The first family Christmas dinner that I ever hosted, was served “promptly” at about 9PM at night. Not fabulous with a bunch of little kids running around. I forgot the freshly baked buns …in the oven…for a long time. Then spilled a full bodied red wine, all over the delicately set dining room table. Cue the secret crying in the bathroom. I was a failure at Christmas. Were these the memories I wanted to be creating for my girls? Then something strange happened. That tardy turkey? Everyone said it was delicious (probably because they were all starving to death. but still YUM! ). No one missed the buns because I had made about TWO pounds of mashed potatoes..per person, and I hated that table cloth anyway. So no sense crying over spilled wine! These are just some of the Holiday gaffs I can remember and now looking back, they are what makes the Holidays a little more interesting!
Rather than dwelling on our mishaps, Campbell’s is encouraging Canadians to spill the beans (or the wine, as the case may be!) and celebrate the humour of these embarrassing or stressful moments by sharing their "holiday confessions" at WWW.CAMPBELLSHOLIDAYSECRETS.CA . In return, Canadians have the chance to win one of 100 pre-paid credit cards valued at $100 each. Now these are some confessions worth making!
Looking for some tricks to help get you through the holiday season? Campbell’s has a sleigh full of helpful holiday hacks to get you through any sticky situation, including:
Pepperidge Farm® Cracker Chips – Fill a bowl with these and no one will notice that dinner’s late!
The bold flavour and crunch of a chip, baked into a wholesome cracker, will leave guests satisfied with these yummy snacks while you scramble to get dinner on the table. Five whole grains, delicious ingredients like savoury real garlic and 60% less fat than 20g of the leading potato chip, your guests can indulge without the guilt!
Campbell’s® Ready to Use Broth – Brings flavour to dishes and helps prevent dry conversation.
While there’s no guarantee that all of Uncle Wayne’s jokes will be winners, your Classic Holiday Stuffing will be! Campbell’s Ready to Use Chicken Broth adds a mouth full of flavour to your holiday meals, with a simple pour straight from the box.
Campbell’s® Condensed Soup – The perfect foundation for classic recipes (that even your mother-in-law will love).
So you burned the turkey last year – who didn’t!? It’s time to redeem yourself. Campbell’s Condensed Soup is “Step 1” in a variety of great recipes, including fan (and in-law) favourite Ultra Creamy Mashed Potatoes. Start with great flavours, plus a glass of wine for the chef, and you’ll be sure to satisfy even the fussiest guests.
Pepperidge Farm® Cookies – Put your foot in your mouth? Your guests would prefer these.
Two easy steps to salvage a holiday faux-pas:
1) Remove foot from mouth
2) Replace foot with Pepperidge Farm® Cookies
Simple! Alternatively, whip up a batch of festive Reindeer Cupcakes decorated with Pepperidge Farm® Monaco® Double Chocolate Cookies. A little something sweet to save you when something you said wasn’t.
Goldfish® Chocolate Grahams – Not a master baker? Throw some of these in a bowl!
Reality check! Moms around the world burn one million batches of chocolate chip cookies every holiday season* in preparation for Santa’s arrival. Skip the stress, and leave him Goldfish Grahams instead! Rumour has it, chocolate is his favourite.
*Just kidding. We made this up.
Now that I’ve been hosting Christmas dinner for a few years, I still make my fair share of mistakes, the difference, I don’t stress about it like I used to! My family certainly doesn’t expect perfection, so why should I? We enjoy each others company, go with the flow and say thanks for our many blessings. To help get through the chaos of this year, I was sent this beautiful “HOLIDAY HACK” Gift Basket filled with Campbell’s and Pepperidge Farms items.
Even more exciting news, I have a second “HOLIDAY HACK” Gift Basket to GIVEAWAY to one lucky reader of How To Survive Life In The Suburbs. So which Holiday Secret are you willing to expose? Leave me a comment below telling me about your biggest holiday gaff, then fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Open to Canada only and will close December 21st!
*Don’t forget when you are done here, you can go to WWW.CAMPBELLSHOLIDAYSECRETS.CA for your chance to win a $100.00 pre-paid credit card!
For more information on this contest be sure to follow @CampbellCanada and the hashtag #HolidaySecretsExposed.
I came come from school for the holidays one year, I don’t know if the food was especially tempting that year, but I put on a ton of weight! So much so that I had to wear slacks for the whole new year. Disaster! lol
I commented on Facebook as Rebecca R
I completely forgot to get my mother in law a gift….eek!
commented on the fb post about this contest
Had a friend buy me and unexpected gift and I felt horrible as I never bought her anything as we were not suppose to buy anything for each other and never had before
I buy pies from the bakery instead of baking them!
I have burnt so many things 🙁
when we first got married I invited everyone to dinner on my husbands side of the family and decided to cook two ducks.However, because I had no idea what I was doing I did not tie up the wings and consequently they burned to a nice black crispiness.I panicked and in trying to put the fire out I somehow burnt the potatoes too. Yes,the potatoes too.My husband saved me by rushing to the grocery store to buy Betty Crocker’s instant mashed potatoes and loads of cold cuts.Thankfully my salads were good and no one complained.
I should add that since then my cooking has improved immensely,although I have never tried to cook ducks ever again.LOL
I always burn stuffing, so it’s the one thing I “forget” to make
I rarely cook turkey for Christmas but I had an innocent where I ended up burning the turkey and it was so dried out I ended up cooking chicken. made stuffing from the box along with packaged gravy. It was one of my most interesting christmaes I have to say.
Many moons ago when I was young and gay, I bought a frozen turkey. While checking it out when I was home decided this was an event that all my friends should enjoy, so started inviting. Well, to cut to the chase didnt know it would take that long to defrost. Have to keep in mind people that it was before internet times (Im old,haha) so just thought I would rely on my brilliant food knowledge and trust myself. Bird couldnt have been any colder than sitting in snow outside! Lets just say never again and when someone else offers to host, I say “I’d love to come, I’ll bring dessert”.
I bought a salad and pretended that I made it!
first turket i ever cooked wasnt cooked at dinnertime ..we had to eat much much later
The thing that comes to mind is my mother last year stuffing the turkey by the wrong hole haha
Tree Falling over!