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.
My holiday secret is to keep a good supply of holiday cookies in the freezer for unexpected get togethers or last minute hostess gifts.
I have been known to “regift” in the past. Shhhhh!
When I was taking the turkey out of the pan I dropped it.Luckily it landed on the door of the oven. So I guess its a semi disaster. I told no one.lol.
Happy Holidays
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Holiday secret! I’ve re-gifted things a bunchof times, sometimes you just forget someone and you have to make do!
I had my brother make a christmas turkey for me last year so I can bring it to my mother in law’s and I took full credit for it! Shh…..
I forgot that I had left a dish in the oven and everyone sat down to eat and halfway through could smell this awful burning smell. looked in the oven and it was charred to a crisp. I guess I made too much I couldn’t remember everything.
My holiday secret, is that very little of the baking that I serve my guests, are made by me. I buy most of it from farmers markets etc. Makes my life easier and it’s still home made! shhhh ha ha
The biggest holiday gaffe I recall is when my mother accidentally poured chocolate milk into the mashed potatoes instead of white milk.
When I was little I snuck out and opened one of my presents , I couldn’t get it wrapped back up so i hid it till the morning and snuck it out and “opened” it really quick before anyone noticed
I once make a lovely eggnog cheesecake, dropped it on the ground (fully covered and right way up) and served it anyway. It was a little misshapen but nobody seemed to notice!
My Mother and I dropped the piping hot turkey on the kichen floor! We were giggling so hard that we just sat down next to it… beside ourselves with dismay and laughter. Picked up the bird, plopped it back on the serving tray and viola…another delicious bird with no one being the wiser! Ahhh…wonderful Christmas memories!
When I was cooking a turkey for the first time, oh so many years ago, I didn’t know that there was a bag of “anything” inside the darn thing and they cooked along with the stuffing! Everyone had a great chuckle over that and they won’t let me forget it lol
having baked goods in the freezer for ‘at a moments notice’
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Store bought cheesecake saved me the first time I tried making my own cheesecake and modified a few ingredients. Took the store bought cheesecake out, plopped onto a nice fancy dish and drizzled some berries and caramel on it. Everyone loved it and I’ve been doing that ever since 😉