It’s giveaway time! It’s a massive one guys and I’m pretty excited! For the past week or so I’ve been featuring recipes using Staub, Shun, Cuttingboard.com, Finex, and Kitchen Aid and now’s the time to finally bundle everything up and give it all away. Well, not literally, because you’re actually going to win new items, so there’s no real bundling, just figurative bundling.
win this staub!
I hope you’ve been following along – so far I’ve made Slow Braised Japanese Chashu Pork, Mini Puff Pastry Roses, Caramel Corn and Rice Krispie Mix, and Mint Snowman Marshmallows, but with these giveaway items you can make pretty much anything, which is perfect for the holiday season.
win this shun knife and cuttingboard.com boo’s block!
I love food – as I’m sure you know – and one of my favorite Christmas memories is of me, my brother, and Christmas chocolates. As little kids, come the first of December, we would get chocolate advent calendars. I still see them around now: those thin cardboard drugstore boxes featuring a Christmas picture with tiny numbered windows and chocolates hiding behind them. My brother and I lived for that moment at the end of the day when we got to pry open the cardboard for our long awaited treat. Our eager fingers would melt the chocolate ever so slightly as we tried to eat our chocolates as slowly as possible.
win this finex cast iron pan!
One year, we got it in our heads that we didn’t want to wait. We snuck our calendars down to the basement – it was cold and dark down there and I didn’t like it but my brother convinced me it was the best place to hide – and ate every single chocolate. We ate the entire month of December. And the thing is, we did it in a gentle, artful way where we could close back the windows so that at a casual glance, you couldn’t tell that the calendar was ravaged.
win this kitchen aid!
Maybe it was the sugar-high making us crazy, but we totally thought we got away with it. That is, until it was time for our nightly ritual with our parents. Needless to say, there was no chocolate treat that night. Or the next night, or the next. But, it was okay, because come Christmas morning, there were still presents under the tree. Apparently, our chocolate binge didn’t leave us on Santa’s naughty list, which was a huge relief, because, presents.
These days I’m more into giving than receiving so I couldn’t resist putting together this giveaway for you! I wish I could send everyone a Christmas present but since I can’t, I thought I’d do the next best thing and giveaway some of my favorite things. So, let me know your favorite holiday memory and maybe you’ll be the lucky reader who wins! Good luck!
Giveaway: I’ve teamed up with some of my favorite brands to do a massive giveaway. One lucky reader will win:
Staub 4 Quart Round Cocotte
Shun 6-inch Dual Core Utility Knife
Cuttingboard.com Boos Block Walnut 20×15 Cutting Board
Finex 10-inch Cast Iron Pan
Kitchen Aid Artisan Design Series 5-Quart Stand Mixer w/Glass Bowl in Pearl Silver
To enter: Leave a comment on the blog with your favorite winter holiday memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and notify them through email. Open to US residents only. (Sorry international friends, only American companies agreed to this one!) If you’d like some extra entries use the widget below to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Contest ends December 21st at 12pm PST. Good luck!
The giveaway is closed! I’ll be announcing the winner in the next week or so after reading through all of the comments. Thank you everyone who entered! There are some beautiful memories here!
Update: Congrats Chelsea, you won! Look for an email from me shortly!
Best story I have is when my 3 yr old son ignored all of his gifts. We make a big deal out of opening presents and always get the kids a ton! He grabbed his first present and proceeded to open it, when he saw it was one of his favorite toys, he stopped. He completely ignored the other 10 boxes he had under the tree! He lay out refused to open any more after that. His siblings had to open them for him and he still just glanced at them like whatever. One of the funniest moments I’ve seen.
My husband proposed to me on Christmas Eve, as my entire family was sitting down to a nice turkey dinner!
Going to my grandmas where my whole family would gather, and we would finally be allowed to eat he candy canes on the tree that had been off limits the whole season
My favorite holiday memory is baking cookies with mom as a kiddo. We would fill the dining room table with goodies to gave away to friends. The smells and the ability to help me mom and give away gifts are very happy memories.
as a young child i was in love with the christmas tree. when everyone was asleep, i would quietly go to sleep under the christmas tree, under the multi-colored lights that where shining down on me…every year now the tree seems to be getting put up later and later, but still sneak away late at night to sit by the quiet glow of the christmas lights and balsam sweetness..(i no longer fit under the tree, not surprisingly!) …ps. i’m also following on instagram and pinterest (love your blog!)
My favorite holiday memory is back when I was a kid and still believed in Santa Claus. I always tried to see him and stayed up late with my family eating his cookies.
My favorite holiday memory is of a huge Christmas party we hosted while stationed in Bermuda. So many families and delicious foods from all but the highlight was seeing all the children’s faces as Santa walked in the back door with a huge sack of presents for each of them. (You could hire a Navy Chief to come to your house dressed as Santa, and if your children left their shoes outside Christmas Eve they’d also fill them with candy.)
My favorite holiday memory is of a Christmas tradition from when I was much younger. We would all go over to my aunt’s house for Christmas- she’d always make a HUGE dinner. Then all of my cousins and I would open up gifts under the Christmas tree. My favorite uncle always wore a Santa hat and handed out all the gifts. He’d sometimes trick us and pretend to hand us a gift but then quickly pass it to the person on our right/left. We all always had a great time and loved every minute of it.
My favorite holiday memory is from last year, going skiing for the first time in the Swiss Alps with my boyfriend and his family. I was really nervous about skiing but I ended up skiing on some of the harder slopes by the end of the week! Obviously enjoyed loads of cheese fondue, gluwein, and Christmas markets!!
My favorite holiday memory has to be the first time I saw the christmas pudding lit on fire at my grandmother’s house. Then the supreme satisfaction of eating it smothered in brandy butter.