Congratulations to Shelley who has won the Harry and David gift basket. She says, “I love baking with my kids! We love to make plates filled with treats and deliver them to our friends.” Well Shelley, the table has turned. It looks like you’re gonna get some treats delivered to you!
When it comes to Christmas presents, our family has always given (and received) the gift of food. When Sharon and I were young and our lives less busy, Mom and Dad would spend weeks planning, shopping, and cooking for our elaborate holiday food baskets. Sharon and I would help assemble them and decorate the cards, and then as a family we would deliver them to our friends and family. By the end our Christmas recipient list had swelled to over a hundred, and it took one full weekend to assemble and deliver them!
Though we stopped doing it years ago, we continue to hear from people that it was one of the highlights of their holiday season. We miss doing it, but we wouldn’t have time to make that many baskets these days. We can barely get our Christmas cards out on time!
And as a minister’s family, we are blessed with a host of presents from generous parishioners and members of the community. We love the special ornaments and coffee table books, calendars and magazine subscriptions, but we adore the gifts of food and drink that add to our holiday cheer–boxes of cookies, loaves of quick breads, jars of hot chocolate mix, and jugs of eggnog. And then there are the Harry & David gift baskets that have been showing up on our doorstep almost every year for as long as I can remember. At our house the pears never lasted long!
Remembering how much we loved our fruit baskets around the holidays, I recently sent a Harry & David gift basket to my good friend, Ariel. Nearly every day for a week she texted or e-mailed to let me know what she was enjoying from the basket that day. That’s how you know a gift has been a success–when someone tells you they’re enjoying again, and again, and then again. And in some cases, for years to come!
This week, we’re giving away Harry & David’s Mistletoe Christmas Gift Basket valued at $89.95. We can send it to you to enjoy during the holidays, or if you’d like to spread some delicious holiday cheer, we can send it to the recipient of your choice.
For this giveaway I had my choice of many Harry and David gift baskets, but I chose this one because I adore pears, Mom loves chocolate-covered dried cherries and has a serious Moose Munch Popcorn addiction. Andy can’t seem to get enough peppermint bark, and for Dad, it’s just not Christmas until he’s had his first slice of fruitcake. There’s something for everyone! Click here for more Harry & David‘s Christmas gift basket options.
Here’s the one we’re offering, the Mistletoe Christmas Gift Basket, filled with:
- 8 Royal Riviera® Pears
- Milk Chocolate Moose Munch Popcorn (10 oz.)
- Raspberry-filled Shortbread Cookies (4.59 oz.)
- Traditional Fruitcake (1 lb.)
- Chocolate Cherries (6 oz.)
- 6 Chocolate Mini Mints (0.4 oz. each)
- Peppermint Bark (8 oz.)
- Assorted Truffles (8 oz.)
- 3 Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (1 oz. each)
To enter, just leave a comment telling us what you love most about the holiday season. Giveaway closes Friday, December 14 at 5 PM EST. For the latest gift ideas, ‘Like’ Harry and David on Facebook and ‘Follow’ them on Twitter.
Happy Holidays, friends!
Being together as a family; especially my older kids coming home from college.
I love the family time! We have 3 grandchildren and they make the Holidays so special! I absolutely love Harry & David pears, best pears I’ve ever tasted!
I love that the whole family comes together to celebrate.
Now that my children are adults, I love having them HOME for an extended visit.
Diane
I love the smells, tastes and the music. But even more, I love being with family and celebrating the birth of our Lord! What a beautiful gift!
Ugly sweaters! 🙂
LOVE being surrounded by family and friends-
My favorite is driving around at night and looking at all the homes decorated with lights. That, and as small as it is, having a peppermint mocha in a red cup!
The music……..especially when my husband sings his original Christmas songs!
Working in the kitchen with my girls to create delicious holiday fare and treats.
Cooking with my family and giving gifts!
Having our home come alive as our daughters and their families join us on Christmas Eve!
Christmas is the one time of year we really bust out all the Swedish food we love. So, my favorite part is the food…and the candles and lights at night. So pretty!
Seeing my little boys faces light up on Christmas Day.
I love getting to indulge in all of the holiday treats!
I love that it’s another opportunity to cook BIG! yummy prime rib with the sides, dungeness crab and cheese fondue on Christmas eve…of course being with family and friends and sharing the joy. Thankful for how fortunate we are and sharing with others who are not. Remebering the reason for the season-Jesus.
Cliched but true: spending time with family and friends. Wrapping and unwrapping presents 🙂
My favorite thing about the Holidays is getting to spend time with my family!
Love the baking of cookies and fruit cake!
Smell of the christmas tree and baking cookies!
I love the smells of Christmas – the live greenery. candles, baking and roasting. It makes me feel warm all over.
Favorite part of the holiday season…making treasured family recipes. Always enjoy baking during the holiday season. Making my grandmother’s Christmas cookies brings back wonderful memories. Thank you for the giveaway. Happy Holidays!
I look forward to visiting my family in Chesapeake, VA. I like to get down to my grandparents’ house a few days before Christmas so I can bake lots of traditional Italian Christmas treats with my grandmother, like pumpkin ravioli, homemade pasta and sauce, pizzelle, and chocolate wine balls. I know that these times won’t last forever, so I cherish them. 🙂 Buon Natale!
I love all of the decorations, something about the crisp air and snow (if we are lucky) and the twinkle lights, it just is magical!
I love spending time with my family and friends . . . also, all of the really delicious food . . . .
I love getting together with family and baking!!
I love all of the Christmas lights and decorations.
love being with my friends & family 🙂
I love planning a special menu for a fancy dinner with my family.
snow, “bad for you” food, playing carols on the piano for the kids at school, surprise Christmas cards, and spending time with family and best friends!
I love having my kids come back home for Christmas dinner.
I like taking time with friends and family, slowing down to enjoy them!
I love spending time with my family, love the food, trees and decorations.
I love getting together with family and friends over a meal prepared together.
My favorite part of the holidays is spending time with family and friends
near and far, and baking cookies for everyone.
homemade gifts
I love having family together and eating a delicious meal! with lots of desserts!
I love decorating the house, planning and cooking a special Christmas feast.
The music
I love cooking Christmas dinner and having all of my family home with me!
My favorite part about Christmas is all the time I get to spend with my family, and seeing my daughters get so excited about the lights, decorations, treats, and all the little things!
I love singing Christmas carols!
I love getting together with the whole family. Oh, and sweaters:)
I love the time of restoration I always feel after relaxing with family for the holidays! As an accountant, work picks up immediately after, so the rest is so vital to get me through the busy tax season
I love spending time with family and friends!
The thing I love the most about the holiday season is giving presents to my loved ones and seeing how happy they are!
I love the time with family!
I love Christmas lights and stockings and spending time with those that I love!
I love making gifts, baking and cooking for family and friends – and Christmas is thee best time to spoil others and get-away with it. 😉 Thank you for the opportunity to win such a lovely gift – which I would promptly send *gift* to my sister.
Thanks!
elizabeth
Baking and seeing my family…we have always been close but we spend more time together during the holidays.