Nov 09 2009
My Favorite Kitchen Gadget Giveaway!!!
Update your google readers!http://feeds.feedburner.com/howsweeteats/smSp
You have heard me talk about my most favorite kitchen gadget numerous times.
I use it almost every day – from making crab cakes, to protein pancakes and beyond. I use it to chop veggies and make fruit salsa.
To show my appreciation to all of my wonderful readers, I am giving away this guy to one lucky reader:
It should arrive just in time for Thanksgiving, and hopefully will make cooking for this Holiday season a bit more fun. 
If you already have a mini food processor – this would make an excellent gift!
To enter, leave a comment telling me your best holiday season memory. Contest ends Wednesday, November 11th at 12 noon.
You can earn an extra entry by following me on Twitter and tweeting about this giveaway.
You can earn an extra entry by becoming a fan on Facebook.
Thanks to all of my wonderful readers!
Still not getting my updates since I switched domains? Click here to update your reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/howsweeteats/smSp
Favorite holiday memory = gathering EVERYONE (and I mean everyone – huge family) at my home for Christmas, with everyone’s stockings hanging over the fireplace. There were 20 stockings and everyone helped decorate the tree. It’s my favorite time of year, and the best time of year. Memories to be cherished forever.
I’m already a Facebook fan
My best holiday memory is one when our extended family spent a Christmas in a snowed-in huge cabin in Breckenridge, CO. We had Christmas brunch where each of us shared all of the things that we had done to donate to charity that year. Everyone ended up in tears sharing about things they did that were special.
We once spent Thanksgiving in Ruidoso, NM and had snow! It was like a holiday miracle for us, seeing as we lived in Houston where it never snowed. That was amazing.
awesome giveaway. It would make GREAT hummus … yummy hummus.
My best memory would be my grandfather dressing up as Santa every year for us, and giving out gifts. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see that anymore
I am a fan!
My favourite holiday memories are all between the ages of 3-8, going out every Christmas Eve for a drive around the city to see the Christmas lights (and to see if we could spot Santa in the sky!)
That’s an easy one – my favorite holiday memory was almost 4 years ago. I brought my itty, bitty newborn home from the hospital two days before Christmas. My first born, he was the best gift anyone could ask for – we spent the holiday sleeping under the tree (basking in the glow of lights) just getting to know each other.
I’m looking forward to doing the same thing with all three of my children (3, 2, and 6m) again this year.
A mini food processor wold be perfect for making homemade baby food for my youngest and whipping up healthy meals for my two toddlers (not to mention a really great gift for me :0)
Great giveaway! Favorite holiday memory – the cassette tape recordings my parents used to make of Christmas morning. Those old tapes are precious.
Followed you on twitter and tweeted about the giveaway
http://twitter.com/steet/status/5559688877
My favorite holiday memory is Thanksgiving 2006. It was just my husband and kids, and my parents. We had it all–great company, outstanding food, and a ton of laughs. My mom and I prepared all of the food together. We had such a wonderful time! And it will always be a very special memory for me, because my mom passed away two days later. It was our very last cooking marathon together, our very last holiday together, and such a treasured memory.
Thanks for the chance to win such a great prize!
Following you on twitter.
My favorite holiday memory is bittersweet. My grandfather passed away the week before Thanksgiving in 2002. Due to the amount of effort it took everyone to get home for the funeral, we combined Thanksgiving and Christmas that year to ease the financial burden of traveling. We dubbed it “Thanksmas.” We had both turkey and ham, set up the Christmas tree and opened presents. When the tradition started, we held Thanksmas on a random weekend that everyone could make it, but now we hold it on Thanksgiving day. It’s our special day. We do things differently than most families. It’s acceptable to eat pie at 11am and no one bats an eye. As the oldest grandchild, I make it a point to pull out my grandparents’ photo albums and show them to my younger cousins who may not remember Grandpa as well I as I do. This is my daughter’s first Thanksmas. I wish my grandfather was alive to meet her, but my grandmother loves her more than anything. I think she’s the best gift of all this year.
Tweeted?: http://twitter.com/elleskitchen/status/5559833986
And became a Facebook fan, as well.
Following you on Twitter!
Became a fan on facebook.
Favorite holiday memory has to be door to door carolling on Christmas Eve! Harassing random strangers is fun
OMG great giveaway! I’m borrowing my mom’s food processor so this would be amazing! My favorite holiday memory is my family’s annual Rudolph hunt. When my sister & I were younger, my dad would sneak out into the woods behind our house in Illinois and hide flashlight w/ a red bulb in the forest. The whole family would then bundle up and go look for Rudolph in the woods! My sister & I would get so excited when we’d see his red nose!
My memories all consist of traditional food like grandma’s dressing for Thanksgiving or her meatballs for christmas.
My favorite memory is just being with my family. It is the one time when we are able to all get together and I love it.
My best holiday memory as a kid – was going to bed with only a few gifts under the tree and then waking up in the morning to a huge mound of presents under the tree – after Santa had visited (hehe). As a family we would have to open each gift one by one and watch what everyone else got – it would take us hours in the morning to get through all the presents – but it something we continue to do this day as adults – I love being with family on Christmas morning – and yes I still try to hoard my presents until the end so I am the last left opening (my twin bro gets so mad at me each and every year hehehe)
xoxo – great giveaway! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for the mini food processor, I use my big one SO often, but really only need the smaller one most often ( plus much easier to clean!)
Of course I am following you on twitter! I am @balanceisbeauty! xoxo
Favorite holiday season memory: there are lots! A recent one happened last year. My husband and I were driving north to be with his family for Christmas. We hit a snow storm on the way and were stuck in a Connecticut hotel for two nights. We’d been stressed with work and dealing with illness, so, though we were sad to lose a couple days with family, it was a wonderful forced-rest weekend together – complete with snow falling and a fireplace. Great memory.
I am a fan on Facebook already!
I also just tweeted about the giveaway!
My favorite holiday memories are the Christmases spent at my grandparent’s house. My uncle gave a gift one year that, when wrapped, looked like a snow shovel. It became the family joke, and every year, somebody gets a gift wrapped to look like a shovel (or one year, a snow blower!) We sit in a huge circle and take turns opening our gifts. I love it!
I think one of my favorite holiday memories was our 1st Christmas spent in Florida. Everything seemed so surreal. Holiday spirit was overflowing & no snow to be seen! My favorite part was Christmas morning & DD, (who was 3), got a Barbie Volkswagen Beetle for her dolls. She opened it up & said, “I can’t believe it! A really, really big car!” Sounds silly, but her innocence & sheer joy over something so simple has remained a very fond memory for DH & I!
I follow on Twitter as @catsee
I would have to say my favorite holiday memories involve my extended family’s yearly Christmas Eve dinner. We don’t do it on Christmas Eve anymore – usually the Saturday before Christmas now – but when I was a kid growing up I always looked forward to that night. The menu was always the same: Oyster Stew, fried oysters, fried shrimp, and meatballs in red sauce!
Looking forward to continuing this holiday tradition again this Christmas!
Growing up, every year my dads side of the family would spend the Thanksgiving holiday at one of siblings house. It was great, we have remained close to all our cousin and it continues to this day, though we have changed it from Thanksgiving to a weekend in the summer.
I tweeted:
http://twitter.com/catsee/status/5560816957
I just love the feeling of my gma’s warm house smelling like cooked turkey and all the family being together.
Last year, we were snowed in for nearly two weeks. One day, we just frosted sugar cookies all day. It was a blast.
can i butter you up by saying my fav memory is decorating our dorm with christmas lights? lol
but seriously, my fav memory is an annual occurrence. when we were little, my pop-pop would gather all of us and read the night before christmas. before he died 16 years ago, he had a professional tape made, background music and all, and gave everyone a copy. now, after a very long christmas eve (we never get home before midnight) we change into our pjs and pop the tape in. it’s a great way to unwind and remember him. now that we live in “his” house, it makes me feel even closer to him, and sometimes i’ll even sit on the floor where i did years ago, as if he were still here. dan never got to meet pop-pop, but loves listening to his voice and imagining what type of man he was. i’m super excited for morgan to listen to her great-grandfather this year!
My favorite holiday is Christmas at my godfather’s house each year. So many gifts under the tree. Each time we were sleeping there and in the morning my godmother made a yummy breakfast. I always loved what she cooked.
I’m following you on Tweeter and I tweeted about the giveaway : http://twitter.com/boomette1
my favorite memory is when my grandma accidentally put the oven on self-clean and locked the turky inside!! there were frantic calls being made to the oven manufacturer on thanksgiving day.
How fun! Hmm favorite holiday memory- crazy dance parties at thanksgiving after a few beverages
Best way to burn off those food calories!
I am lucky to have a fun family so we have a lot of good memories, but one that sticks out is when my grandparents were alive. We would sing Christmas Carols every year at my grandparents after dinner. Everyone sings fairly well except my grandfather and my aunt. We decided to do the 12 days of Christmas with my father pointing to each person to do a different part. My grandfather’s rendition of 8 Maids a Milking was the most off key, funniest thing I ever heard, but he sold it every time. I am sure my dad thought he was funny, so he made my Aunt Maureen be 5 golden rings. For some reason she can hold a tune in Spanish better than in English, so she began to translate. I was probably about 12 years old at the time, and I just remember us all laughing for hours.
Hi Jessica, it was great meeting you on Saturday.
The vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting… sooooo good.
I would use this little guy to make those protein pancakes a few posts back – I’ve never heard of processing the oats like that! Let’s see, what’s my best holiday memory? I always loved going to my aunt’s house for Christmas dinner because her house was full of weird and interesting stuff (like a mannequin that she dressed up in seasonal outfits) plus tons of delicious food that everyone brought. At home, Christmas morning means sticky buns! We make them the night before and let them rise in the fridge, then put them in the oven so they’re ready by the time we’re done opening presents. Last year my little (21 years old) sister staged a protest when Mom considered making something else. There’s no substitute for sticky buns.
p.s. I’m a fan on Facebook now!
oh WOW!! What a great giveaway! My favorite Holiday memories involve my grandparents. On my mother’s side, my grandpa used to get so excited when we would visit for Christmas, he would take me on a walk through their neighborhood to show me the giant star and santa display in town.
My father’s mom used to make the BEST lasagna for Christmas, it was a memory all by itself. I can still taste it….SO GOOD!
I’ll tweet about this too
AND post it on my next post!
I just found your blog yesterday! Talk about timing.
I have never owned a food processor, but have really been wanting to get one lately … so obviously my best holiday memory doesn’t involve a cuisinart
There are so many good memories to choose from, so I will just pick one of the most recent. Last year I got to see my aunt and uncle for the first time in close to a decade. We all had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my grandma’s. It was so great to catch up.
my fave holiday memory is when my brothers and I get together. its a big issue for us since my other brother is in the army and rarely gets the holidays off. having the three of us together means the world to me because when we were younger we werent always together during the holidays.
thanks for the opportunity.
going to japan for my birthday with my mom, pops, sisters.
I tweeted – http://www.twitter.com/onefrugalfoodie
I’m a fan on facebook now!
my birthday = dec 23 that’s why it’s a holiday memory!
My best holiday memory is going caroling with my little a capella choir in high school. We’d go to hospitals and nursing homes, and it was so great to bring cheer into those peoples’ lives, even just for an evening.
hey cutie! So excited about this give away! My favorite holiday memory is my first christams with my husband. We spent it together alone and just enjoyed each others company. We slept in, ate a wondeful breakfast and opened presents in front of the fire. It was my first christams away from my family but was so wondeful because we were now starting our own family! loved it!!
Wow, what a great giveaway! My favorite holiday memories involve being with family, eating delicious food, and just relaxing as much as possible.
My favorite holiday memory is the Christmas party on the last Saturday before Christmas, they’ve been held since before I was born. It’s all about delicious food and visiting with family/family friends. When we were all younger we would decorate a giant tree together and since I was the younget I would get to put the topper on and then we would sing carols. Definately warm fuzzy memories!
Favorite holiday memory (and tradition): Standing in the kitchen at my mom’s or mom’s friend’s house and picking the crispy turkey skin (the bacon of the poultry world) off the turkey, and mashing the heck out of the potatoes.
My favorite holiday memory is every year watching my son open his Christmas gifts and seeing the excitement of the holidays in his eyes. There is nothing like it!!
Waking up on Thanksgiving morning and watching the Macys parade while enjoying pumpkin bread and coffee. Great way to kick off the holidays!
OMG I’ve been thinking about purchasing one of these!!!!
:D [cross fingers]
My favorite holiday memory would have to be the year I was 7 and spending Christmas Eve with the entire family (aunts, uncles, and cousins included). We had to rent out an entire restaurant because of how large our family is. There was a giant Christmas tree and piles of gifts. The adults danced and the kids played games. We never did it again after that year… there were just too many kids to buy gifts for I guess
but I’ll always remember that Christmas!
I’ve also tweeted !! : http://twitter.com/cookiesntea
~ JK ~
My favorite holiday memory is one that happened every year while my sister and I were growing up. We would always be excited about Christmas, eager to open our presents, and we begged my Grandmother to let us open just ONE present early. Every year, she would let us open ONE present, but the stipulation was that she got to decide. The present was not a toy, but was always a customized ornament for the tree, with our names either painted/engraved along with the year. Looking back, I have no idea how we fell for this EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR, but I can truly appreciate those ornaments now, and they bring back those memories every year as I decorate my Christmas tree.
Christmas time has always been a favorite time for me. Growing up my whole family would go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and then go home to open presents. Then we would all sleep late on Christmas morning and enjoy a huge brunch.
ahhhhhh i need to win this! this would revolutionalize my life!
my fave holiday memory…i think it was the year i got my beloved 80’s colored windsuit and christmas troll doll. i know that sounds lame, but man, i remember thinking just how awesome that christmas was
My favorite holiday memory was the year my baby brother was born on Dec 21st and got to come home right before Christmas Eve! Best Christmas present ever!
Favorite Christmas memory would have to be when my Mom dressed as Santa Claus for the Head Start toy giveaway. My Mom was short & round and made a wonderful St. Nick! That year, I got recruited to be an ‘elf’ it was so much fun giving toys to kids who might not have had nice things and we all kept laughing because Mom’s elf, was 6″ taller than she was! She had a great sense of humor, and I swear her eyes twinkled like Santa so much, it made me wonder if she really was St. Nick
I follow you On Twitter (tannawings)
http://twitter.com/tannawings/status/5563144919
tweet tweet!
I think my best was finding out on Christmas Eve that I was pregnant with my last child. It was the best gift ever.
Oh, fan on Facebook- its with my name-Ellen
I follow and tweeted http://twitter.com/lambchop1965/status/5563210621
My favorite holiday memory is Valentine’s day (can that count?) When my mom would make EVERYTHING heart shaped – pancakes for breakfast, meatloaf and beets for dinner.
I would love one of these – there are just sometimes when I don’t feel like pulling out my 30 pound food processor!
My favorite part of Christmas every year aren’t the presents, or the food – but just looking around and taking time to appreciate all the people in my life – my kids are growing up so fast, and soon will be gone.
Great giveaway, My favorite holiday memories are the new ones I create each year traveling to a far away land for thanksgiving.
My best holiday memory{ies} are the ones since I started attending the holidays with my now husband. My parents always hated family stuff and we always lived far from family. So it was just the 4 of us and I had always longed for big family events at this time of year. my parents no longer speak to me, its disheartening. However I still have plenty of great family behind me on my husbands side. I look forward to the holidays with all of them because they just love one another and embrace what the holidays are really about. Now I have three little girls and I love that they will always know the meaning of this. I love that they will never grow up wishing it wasnt just like another dinner and that they werent seeing people they are missing. So if I win this, I would love to use it to whip up something yummy to take to my families celebration. Also I have a little food processor that my sister in law LOVES, so I will happily gift it to her for all the babysitting she does in a pinch. I hope I win! Thanks for the giveaway either way. But if I were to win you would make two peoples day
new facebook fan
omg omg omg! i’ve been wanting one of these for FOREVER!! what an amazing giveaway! my best holiday memory is going around a table of 40+ family members at thanksgiving and telling what each of us are grateful for
thanks for the giveaway, hope i win!
CHRISTMAS WITH OUR KIDS AND FAMILY ALL THE FOOD AND FUN!!
A food processor of any size would make my (culinary) life complete. Best memory = going out to eat japanese food on Christmas Eve every year with my family. Yum
Despite the years of going Christmas crazy and loving it all, the decorations, the food, the company; the one most precious memory I have is of helping my Grandma make Pecan Butter Balls. She was my first inspiration in learning to cook and getting to spend time with just her before every holiday was something I looked forward to each year; me…just me and not my five brothers and sisters!
Eventually the task became mine to do so that she would have some for her holiday and family visits and her passing has not stopped me from fulfilling that memory. I don’t care how busy I am, what my plans are for the holiday or whether I’m even too sick to cook or eat; I have made those same cookies now every Christmas since I was that child at her side and I take a moment each Christmas Eve to have one and think of her, Lizette Bathe; my most precious memory of Christmas.
A food processor is on my wish list! My favorite memories of christmas are just spending time with my family. To this day my parents still set out gifts from “Santa” for me and my brother even though we are 24 and 18!! My parents always work hard to make christmas special for us.
I tweeted for you! (@butterjessfly)
Hi Jessica Lee,
I already have a mini processor your Uncle Chuck left here so he could process food for Christopher when he visits, so I will decline the prize even though I know my memory would win for sure since I’m your favorite Aunt…..
My favorite memory is the year your Uncle Tom, Katie, Tommy and I decided to fly from our home in San Diego to Pittsburgh for Christmas. Our hearts were always in Pittsburgh for Christmas but this time we had saved up enough to fly our family there. The grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, etc. had no idea we were coming.
With Santa hats on our heads, we tiptoed through the snow (we didn’t own boots!) to your Grandma’s front door and started singing Jingle Bells. She couldn’t believe her eyes, called to Grandpa, and of course there was lots of hugging and kissing all around. Since we were your “Presents” that year, we sat under the Christmas tree with our Santa hats on and waited for you and your family to notice us when you arrived. What fun we had! Late that night after everyone had gone to bed, I heard my bedroom door slide open a crack and grandpa whisper to grandma, “I just had to check and make sure they were really here, I thought it was a dream.” That was the last time we were all together on Christmas…cards, phone calls, emails, etc. are always nice but there is nothing like putting your arms around those you love…what a gift!
Love you
best holiday season memory = when I was a kid, for chinese new year all the family gets together in one uncle’s home and we spend 7 days together, eating festival food, playing cards and watch TV, it was so good to be with the whole family!
Hmmm. I guess it would be last November. My mother visited me from Montana (I live in Boston) and I cooked a turkey dinner for her and my boyfriend. My Mom was crying at the end of the night – she said she couldn’t believe how grown up I was since I was able to make a holiday meal by myself!
I was always the first one up… and I loved waking my brothers up to see what Santa left us in our stockings before my parents got up!
I’m also a fan on Facebook.
My favorite Holiday memory was going to my grandparents for Christmas Eve, we would always have the family over and the adults would play cards while the kids all watched Christmas movies. During the evening my dad would sneak out and drive back home and fill our stockings so that we all knew santa had come at midnight. In the morning we would go to mass and then have breakfast with the other side of our family. It was a wonderful time of the year.
Wow, what a great give-away! My favorite holiday memory involves my immigrant parents serving Chinese Hot-Pot at every western holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter). It’s their way to celebrate with their new friends here, but still honor their old food traditions!
Ummm awesome giveaway girl!! My fave holiday memory includes being in the kitchen with my mom and cooking up a storm on Christmas Eve… lots of wine flowing and great times with family. Nothing beats it
Oh man, you have no idea how much I need one of these! My favorite holiday memories involve spending time with family and friends- and getting presents as a kid (okay fine, still now haha). I am going to tweet about this too!
Hands down…my favorite holiday memory was Thanksgiving 2002, when my son was able to come home from North Carolina where he was stationed in the army. Yes, this army mom cried her eyes out, when her baby boy walked in the door in his uniform. This memory still brings tears to my eyes! A great time was had by all…especially me!
My fav holiday memory is definitely waking up right after midnight on christmas day (from christmas eve to christmas day), going to my parents bedroom and seeing their bed full (and I mean FULL) of gifts. I still believed in Santa Claus and I remember being so excited. Also, putting my shoe under the chimney for Santa Claus. Christmas has always been an important holiday for us. It’s just the whole spirit of it, I don’t know.
Btw, became your fan on facebook!
My food processor just broke so this would be amazing! My favorite holiday memory is waking up really early as a kid and going through my stocking. I wasn’t able to open presents until after 6:00 am! I love being with my immediate family early in the morning with our pjs on.
That is a tough one! My favorite holiday season memory may be when my family to a trip to the Bahamas for Christmas rather than celebrating Christmas at home with lots of presents. It was so nice and relaxing!
Tweeted:
http://twitter.com/catsee/status/5565606652
Your aunt’s comment made me tear up!
My favorite holiday memory is 6 years ago the year my uncle got married and brought two step-cousins into our family. It had just been the four of us cousins for so long, and now we had two more. (They had literally only been married 2 weeks before.) My little sister helped put together a quick play of A Christmas Carol with our two new family members and my other two cousins (I’m a bit older than they are) and she made them all feel very welcome into our family. It was the beginning of the Christmas Eve talent shows at my grandparent’s house. : )
My favorite holiday memory was last year with our newborn baby.
My favorite holiday memory is the last time I was back home for Christmas…1995! It is a long and expensive trip from Chicago to Hawaii for a family of 5, so we have to create our own family memories here. Sob, I miss my family.
My favorite holiday memory is the first Thanksgiving dinner my husband and I made together in our first home. There is nothing like the feeling of cooking a meal like that for the first time!
I became a fan on facebook!
My favorite memory is the feeling I would get Christmas Eve night before Santa would come. My parents say I would go into confession mode—apologizing for all of the things I had done that year in fear that I would get nothing the next morning. That feeling quickly went away on Christmas morning when I saw that “Santa” really did love me and forgave me for being mean to my brother and sisters!
Thanks for offering this giveaway! Pumpkin pie (or any holiday dessert) is always the highlight of my holiday memories
My favorite holiday memory is the very 1st Thanksgiving I went home after moving to California (1996). I missed my family and they missed me. We had dishes reprentative of our combined cultures and even took a family walk afterwards. That year was the 1st of many more Thanksgivings as it has become the “non-negotiable” holiday plan.
My favorite holiday memory is hanging out with the family members on Christmas day opening presents and eating leftovers while reconnecting with my cousins. The Christmas party at night is always fun too!
My favorite holiday memory is being in the kitchen with my mother and my sister on Thanksgiving, cooking and baking with “Miracle on 34th Street” playing in the background because for some reason we watch it on Thanksgiving and not Christmas.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I guess my favorite holiday memory was the year I took my daughter to the Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time. She was about six years old and the temp was very cold that morning (Michigan). At the time we were living with my parents and my Mom was up working on dinner for that night. So she helped me make mini sausage biscuits, mini cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for us to take with us to the parade. I bundled my daughter up in her winter things and we grabbed some blankets and we were off. There was a short wait before the parade started so we happily sat there people watching and eating our warm biscuits and hot chocolate. Too this day that is still the best holiday memory for both of us.
My favorite holiday is Christmas Eve. We celebrate with a ton of different kinds of fish and pasta. I loveeee that time of year!
My favorite holiday memory is the Christmas my mom told my sister (3 years old) and I (6) that not only was Santa bringing us gifts, but an “Elf” was bringing us a special surprise as well. When we were growing up, my parents divorced and my mother worked nights as a waitress so she could stay at home with us during the day. Needless to say, she didn’t have much to work with during holidays. Both of us got dolls from said Elf that we’d been asking for all year (Baby Bubbles and Tiny Tears, anyone?!). We’d wondered who the Elf was and why s/he only came one year to give us gifts. Years later, my mother told us that the “Elf” was a good family friend who’d pitched in and bought us dolls when my mom was broke. It was such a sweet gesture that will never be forgotten by my sister or me.
Tweeted it my dear
I’m already a Huge Fan!
Would like to win this so I can make more raw desserts, of course
Or just any desserts b/c I love to make sweet treats!
Gah! I was just saying this weekend how I wish I had a mini food processor!
My favorite holiday memory is singing Silent Night at the end of Christmas Eve service as a little girl, and getting to blow out the candles they passed out to everyone
hey lovee!! wow what a great giveawayyy!!!!
I would LOVE LOVE this machineee…oh the possibilities I could make with this…nut butters, soups, dressings, smoothies mmm
best holiday season memory would have to be thanksgiving at my grandparents house in florida. This is the one time me and my cousins (on moms side) get together because they don’t live in the us…it is such a magical time!!
Great blog! This might sound corny, but I’ve had a lot of nice Christmases, but the thing I remember the most of the holidays as a child, was the Mcdonald toys and gift certificates we would buy. I remember there used to be cute ornaments, such as the mice from Cinderella or characters from Lady and the Tramp, that would play music when you pushed on their chest.
That, for some reason, gives me the warm fuzzies. And really, as much as my mother hated fast food and made great food at home, I loved it. And I loved going there to get those gift certificates and toys.
But I still have the original Garfield glass cups they were selling… back in the day.
OMG, my food processor just broke! (And I just became a fan of your on facebook, because I’m TOTALLY a fan! *smile*)
One of my favorite Christmas memories comes from when I was aroun eight. I couldn’t read till I was around seven or eight, and it was my mother who taught me to read by taking turns with me while going through all of the Little House on the Prairie books. Finally, I began to get it and after months of agonizing work — my mother taught me to read. To celebrate, we had an entire Christmastime themed around “Little House on the Prairie.” We made popcorn and cranberry strands for the tree, made traditional dishes, paper stars, everything “prairie style” you could think of. She even sewed me a “prairie bonnet” to wear for dress-up, which I believe I still have to do this day.
My favorite holiday is Christmas, but my favorite holiday memory is of the last Thanksgiving with my grandma before she died of cancer, just being with all my family, enjoying good food, talking, and playing games together.
I became a fan of you on Facebook.
My favorite holiday memory was the year my niece turned 2. It was probably the first Christmas she sort of had an idea of what was going on, or rather that she was getting presents. She loves shoes and put on pair after pair of pink, glittery, pretty little shoes. I bought her some pink Pumas and a pink track suit. She liked the suit, took one look at the Puma and snarled at me. They weren’t pretty girl party shoes, how dare I?
All I could do was laugh and think how badly my brother was going to have it. Already into shoes, already a little turd.
Following you on twitter and tweeted it here: http://twitter.com/BookwormHeather/status/5571004405
we had a family friend who made us orange rolls ever chrismas morning. a while back she moved, but still came to visit, orange rolls in hand, for christmas.
finally one year she wasn’t going to be in town at all… we wondered what we’d have for christmas breakfast…. until the ups truck showed up and delivered us… orange rolls!
her daughter makes them now. we still have them ,every year
My grandmother, who raised me, was a dressmaker. After making a wedding ensemble, the remnants were many and she was told to keep them herself.
After I went to bed, Santa made me a satin robe with lace of ivory….I was 8 and now am 70 and the robe still lives in my Lane cedar chest. Threadbare almost but there just the same. The granddaughters have played dress up with it over the years.
My favorite holiday memory was the christmas my sister & I recived handmade wooden dollhouses. My mum went to such a lot of effort that year & I can only appreciate now how special it was. We both still have our dollhouses too 16 years later.
There are so many good memories, but one tradition that we have is to watch It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve before bed. We drink hot tea and get in pjs and sit as a family together. It’s always a great memory.
Going to my Grandparent’s house every Christmas and just seeing and being around family.
my favorite holiday memories are the ones with my dad before he passed away we would spend Christmas Eve with him then go to my moms the next day.
Awesome giveaway jessica!!!
My fave memory, since I”m the only child in my whooole family..is when they’d bust out 2 or 3 phone books every year for me to sit on at the grown ups table
Favorite holiday memory is my husband purposing to me.
Thanks for the giveaway and great blog.
My favorite holiday memory is my Grandmother’s Christmas Open Houses. All my Grandma’s neighbors and friends would come over to her house every Christmas Eve and have a big ole party. The adults would mingle and the kids would play. Then afterwards we would all go to Midnight Mass. Memories like this make me miss being a kid!!
I don’t have a food processor and would love one! One of my favorite holiday memories was when my husband and I “officially began dating” right before Thanksgiving…I was 16 years old and he was 17! Six years later we are very much happily married and this time of year brings major smiles thinking back to that time.
hhmm my best holiday memory I think is just hanging out with my family and cooking together. Its such a great time!! All the comforting smells and getting to see everyone again. Its the best!
My best memories are always of the food!! It brings us together as a family in the kitchen and then eat what we made. Christmas is the greatest excuse to indugle!!
Fave holiday memories all involve thanksgiving! it;s my faveeeee
best holiday memory? that’s when I was young, the big family – my grandpa, grandma, 4 cousins of my mom’s family, 3 cousins of my Dad’s family, getting today and having a big feast from 3 to 12am. it’s just chatting, drinking, watching the show, and laughing.
but now my grandpa has passed away and it’s just so hard to get together the big family. I really miss the days when we seat around a hug round table and having that annual dinner!
My favorite Holiday memory would have to be Christmas 2006. It was my first Christmas here in California and sadly my mom’s last. I’m very thankful I got to spend time with her here in LA that Christmas. My mom never showed that she was suffering, in fact she decorated the house for Christmas by herself, she insisted on it too. You would have never guessed she was ill!
When I was a little girl, we set out cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve, and every Christmas morning, the cookie plate bore a few big crumbs and the milk glass was empty. One year, we five kids woke up before the sun and rushed out to see that the cookies were gone and the milk still coated the glass. We were so excited about having been so close to seeing Santa that we could hardly contain ourselves. Many years later, my father said he remembered that Christmas well. He and my mother had only just crawled into bed after a late night of assembling and wrapping toys when they heard us out in the living room, squealing with childish delight at the prospect of missing our beloved Santa by only minutes.
To this day, I can feel the excitement and magic of that predawn morning. I can still see my sleepy parents coming into the living room, grinning at their funny pajama-clad five, jumping and screaming about the happiest Christmas ever.
Oh dear! I can’t compete against 130 + commenters! WOW!
Hmm…Favorite holiday season memory is having a build gingerbread houses competition, and losing to 6-year-olds! I swear, the judges were biased!!
Awesome giveaway! My favorite holiday memory is just being with the family, that’s always the best part.
*I’m holding a giveaway right now, check it out if you want! (Though it definitely doesn’t compete with yours..:)
Oh my gosh! What a great giveaway! I’ve wanted one of these my whole life and I’m NOT kidding!!!
My favorite Holiday memory is every year at Thanksgiving my family and I share the highs and lows of the year and what we are thankful for. Once we have shared the “highs” no one remembers the “lows”, no matter how “low” they were. I am very blessed and fortunate to have my family and I thank God for them every single day! Can’t wait for Thanksgiving this year, it’s my favorite holiday!!!
I also became a fan of yours on Facebook!!!!
My cousin and I are 12 days apart so usually we celebrate our birthdays together. We used to take turns blowing out the candles, but when we were turning 5 he decided to be a JERK and blow them out on my turn too! I turned to him and slapped him HARD across the face. Everyone gasped and started yelling at me, so then I started crying and ran out while he sat there making faces and sticking his fingers in the cake.
My favorite holiday memory was the Christmas that showed me how truly selfless and generous people are during the holidays. Two days before Christmas when I was in high school, my house burned down. The community immediately took my family underwing. We spent Christmas in a hotel room, but we were all together and safe– and surrounded by letters, cards, well wishes, and two hotel rooms full of gifts for all of us (there are four kids and two parents, and a dog). The Red Cross brought us small gifts and necessities; our church brought us support; the school gym became a place for a donation drive. My favorite gift was a bag of coins from a group of kids who went Christmas caroling to raise money. The day the house burned down was traumatizing and sad and still breaks my heart sometimes, but I learned a valuable lesson about how supportive and loving people really are.
I have many wonderful memories of holidays!! I am the mother of four beautiful daughters and after many years in a unhappy and unhealthy marriage I left. The holidays were approaching and I was so unsure how it would be in that I now live in a VERY SMALL house with only two bedrooms and one BATH. My girls are older but everyone was coming home…We had the most wonderful few days all together..we had pump up beds, bathrooms full of female stuff but the love we all shared that Christmas and have continued when we all get together is the most precious memory a mother has …we don’t need big houses or alot of stuff..we just need each other and that first Christmas was the beginning of many girl filled times together…our blessing for each other is “bless the food before us, the love between us and the family beside us” I am so blessed to have these wonderful children in my life!!
My favorite holiday memory is getting so nervous that Santa did not come on Christmas day. My parents would make me and my sister wait upstairs and build suspense as we sat impatiently wondering if we would have any presents waiting for us or not. As nervous as I was, the fear of not knowing always built excitement, and I loved it every year.
WOW! Great giveaway. I seriously am so bad at this kind of memory recall stuff… so can I just say that they are all a blessing?
Amanda
My favorite holiday memory is Thanksgiving cookie baking!
my favorite holiday is always spending the day in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. Making salads, veggies, the turkey…baking pies and other desserts…coffee brewing on the counter top, the parade on in the living room. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and always has been.
My favorite holiday memeory is the first Christmas that my husband and I hosted in our house. We enjoyed the whole month getting ready for our out of town guests… From decorating the house while drinking wine and listening to Christmas music, to baking 5 cakes, variouse cookies and the actual Christmas dinner with tons of yummy veggies.
[...] Comments « My Favorite Kitchen Gadget Giveaway!!! [...]
family& dear friends @ the holidays…@ any holiday is truly something to treasure.
from my youth to the present time: love, comfort food & those you hold dear are most important & most memorable.
I heart Cuisinart.
I think my favorite holiday memory was when my mother made us a beautiful chicken pot pie. Handmade crust and all. She carved a little design into the upper crust and it was just so elegant — culinary art. On the way to the oven with her masterpiece, she tripped and the whole thing went flying into the wall. Somehow she managed to piece is all back together, and it ended up being the most delicious — if slightly messy — pot pie we’d ever eaten.
my favorite holiday memory is of being a little girl and still believing in santa… until my oldest sister told me that mom and dad got me the easy-bake, not santa… but it was okay, because i still had my EASY-BAKE to play with!!! i still remember making warm gooey brownies in that thing!
I became a fan on facebook.
One of my favorite memories is a recent thanksgiving. My sister and her husband and 3 dogs came to my brothers house, as did my hubby and I and our 5 dogs. My bro had 4 dogs at that time. So if you are counting, that is 6 adults and 12 hounds! All the people gathered in the kitchen watching the carving of the bird as well as the hounds keeping a keen eye on it! There are several of those dogs that aren’t with us anymore and just the sight of so many and all getting along was just great!
I would love the processor too!!!!!
But thats besides the point! My favorite thanksgiving memory was soon after my husband and I first met. He’s from Europe, and my family all lives far away, so we decided to take advantage of having no family commitments whatsoever and run off on a road trip. We drove from NJ to Acadia National Park in Maine and got lobsters for Thanksgiving dinner. We stayed at an adorable little B&B and it was just so cute and non-traditional that it’s always stuck with me. Now of course we do the turkey and fixin’s route at our home and have fallen back into the traditional thanksgiving, but that first offbeat holiday was a real keeper memory!
Georgie Fear RD
My all time Favorite Holiday memory is having my great grandmother come down for Thanksgiving..the entire family was down. It’s hard to get her down to Texas since she’s up North. She doesn’t like to travel and she’s won’t fly.
Emily, so sorry to hear that happened to your family. It is always wonderful to hear stories of kindness, generosity, and love. What a HUGE blessing that you all were ok!
Jumped on over here from CottonWife’s blog.
One of my favorite Christmas memories would have to be last years. We had soooo much fun just hanging out with each other. Just us. 2008 was a difficult year. We ended the year “reconnected” as a family. It was (is) awesome!
Left my holiday memory comment yesterday, but joined your facebook group today!
I suppose this is a silly memory, but last year I made a healthy pumpkin pie, and usually when I make healthy stuff it’s OK, but not people’s favorite. This pie, on the other hand, everyone loved beyond belief and it made me feel good to serve something they loved and I loved giving them
potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce at my grandma’s house!
My favorite holiday memory is from when I was 11 – we had a family reunion down in Florida for Christmas. It was the only time that pretty much everyone from my mom’s side of the family was in one place at one time. It was so much fun and so amazing to spend time with family members that I very very rarely get to see.
My favorite memory was last year, when my sister-in-law and I got to “take over” our family’s Thanksgiving meal! We had a blast, and the rest of the family got to take a break.
A lot of my favorite holiday memories stem from playing during the Christmas Eve services growing up (very serious flute player).
P.S. I’m already following you on twitter!
My favorite holiday memory is the December of 1993 when my daughter was born. She was the best Christmas gift ever!! Can’t believe she will be 16 this December!
Wow cool giveaway Jessica….how sweet it is…and I need a new one cause I sold my big one when we downsized! My favorite holiday memory is when I bought everyone flannel pjs one year in my family and my sisters family and sewed some drawstring bags for them in xmas fabric…everyone opened them on xmas eve and we put our pj’s on and played games all night till the wee hours. Of course we are all grown up and older so no little ones waiting for Santa…so we started a new tradition. THEN I made everyone go to the mall the next day and bring their pj’s and we took a family photo at “Picture People”…the kids still complain because I made them wear their pj’s at the mall…of course they are kiddin’ because it’s still talked about so I know they really like the idea.
Okay, just saw the feed going to update that now!!!
Fave memory is watching Christmas Vacation with my family EVERY year.
My favorite holiday memory is when my boyfriend and I held Thanksgiving in our apartment a few years ago and had both of our families over to celebrate!
My favorite holiday memory is when my family and I spent it in Quebec on Thanksgiving! We were going to make a turkey in the small hotel room but the oven didnt work! Instead we went to a fancy thai restaurant and had a rediculously delicious meal–5 courses!
I would LOVE To win!
My favorite seasonal memory would be any Thanksgiving when my Nana was still alive and “with” us. She MADE Thanksgiving & Christmas for us with the scents of the season and no matter how long I live, I’ll ALWAYS associate these holidays with her, her love of food and of feeding us her traditional recipes. I miss her terribly.
http://www.facebook.com/dawniemom?v=feed&story_fbid=198065560866
SHared on facebook
tweeted it too
http://twitter.com/dawniemom/status/5604388278
My favorite holiday memory would be when I was around 11 or 12 and my entire family – both my dad’s side and my mom’s side – got together for Thanksgiving. There were well over 60 of us there, and things got pretty crazy, but it was fabulous to have everyone together at one place and time. Fifteen years later, I live in New Jersey, and my family is still in Maine, so I don’t get to visit with them the way I used to. I remember that Thanksgiving like it was yesterday, and wish every year we could re-live it.
http://twitter.com/tannawings/status/5606495998
tweeted for u!
baypayments at yahoo dot com
Great giveaway! Fave memories include making a gingerbread house from scratch with my parents and eating the candy decorations as we went along.
Great giveaway!
My favorite holiday memory didn’t actually occur on the actual holiday, but the week before Thanksgiving. When I was in grad school, a few of my friends could not go home for the holidays. I also had one classmate who had never celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving meal because he was Vietnamese. So, one night, a few of my girlfriends and I planned what we dubbed “Grad School Thanksgiving” and concocted a funny email message to the entire class instructing them on what food they were responsible for bringing to the feast. There was turkey, stuffing, mac ‘n’ cheese, cornbread, fried chicken, pie, cake, green bean casserole and a whole host of other foods. We all sat around an on-campus apartment eating the food, blasting music and enjoying our friend Vu’s reaction to traditional Thanksgiving food (he was a fan). There may have been a soccer game outside at one point too. It was probably the best “holiday” I ever had, and I wish I could have Thanksgiving with that same group of people every year.
Cookie Sunday!! My mom’s side of the family goes to my grandparent’s house the Sunday before Christmas. Grandma makes almost 20 dozen cut-out cookies (gingerbread and sugar) and we decorate them using homemade icing. All of my mom’s 6 siblings bring their holiday cookies and we exchange them. Some of my cousins and I make a gingerbread house and the day ends with take-out pizza and everyone taking home containers full of dozens of cookies. It is my favorite day of the whole year!
My best holiday memory is the year we all piled into the car and went to JcPenney’s to get our Christmas PJ’s. Every Christmas my mom buys us Christmas PJ’s and this one particular year she decided we didn’t really care so she wasn’t going to buy them. We were so upset that we all piled into the car Christmas Eve and went to get our PJs. We had such a good time shopping together.
One of my best holiday memories was my grandmother’s dumplings and chess pie. Yummmmm
Fave was when I burnt 3 successive batches of spice cookies one thanksgiving because I had a cold and couldn’t smell the burning (yes that sick but still baking cuz i looovvve it!)
Thanks for the giveaway!
The Christmas I think about the most was the one that I last spent with my parents in 2002. Three months later they both died in an accident. They had just built their dream retirement home and I pushed to have a traditional family Christmas there that year. Of course now I am sooo glad I was so persistent! I am very grateful that I was given this time with them not knowing what the future was going to bring. We did it all…Christmas tree, cookies, turkey dinner..it’s a treasured memory of a time I will have forever
I would love love love a food processor.. my favorite holiday memory involves my dad finally surprising my mom.. every year my mom seems to always find out or correctly guess what my dad’s present for her.. one year he wrapped an odd shaped box with some miscellaneous junk in it and a note with rhyming clues on how to find her real gift… the clues were read outloud and we all tried to help mom figure out the answer.. there were 4-5 clues and all were so creative.. and led my mom with all the kids trailing throughout the house ending in the basement following a string into a closet where a beautiful new coat hung… the joy on my mom’s face is a memory I’ll have forever… it was a great Christmas and a wonderful lesson on thoughtfulness.
My favorite memory is from Thanksgiving when I was really young and my family invited over a group of autistic adults for dinner with us. It was the craziest, best thanksgiving Ive ever had
My favorite memory is cooking with my dad. I always help him with his homemade potato rolls, they are the best!
I am a fan on facebook now:)
Great give away. My fave holiday memory is just sharing my holiday with my non-Jewish friends. I love to have them over to make matzo ball soup and fry up some latkes, then tell them about my holiday and all of our traditions.
Ok, I am following you now on twitter and it’s been tweeted. Glad to find your blog and I look forward to reading more.
I’m a fan on Facebook! *crossing my fingers I win* – ours broke last month! :\
Wow!! What a great giveaway!!
My favorite holiday moment is last year being in New Orleans for Christmas and New Years. It was the first time that we were able to spend the holidays with our extended family.
Just became a fan on facebook.
Make sure to enter my great giveaway on Mom on the Run
http://www.healthymomontherun.com.
Nice giveaway!
My fav holiday moment was when I was a kid and my mom got these adorable gingerbread (plastic waxey) ornaments from avon. My sister and I thought they smelled SO yummy we decided if they smelled so good just think of what they’d taste like! We put it in our mouth but it wasn’t like food we soon figured out. My mom had those ornaments on our tree for several years (with little teeth marks on them).
Every Christmas morning we have monkey bread for breakfast before digging into gifts….I love that!
My favorite holiday memory is my grandmother standing my her stove, frying up chicken one piece at a time. We never really do the turkey thing…our family is too small.
My favorite memories of the Holidays are my family all lined up in the kitchen at the stove waiting in line for my Dads Golumpkis ( spelling may be off on that one ) Stuffed Cabbage. The whole cooking process tooks hours and hours but the eating seemed like it went in minutes. You actually had to hide them in the fridge it you wanted an extra one or two for later
I can still smell them and see my Dads face – how proud he was that everyone loved them so much
My favorite memories of the holidays are sitting at the dining room table after the meal has been eaten with my entire family for hours drinking wine and talking about old memories. Living such a long way from home is hard, but those times during the holidays are centering and are so important to me!
WOW! What a giveaway!
My favorite holiday memory is kind of a long-standing one. More ritual, than anything. Every year we play a simple dice game and the first year my husband came to Christmas at my family’s he won the dice game and the $600 pot. I’ve been trying to win the pot since age 2 and it just took him one roll, it was great! Hope I’m as lucky and win that food processor!
AWESOME giveaway! Thank you!
Oh, I also am a fan on Facebook!
My favorite memory would have to be waking up at my grandparents’ house when I about about 7 and feeling a huge wave of relief when I saw that Santa had found me, even though we were away from home. I loved getting to spend that day with relatives that I didn’t get to see often and it’s still one of my favorite Christmases.
I loved having a baking “day” with my grandmother and mom. We always take a day and bake our holiday favorites for our families and friends. Today, my Mom and I still take a day to bake during the holiday season and now we are involving my son. But all he seems to do is eat the results!!!
I love Christmas morning opening stockings and having coffee with the family!
[...] you all so much for entering the mini food processor giveaway! I have found myself reading your holiday memories over and over and OVER again. They are beautiful [...]
My first post! I love reading your site.
My favorite memory is of a Christmas when I was a senior in High School. I was Student Council President and had this lovely idea to do a HUGE toy drive at my high school. It was wildly popular, but being the brilliant 17 y. o. I forgot to organize WHO would receive the toys. Luckily my father is a Superintendent at a local district and he quickly got a list of names from teachers of needy families. So in the school van (we had that many toys) my father and I hand delivered toys to about 20 families. I have never seen such happy faces as kids seeing MY DAD bringing them toys. They were so shocked he was at their house giving them things. This was one of the few times I ever did anything with just my dad- he was always busy with work and I usually got toted around by my mom. SO for me, getting to see my dad as the hero was the coolest feeling.
AH, I missed it! Doggone it!
[...] Find out who won the food processor giveaway! [...]
http://twitter.com/tannawings/status/5624902010
tweet- was it est at noon? LOL!
My favorite holiday memory was from last year! I got to cook with my family, had the day off and just relaxed and enjoyed their company! We also rented movies, cooked together and slept in on the weekend. No crazy shopping; We stayed at my place the entire weekend. It may seem like a simple thing but in this rush-rush world it was just great!
I retweeted and am a follower @didapr
http://twitter.com/didapr/status/5625027168
Hope I am not too late.
I am a fan on fb
My favorite holiday memory is when our house got snowed in last year when my sister and I were home after being away for so long at college and grad school. We never get snow, so it was really fun, especially since we had been apart for so long!
ps- Thanks for the giveaway!
Oh I love the Christmas memories of waking up with my siblings Christmas morning and hanging out at the stop of the stairs, looking down on the tree and presents with longing!! We always had to wait until 7:00 when our parents got up, and we would try and guess which Santa gift was for who.
[...] seems that unfortunately, I missed the ball on HowSweetItis to enter her giveaway for a food processor, but I loved her entry idea: share a holiday memory. [...]
My favorite holiday memory was when I went to Jamaica during Christmas. It is beautiful there and a great way to spend time with my family.
I added you to Twitter and tweeted! (@MissyMaintains)
I just became a fan on Facebook (under melissa e.) I’ve been dying for a food processor!!
My favorite holiday memory is being with the whole family in disney world watching fireworks.
My favorite memory is celebrating my brother’s birthday with family on Christmas. He’s a Santa baby but my parents always made the birthday stand out more than the holiday.
My favorite memory is baking cookies with my family. Pizzelle’s with my (Italian) grandmother and chocolate chip cookies with my other grandmother…on the same day!
I’m off to find you on FB!
Oh my goodness!!! I’ve been drooling over one of these for ages! My favorite holiday memories has to be with my grandmother, making copious amounts of sugar cookies from scratch and frosting every last one of them into the wee hours! So much fun, I just love the holidays
I’ll follow on Twitter!
Hey guys! Sorry for the confusion, but the contest ended yesterday afternoon. The winner can be found here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2009/11/11/winner-2/
[...] made a chocolate crumb crust, using my mini food processor. Just one of the many things I love it [...]