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!
My little sisters and I used to always make “reindeer food” out of cereal and glitter and sprinkle it on our lawn when we were younger.
The Christmas my step father dropped a box of decorations through the attic floor into the living room! :)
When I was a kid, probably close to 12 or 13, we went to my grandmothers house as we did every year. This year was the year that all of the grandchildren were born and present. My grandmother was number 3 of 4 girls, she had 3 girls of her own. I was born to the oldest who had one child (me, a girl,) my aunt who was the second born had 2 children (both girls,) and my aunt who was the third born had 3 children (all girls!) My grandfather stood no chance, bless his heart.
Anyway, that made a total of 14 people in attendance for Christmas. My grandmother was a fantastic cook but when she and my grandfather built their house she didn’t want to cook much. So in a three story home, the kitchen was about 10’X10, had 3 sets of cabinets for all of her canned goods as well as plates and pots and pans, and only TWO droors! She cooked up a storm every Christmas in that kitchen and out of it came mimosa’s in the morning, breakfast country ham sandwiches and sausage balls to tide us until lunch.
Once everyone had given hugs, taken off coats, set the presents under the tree, and had their morning snack, the mayhem began. Now you might think there would be a limited number of presents under the tree. We certainly weren’t a wealthy family. Each kid had one of course, but no. Christmas was my grandmothers favorite time of year and she shopped all year long putting presents back in closets and nooks and crannies so we wouldn’t find them. EVERYONE had a minimum of three presents and the kids had more of course because she adored her grandchildren. So there was a tree stuck up against a beautiful bay window and the presents spilled out into the middle of the living room. Everyone would take a seat in whatever spot they could find. The grandchildren would sit by their parents on the floor.
I was the oldest grandchild and got to play Santa handing out all of the gifts. This usually took some time because of how many presents were under the tree and they were never grouped by family. Plus we unpacked our full stockings first. Someone would say go! and the paper would fly. Every time someone opened a gift you would hear them yell “oh my gosh I love this, thank you!” then there would be kids yelling, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” until acknowledged then whoever it was would show their parents what they got. My grandparents would just laugh and laugh. Dads would take pictures, mom’s would try to keep their families stuff all together and then after it was all over and everyone was in a joy induced euphoria, my grandfather would come through with a trash bag and we would pick up the aftermath of wrapping paper.
Next came lunch. Lunch consisted of a giant turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, home made macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, rolls and more rolls, cornbread dressing (From the south so you know that recipe has been around for generations!) Then for dessert that would be chocolate pie, coconut cream pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and I can’t remember what all kind of cookies. Everyone would sit at the table with my grandparents at either end and my uncle would usually say the blessing. Then the room became very quiet. There is something about living in a southern family where we can be the loudest bunch for blocks but when you put food in front of us, we savor every bite. The kids table where I thankfully didn’t ever have to sit because I was so much older than the rest would always start making noise first. They’d finish then start giggling until they couldn’t be contained anymore. They’d get to pick one toy and go play with it somewhere in the house. The adults table would remain and slowly everyone would eat way too much and my dad would make a “time out” sign with his arms like they do in football and then one uncle would drink one more drink and then another uncle would just sit back and sigh a huge sigh. My grandmother was always the last to finish and we would all sit and wait for her. Then there would be the richest conversations take place. I always just sat and listened. I wasn’t really an adult so they didn’t ask me questions. But I’d listen to people say how their jobs were, or how my cousins were doing in school. Everyone was supportive and loving. It was the most warm and joyful time of my life.
In my family the men (minus my grandfather of course) would clear the table and my uncle would always help my mom and my aunts with the dishes. Then the fathers would help put together a complicated toy or gadget and then retire downstairs to watch a game and nap. My mother and her sisters would tell stories of their growing up and they would laugh until someone pee’d their pants. The remaining hours of the day would be spent quietly talking and playing, drinking wine (adults) and eating dessert as we got hungry (usually the kids.) Then about 5:30 or 6:00 pm we would all go home. My grandparents would turn on the christmas lights on their house and along with the tree in the window it was always the best sight to see.
I had a really great childhood and that is my favorite Christmas memory.
Gosh, so many great holiday memories to choose from. One that comes to mind is Christmas 2012 when my family and boyfriend went to Kauai for Christmas. My birthday is on the 22nd, so we did a helicopter ride around the island as my big bday gift (it was amazing. If you’re ever there, definitely worth the $$$). The next night my wonderful boyfriend took us all out for a fancy fish dinner right on the ocean, and then afterwards took me on a beach walk and proposed! The next day was Christmas eve which I think we spent kayaking and me trying desperately not to drop my new ring into the river. We bbq’d and ate rice and poke for Christmas dinner that year with lots of champagne and birthday cake. Such an amazing trip. And now we’ve been married 2 years! This year we’re all going to New Zealand together, and I’m looking forward to making more Christmas memories. Thanks for letting us share these moments with you! I totally had those advent calendars growing up too. :]
Hello!
My favorite Holiday memory is from the Christmas of 2000 (I was 10). We had just moved into a new house and gotten everything settled on Christmas Eve! I remember getting our (my sisters and I) bedrooms set up, the Christmas tree put up and hanging all of the festive decorations. It was a crazy day but my family worked together and by the time we went to bed, the house was ready for Christmas morning guests and for Santa! We have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve night but my parents told us that since the day had been so crazy that we were just going to spend time together that evening and not open any presents. We had a fire going and I remember I was dropping marshmallows in my hot chocolate when the doorbell rang. My sisters and I looked up at our parents questioningly and they told us to go see who was at the door. We opened the door and there was a puppy in a box! It was the sweetest little poodle mix and it was wearing a collar with a bow and bells. We were all so surprised! We named her Bella and she was our family dog until she passed several years ago. We spent the rest of the night playing with her. The next morning we woke up and our whole family came over for Christmas breakfast. We were so excited for everyone to meet Bella and to spend that time with our family.
I’m getting married in March and every year I tell that story to my fiance. I can’t wait to make these same kinds of memories with our (future) children. The Holidays are such a wonderful time and some of the best memories I have :)
My avorite winter memory was watching my three-year-old sister open her presents on Christmas morning!
She was SO happy and totally enchanted with the idea of Santa!
My favorite holiday memory is an old tradition my sibilings and I would do, every Christmas morning… and I mean EARLY morning. We would set an alarm around 2/3 am, well after Santa was supposed to come and then sneak downstairs with flashlights to look at all the presents! We would never touch anything but loved guessing what was inside all the boxes. Our parents truly loved us because then we would wake them up at 6am and get to open the presents after my dad made the coffee! Now that we are all older, (there are 5 of us total! the youngest is now 15), we have stopped waking up in the middle of the night but STILL get up early (7am) to open all the presents :)
My brother and I would always go through our stockings early on Christmas Day, before everyone else got up. The deal was whichever one of us woke up first, we would go wake the other. We would go into my room, unpack or stocking then replace everything and go back to bed. My mom could never understand why we were not very interested in opening our stocking.
My favorite holiday memory is when we all sit down for Christmas dinner. My mom always makes the best cha su pork, butternut squash soup, milk bread, and mashed potatoes. It’s the best combination of both the American and Chinese sides of my home. We always end up having such a fun time just talking and eating for hours, joking with each other (my family is pretty large). We would usually then retreat out of the dining room to play mahjong and sing karaoke to finish the night. It’s really entertaining to watch everyone make a fool of themselves in front of the television or get super mad when they lose as we play mahjong. Oh, I forgot another important part: we always drink the best tea (most of the time it’s pu er) after dinner. It really helps the food settle down! Anyhow, I hope that this year can be similar, though my dad can’t spend it with us. Even though my family isn’t complete this year, I hope we can still raise the roof like we always do :)
My favorite Holiday Memory is from when I was 12. I have always relished discovering the hidden cache of Christmas gifts. My parents after several years figured out that I had the uncanny ability to discover their hiding places. I’d go from room to room over several days exploring every closet, cubby, crawl space and box I could find. This year after removing every room in the house from possible hiding spaces except the closet in my father’s office I was becoming antsy. My parents must have realized that I had located their hiding spot due to my obvious covetous glances, and with only two days left until Christmas and all of us kids home from school realized that they had no option but to guard this room from the time I awoke until the time I was fast asleep. This was a truly unfortunate time to be me. My dream of ruining Christmas was only half fulfilled, I knew where the gifts were, just not what they were. The anticipation was killing me. Which as it turns out was a benefit as it allowed me to wake up at three in the morning and creep past my ever vigilant parents’ bedroom and down the stairs to my father’s office. The absolute glee I felt upon opening that closet door and seeing the gifts made it the best Christmas. I’ll never forget the first gift I saw , a green Furby.