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!**
My husband and I are going to England next week and will gone for nine days. Because we’ll be away from home for such a large chunk of this all-important month, I knew that I’d have to really make an effort to get into the Christmas spirit as soon as Thanksgiving was over. I think it was right after we finished eating Thanksgiving dinner, I started nagging the husband to get our Christmas tree and decorations down from the attic. Since then I’ve listened to holiday music and had our tree lights turned on every day.
ALSO, as a consolation prize (because touring England just isn’t good enough by itself) we’ll be visiting several towns that really go all out for Christmas. There’s a market in one town that has holiday booths set up all month selling seasonal foods and…other stuff (can you tell I’m really only interested in the food part?). And in another town, there’s a castle that does special tours just for the month of December to show how ye olde riche folkes celebrated Christmas.
This is gonna be the best Christmas we’ve ever had! And a basket of jellies would make it just that much better. 🙂
I’m doing an advent with my 19 month old daughter and every day she wakes up and says “mallows!”!(marshmallows) and wants to look in the advent to see if there are marshmallows in it today. Love it!
I’m listening to the Beach Boys’ Christmas Album. It always gets me into a festive mood.
Doing advent devotions and attending my kid’s Christmas programs!
I bought new monogrammed stockings this year and we have several new ornaments on our tree, so it has been fun seeing our house more festive than it has been for the past few years at Christmas.
Our house is decked out and I’m trying to see the season through my kids’ eyes.
Ooh – we love Christmas at our house (and some jam, too!) We’ve got the tree up and decorated, gifts wrapped and sitting temptingly under the tree, Christmas music playing, movies waiting to be watched, packages arriving in the mail, good food cooking, temperatures dropping … it definitely feels like Christmas around here!
I am working on home-made ornaments right now! (Next up: home-made truffles!)
We finished decorating the tree last night! That combined with our Elf on Shelf, Gingerbread, has definitely gotten me into the spirit!!
made gingerbread houses from scratch for the very first time. My 5 year old decided it was snowing and covered his with royal icing!! So fun.
Well, I am trying hard to get in the spirit but it is difficult. I am a widow and have been alone for a long long time and Christmas gets harder every year. I will be alone this year also. I keep myself busy trying all the different recipies and I have a neighbor who is alone also so I share what I make. Probably want win but it has given me something to do. I really love getting your recipies.
Merry Christmas.
Helen
Since we are a homeschool family, I decided this year, with my 7 children, to make widow baskets for those belonging to our church and a few neighbors. So many friends have given to us these past years, I thought it be time we do the same in return 🙂
I’m trying to get into the spirit by finally decorating my tree. We’ve had so many other expenses lately that Christmas just seemed like another expense, so I’m getting my priorities straight and trying to focus on the Spirit of Christmas, not the materialism.
Baking cookies, candy making, christmas music, making plans with family and friends. Try to enjoy all of it because it will be gone before we know it.
I love this time of year. So much fun stuff to do. One of the things I do is make treats (this year was salted caramels) and bring them to all my neighbors along with our Christmas card. It’s a fun way to personally wish all my neighbors a Merry Christmas 🙂
Have been busy decorating with the family. Made gingerbread men as well this week. Getting ready to have a little party for my kids and their friends tomorrow…we’re making gingerbread houses! 🙂
I’ve set my christmas music into my computer’s playlist and put up the tree and the lights. I will start preparing some of my favorite traditions such as salmon balls and crab wontons. I wont be spending christmas with my mother this year and so what better way to keep her tradition going strong
Making cookies (which had to be switche to muffins) & goin to a concert Saturday night!
We decorated our house like never before this year. We have family and friends visiting us a lot this month to share the Christmas cheer with each of them!
I get into the spirit by decorating the house and listening to Christmas music
We have our decorations up and are trying something new this year. I made a countdown to Christmas link to put around the tree and written on the inside of each little link is an activity to do as a family for the day. They range from making snowangels to drinking hot cocoa by the fireplace! My kids LOVE it and I love that it is bringing us all a little closer!
I am getting in the holiday spirit by wrapping presents for my friends and families! Lovin it!
I am playing Danish Christmas carols, on utube, that remind me of days long ago, and making Christmas goodies.
Baking up a storm and listening to Christmas music!
I am getting ready to make homemade candy. I have a great recipe for microwave peanut brittle.
My house is all decorated (my hubby says he feels like Kris Kringle threw up in our living room) and I am holiday baking my little heart out! 🙂
putting together a gingerbread house with the grand kids and playing games are fun Christmas activities
Some really angelic neighbors are playing secret santa to our family. We are very grateful and since we’re already getting presents we’re really trying to be more nice than naughty.
We finally got the lights on the tree, making cookies, listening to Christmas carols on the radio and getting ready for our daughter to come home from her freshman year at college!!
What am I not doing to get in the Christmas spirit? Parties, shopping, cinnamon rolls to neighbors and friends, stories with the kids, and enjoying the lights and decorations.