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.
To make the perfect gravy I make from drippings but I also add 1 packet of clubhouse gravy mix to it. Everyone raves about how delicious the gravy tastes…my secret 😉
first turkey – cooked it upside down. I still can’t figure out how i didn’t notice
My secret is when making gravy. I always use the drippings from the turkey, but find it much tastier to use one of the mixes rather than working with flour or cornstarch.
There was the year we’d just moved and ate pizza off paper plates on the floor…not a high point!
I always & I mean always leave at least one thing in the fridge or oven
no matter how long I have been doing this & no matter how many lists I make
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I accidentally basted the light in the stove one year and then we had to cook a chicken because the Turkey had glass all through it.
when I was much younger I bought a turkey that was too big for my oven, I had no idea that stoves came in different sizes at the time , I was in a panic called one of my friends that was going to be at the dinner and was able to run it over to her oven what a rigmarole that day was!
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I forgot to buy my sister a gift a few years ago. I realized it during dinner. So while everyone was eating, I excused myself and ran to my bedroom, found the gift I was given by my neighbour, removef the tag and changed the name tag to her name. I had no clue what was in the gift. When she opened it , I wss pleasantly surprised to see it was chocolates and wine…. phew
It was a disaster when we had so much snow I couldn’t drive the kids to their grandparents for Christmas dinner. My husband was away on the boat working but his brother came to the rescue with his 4-wheel drive truck and picked us up.
my mom had to hide presents in unique places as my sister was a sneak peeker. One year she hid wrapped socks behind the washing machine. Unbeknownst to her while we were celebrating Christmas Eve the hose or shutoff burst. Soaking and ruining quite a few items
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One year my husband and i were renovating our house, all ripped apart no kitchen. The only restaurant open was the 24 hr casino and it was awesome.
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