaning from the year. Fun to relive old memories.
I love getting in the holiday spirit. I’m still finding things to decorate around my house. I love going out and Christmas shopping and seeing all the store decorations. Thanks for the giveaway!!
I’m getting ready to begin my holiday baking. Oh I am volunteering at the Salvation Army Christmas distribution center this weekend 🙂
Loving the fresh scent of pine all through out the house!
Attended Christmas concert on Saturday which sets off the season. Started Dickens, Life in the Year of Christ. Made your delicious fudge to take to a neighborhood gathering and will assess all activities to make sure they aren’t busy work but things that will bering family and friends together.
baking with my daughter (she’s 10), trying new recipe’s. I like to have all the Christmas lights on and candles lit with a fun Christmas movie in the background as we attempt something, trying not to make a mess and giggling when we do.
I am getting into the Christmas spirit by seting up for and making centerpeices for my church Christmas party, although becuase I’ve been doing that I haven’t put my tree up so I will be very busy decorating all weekend!
Just finished making Christmas trees out of scrapbook paper for table decorations for a party.
Christmas will be pared down this year, since baby is due any day now. But we have an advent calendar and are making candy pretzels just like we’ve done in years past. Fun giveaway!
The lit up Christmas tree always puts me in the mood for fun! Then getting all my lists in order and checking things off one by one… yes, I am a bit OCD. 🙂
We’re getting into the holiday spirit by putting up our cmas tree today. I know it’s “late” for some people, but my first sweet kitty I ever owned passed away right b4 Thanksgiving (after my mom passing in August, and my dad passing in February), and I still have a hacking cough chest cold from Thanksgiving that just seems to linger, so I’m happy to even figure out what day of the week it is!
BTW, I’m always excited about jam and preserves that use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. It would be better if I knew whether it was cane sugar or not, but I also just LOVE the adorable little jars. I know for absolute sure we’d eat the blueberry, triple berry and tart cherry…the rest might be better savored by gift recipients 😉
The kids have made it very easy to get into the holiday spirit. Listening to Christmas music on the way to school, reading Christmas books every night, the nativity calendars and holiday crafts. It is fun to be in the holiday spirit with them!
Setting up the tree and wrapping my 9 month-old daughter’s presents!
Making and eating cookies!!! My favorite way to feel Christmassy. 🙂
I am making fudge to bring to all of the other teachers I work with!!
Mailing my cards and planning the baking. 🙂
Today I went through all my recipes and made a list of old favorites and new yummies I want to try. Our work (and shopping ) is done for the year so it is time to clean up, decorate up, and eat up !!!
Compiling a list of yummy treats to make and give to our friends this year. Yum!
My family has started our Christmas baking for the year! My sister and I spent the entire weekend last weekend at my mom’s house baking all of our favorite Christmas treats from our childhood and adding in a few new ones that sounded too irresistible to not try! I’m heading home again this weekend! My parents’ brand new freezer is full of our Christmas goodies to hand out to family and friends!
Well trees up all decorated and family winter pictures are displayed. Decorations are spread through out the house. I decided this year to wrap the gifts in a more creative way. I wrapped a gift to look like a snow man, the other like the front of santas coat, a gift bag painted with a string of lights and two gingerbread girls dressed in a candy cane themed dress. Would love to be able to add a pic to show the creativity that had been happening in my home!
Making cookies for my homies!
I am getting ready to print out address labels for my Christmas postcards (that I just had copied and cut) and enjoying reading in my freshly decorated living room next to the tree.
PS. We like to have toast with PB and cinnamon. French toast with PB and syrup is good too. One of my daughters likes PB and cinnamon in her lunch each day.
Oh, and our area Nutcracker ballet is this weekend and my husband and daughter are in it, so I’m pretty busy backstage and listening to the score over and over again. =)
Listening to Zooey Deschanel’s Christmas CD (She & Him Christmas)!! AWESOME!!
Addressing Christmas cards… baking starts this weekend!
Looks yummy!
Just read Anne Voskamp’s Dec. 7 post at http://www.aholyexperience.com She shared how her young son asked a piercing question “What are we getting Jesus for his birthday?” that altered their traditions. Now they choose to sacrifice something in order to contribute to a charity.