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!**
I’m getting into the holiday spirit by preparing the 12 days of Christmas for my Father-in-law!
I just helped my mom wrap “Gammie Jammies” for all her grandkids. She does the wrapping and lets me tie on the ribbons. Feels very Christmas-y!
I am decorating, baking, and each night we read to our children a Christmas story by candlelight. I love the Christmas season!
I think the better question is what am I not doing! We have advent candle lighting every night before bed, we have our advent good deed chart kickin, carols on in the car, a Christmas movie in the evening and now it freezing here (at least for a few days, Im sure it will be 80 degrees by MOnday). Love just sitting staring at our Christmas tree!
Doing a little decorating each day while playing Christmas carols loudly! Rehearsing twice a week for our Christmas choir concert. And, tonight we are going out to dinner with friends and then to see Straight No Chaser.
I’m getting into the spirit with Advent devotionals with my family… and I LOVE jam. Any kind. Especially the homemade kind. 🙂
Finally finished getting the tree decorated – it looks fantastic!!
Trying to finish up my Christmas shopping online…and making cookies after the kids get home from school.
I just finished decorating my house and baking a ton of fudge. Next up, planning the menu for Christmas Eve Dinner.
I love Smuckers Jam and I would love to win this giveaway. Since my kids prefer PB&J almost every day for lunch, they would flip over all of these different jam flavors.
I am busy wrapping presents and sending out my Christmas cards today. I also popped into Target and picked up some of those yummy Christmas Cadbury treats!
Got my Christmas cards out last night and am making some cute nativity sets out of wooden blocks later today.
Baking, getting crafty w/ my glue-gun, listening to Christmas Music, all while enjoying a little eggnog!!! Fa la la la
Making lists, lists and more lists….what my kids want to bake this month, what gifts needs to be bought…pretty much all of them, what still needs to be done before the big day…of course with christmas music in the background!
We are a week into our Christmas advent activities. To it we are putting together a care package for my niece who is serving a mission in Peru. I love that my kids are excited to open the envelope every morning!
Getting into the spirtit this year is tough, since we received bad news about my father, and I am to far away from my family to help out, with all the problems that have arisen because of it. So, I try to get into the christmas spirit this year by finalizing my christmas menu, this is the first year in our new house, and it is the first time, that we are hosting for the whole family (in-laws). But the thing I most look forward to, which will get me into the whole christmas mood is, baking cookies with my three girls in a couple of weeks, (to which I will invite the mother-in-law, since she wants to bake cookies with the girls, but her baking abilities need a little help. This will be a huge undertaking, since I am not only planning to bake cookies for my family, but also some for the in-laws and my new neighbor, both of them have a sweet tooth, but are very limited with their baking abilities, so I might as well help them out and spread a little christmas goodwill.
Today I got into the Christmas spirit by making your chocolate peppermint cupcakes in a jar! I made these last year, and they got rave reviews. So I couldn’t let this year go by without enjoying them again!!
A little crafting, a little Christmas caroling to the radio, a little time spent shopping with my daughter. A little addressing of envelopes, baking of goodies, keeping of secrets and giving unto others. And a whole lot of prayers of thankfulness.
Decorating, crafting, planning family get-togethers & annual shopping trips, and LOTS of Christmas music.
to get in the spirit…I put on my red robin shirt, was cooking all week long candies for gifts (your recipe for caramels, pâtes de fruits (fruit jellies), marshmallows (chocolate, rose, orange blossom)) and still have to make some mint chocolate bark, coffee truffles, ginger bread truffles, root bear fudge…stop me !!!! or I’m not going have time to prepare the Christmas …
Been playing the Christmas music since Thanksgiving and going to bake cookies tomorrow with my sister-in-law. In the evening getting together with my MOMS group for dinner and our annual gift exchange. I am making pizzookies with chocolate cookie dough, peppermint ice cream, hot fudge and a mini candy cane garnish!
I work at an elementary school and the students make it impossible not to be in the holiday spirit. They are so excited about Christmas! It is truly a special time of year!
Went caroling last night, listening to Christmas music on pandora, and hopefully me and the kids will making goodies soon!
We get in the Christmas spirit by decorating the house and doing lots of baking for family and friends.
They all sound delicious!
I’m toatlly not in the Christmas spirit, but i’m trying to by doing acts of service for others!
Listening to lots of Christmas music.
I’m starting work on my 2012 Christmas gifts! I’m ahead of schedule. Yeah!
My car is set to the local Christmas music station, we have our tree lit during waking hours, Christmas books at bedtime, everyday we do 2 advent calendars 🙂 and there is A LOT of baking! Pies, cupcakes, cookies, cookie bars, brownies…. Yummers. Most with “Christmas Sprinkles” for good measure. 😉
I am getting together all the stuff I need to make Christmas goody baskets for my loved ones. It’s so hard to narrow down the list of cookies and other yummy stuff!
We have the elf on the shelf, Christmas count down & are making a different holiday craft everyday!