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TriangleMom2Mom's Nutcracker Giveaway
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY. But click here to find out how you can win tickets to see The Polar Express
It's not Christmas without the Nutcracker and now you could see it for free!
We've got 11 tickets to the 12:30 p.m., Dec. 28, performance of the Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker at the
Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh. I'm breaking up the tickets into two packs. The grand prize is six tickets. The runner-up will win five.
What do you need to do to win? Make sure you're registered on the site. If you're not, just click "Join Us" at the top of this page and fill out the form. (Your triangle.com and newsobserver.com user IDs and passwords work here too).
Then answer the following question by noon, Dec. 12. To answer the question, scroll down to the bottom of the page, fill out your answer in the comment box and click "post comment." If you don't see the comment box, you're not logged into the site.
And just to clear up a recent question somebody asked: You can post as many times as you want as long as your posts keep the conversation flowing and are on topic. The more posts, the more chances you have to win.
The Question: In the Nutcracker, Clara visits the Land of Sweets. If you were to create your very own Land of Sweets, what would it be filled with?
A. Chocolate
B. Cakes, cookies, pastries
C. Ice cream
D. Lollipops and taffy
E. All of the above and more
D. Other. I have amazing willpower and have given up all sweets, but I still want tickets to the Nutcracker.
Contest rules: To enter, make sure you are registered as a member of TriangleMom2Mom.com and participate in the "TriangleMom2Mom Nutcracker Giveaway" forum by noon, Dec. 12. Banter back and forth is welcome and encouraged, but should be relevant to the topic of discussion. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Employees of The News & Observer Publishing Co. and McClatchy Interactive and their immediate families are not eligible to win prizes but may join TriangleMom2Mom and participate in site activities. Prize winners will be selected by random drawing from all registered users of TriangleMom2Mom who participate in the "TriangleMom2Mom Nutcracker Giveaway" forum as of 12:01 p.m., Dec. 12. Odds of winning dependent on number of entries. The winner's name will be posted on the site.
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.
Comments
ice cream
Chocolate. Dark Chocolate. With some type of raspberry flavoring. That is heaven to me.
E. All of the above and more....
My land of sweets would include:
Candy wallpaper
Chocolate teacups
Cotton Candy clouds
Rocky Road mountains
Oreo and pudding flower gardens.... inhabited by gummy worms
Reese Cup mud pies
Butterfinger brick houses
Lava cake volcanoes
Jello lakes
Field of lollipops
Whip cream snow
Skittles for rain
.... to be cont'd
CHOCOLATE !!!!!!!!!
CHOCOLATE !!!!!
My kids are completely fascinated by chocolate fountains. For a less messy alternative, I was thinking of getting a fondue set and doing chocolate in it.................
E. All of the above and more!!!!! (with a special focus on............... CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!)
Chocolate!!!! Dark chocolate!! Any kind!!!
dark chocolate is supposed to be healthy
All of the above, definitely! :)
Chocolate definetly. Maybe with a variety of types, like Ferre Roches to start, then some snickers all around, add a few Kit Kats, some Reeses and Mr. Goodbars to round it out. I love Chocolate as much as I love the ballet!
I am loving the way that sounds. I await the more to come!
I am loving the way that sounds. I await the more to come!
Actually the cakes, cookies and pastries could work too. I love pineapple cake!
Is that less messy? I am not so sure--- at least not in my household!
Girls rule, you must bake some great desserts!
Maybe you are right, HAHA.
Wouldn't a chocolate fountain be a great Christmas gift for someone else's children? TEE HEE
Don't jinx me Lilibug, I don't want that fountain showing up at my house for Christmas! LOL!
So far it looks like chocolate is winning by a sugarslide!
Didn't you hear? That's the third place prize:-)
If I had to choose one I would say Ice Cream!
The Land of Sweets is my very favorite scene from the nutcracker. I decorate my house with as many candy decorations as I can find at Christmas. The staircase in my house has a garland of greenery, white lights, giant peppermint lights, glittery candy garland, and gingerbread cookies. It makes me hungry.
You know what? I really did give my son a chocolate fountain for Christmas when he was 5! Okay, there was an underlying motivation...I wanted one, and knew I could borrow his. He kept wanting one, when we'd see it in stores, and I found one on sale. It worked well as "filler" for his gifts from Santa.
I researched carefully online, and found that the Rival brand got great reviews. It's an awesome appliance (simple to clean), we've used it for several parties. Our school carnival is a huge annual fundraiser, and one year, they rented one at a cost of about $2,000. I suggested they go buy several of these Rivals, instead, (only about $40 each) and they did, and they use them at Carnival, charging about 50 cents per dip. (the cookies and dippers are donated). Good fundraiser.
B. Cakes, cookies, pastries
Ice Cream or Chocolate - too hard to choose between!
Sadly, I have to go with Other - I do have amazing willpower to avoid all candy - it doesn't help that I'm allergic to most of it! Honestly, the one thing I am allergic to and it happens to be anything with sugar apparently, lol. No chocolate, no frosting, no cookies - almost nothing can I eat without getting "the jitters" lol. I haven't seen the Nutcracker in so many years but that is the one part that I remember simply because it looked like such a fun place to live, lol.
Thanks for the great contest!
E. All of the above and more
So you won't ever get tired of having just one
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!! Any kind, any time, any where!
If my Land of Sweets was made of chocolate, it's be gone in no time! I better make mine out of lollipops and taffy to look pretty and not risk eating it all.
All of the above. I would want a LARGE variety. YUMMY!
All of the above...........with triple chocolate selections!
chocolate - semisweet, dark, milk, white, mixed with nuts, covering cherries and strawberries - and just for mom - chocolates and a great bottle of wine!
Chocolate, of course.
Cakes, Cookies and Pastries
Hmm.....interesting about the chocolate fountain......
My favorite dessert is Creme Brulee. I love Christmas Mint Nougats...does anyone know what they are? Those chewy mint things that only come out at Christmas time...
For the last day of school, before Christmas break, we're having a small party to build gingerbread houses. I let my boys invite 3 kids each, and we'll build them from the Wilton kits. We've done this in the past, and it works great. I buy a few extra types of candy for structural details...fruit stripe gum for shutters, Necco wafers for roof shingles, etc.
I'm trying to start some new conversations so we'll have some more sweets to talk about. : ) Since most responses could just be chocolate, chocolate chocolate.....what is your very favorite brand of chocolate??
Candy question!! Does anyone remember spearmint puff balls?? They are apparently no longer made....? I used to eat them as a kid (back about 35 years ago (I'm 43). They were bags of round balls, (I remember spearmint and chocolate) and they were pastel-colored balls a little smaller than ping pong balls. They had stripes. They were airy, and when you sucked on them, they melted in your mouth.
I don't know what the real name was!
Ferro Roche is my favorite, although I am partial to almost any milk chocolate product.
Do they have the Christmas tree picture in the center? I love those. My grandma used to get them every year. I would use my tea set to eat them.
That sounds awesome. The public libraries also offer gingerbread house parties. This will be our first year going, but my littlest ones have never made them. It should be fun.
Part of the fun is eating it... go for the chocolate!
So sorry about your allergies, that must be torture this time of year. Good luck with the contest!
My kids headstart is thinking about a carnival. That would be a great idea! Mainly because it won't be at my house! I will be sure to keep the Rival brand in mind to let them think it over at the next meeting.
That sound really neat. Where in the world do you find candy decorations, though. I have only seen the large candy canes. I bought some of those this year because they were so cute.
I don't remember those, but they sure do sound yummy and fun to eat.
I WOULD WANT EVERYTHING TO BE CHOCOLATE
Yes! the tree in the center! I used to eat bags of them. Now all I can think is: hydrogenated fat clogging my arteries. : (
The Rival is really well made. Works great, and all the chocolaty parts went right in the dishwasher (top rack). I was amazed at how easy it was to clean up.
I WISH I were allergic to chocolate and candy.....
I found giant peppermint lights at Pottery Plus (Wilmington). Size of dinner plates. Also got heavily-glittered candy garland there. Just plastic candy but so covered in clear glitter that it looks really pretty. I've seen instructions on how to make giant candies by cutting from styrofoam, then coating with gesso before painting. Then wrap in cellophane. I'll do that some year. Right now, for the Ging. House party, I'm gonna look at craft store---I saw neat Gingerbread things made from tan fun foam. Would be a fun craft to make some large G. things to hang from the ceiling (over dining table) with my boys. Will add glitter to white "snow & icing" parts. We hang things from fishing line on a clear pushpin, and you can't see the holes it makes in ceiling. : )
I loved your comment, clever girl, "Chocolate is winning by a sugarslide!"
Has anyone seen this production of the Nutcracker in past years? I've been wanting to take my boys to see a really good production for years. They get a Nutcracker every year, and they love them. They play gently with them ('cause I think they like them so much, they take care of them).
I noticed the melting pot has chocolate fondue dessert with all sorts of variations on the chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, nuts, peanut butter swirl, and you get a platter of fruit and little cake slices to dip-I think that;d be a fun family Christmas treat.
I do NOT like white choclote at all!
I love dark chocolate!
LOL! My kids won't even try them. They are so hard to find.
My waistline is saying the same thing.
Chocolate and dishwasher safe. I think I am in heaven. I will have to find that online.
That sounds cool. My son keeps talking about how great gesso is. He is using it in art class. I had never heard of it.
Yummy, I can deal with third place too!
Definitely chocolate! It is the fifth food group, right?!?!
chocolcate chocolcate chip ice cream
the idea of going to this with my kids brings tears to my eyes. One of my favorite childhood memories is my mom taking me to see this in New York City! the huge christmas tree, the smells of delicious hotdogs and pretzels on the streets, cold weather and special day with mom - would love to share such a trip with my own kids.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm... chocolate fudge!
My choice would be C. Icecream with caramel and nuts. Ben and Jerry's should invent a flavor called Nutcracker! I know it would be hummy.
ice cream! Rocky Road is my favorite but Mint Chocolate Chip is great this time of year.
Chocolate by far. Love it, eat it all the time, and YES it shows :)
We haven't seen this yet. Only the Care Bears version. That was great though. I think it would be better to see the ballet.
Where do you find nutcrackers at? My kids would love to get one in their stockings
Lots and lots of chocolate!!!!! Especially cake and ice cream! Yummy!
In the land of sweets, I would have a street with just hard candy, one street for soft candy (like cotten candy). Getting fat just thinking about it!!!
Rocky road is also my favorite. I do not believe white chocolate is real chocolate. I'm sorry, I can''t get off my anti-white choclolate soapbox.
The funniest part about this contest is this: everyone in my family would love to see The Nutcracker except for my oldest daughter, who is not into the ballet at all.....she will be 13 on.....Dec 28th. HAHA. What a wonderful birthday present. That would be HILARIOUS!
I would love cakes, cookies and pastries.
My homemade Christmas cookies - they're the best!
E. All of the above and more
That is funny, but I bet a thirteen yr old won't laugh as hard as we do!
What kind of Christmas cookies do you make. I make some that are chocolate with peppermint on top. They use Philly cream cheese and are really great.
Definitely, cookies, cakes, pastries, pies...if it's baked, it belongs in my Land! As a girl, I always envied Clara her trip. Especially when she got to the bon bons. *g* But her journey was sadly lacking in baked goods. No, I don't count the gingerbread kids they have added to the Carolina Ballet version!
I have an awesome recipe for rumballs. They are so easy and good. I think I just talked myself into whipping up a batch.
Yes, you're right-my 13 yr old would NOT find the humor in it!:-)
My land of sweets would include B - cakes/cookies/pastries. Warm gooey chocolate chip cookies or chocolate cake with chocolate icing and vanilla ice cream. MMMMMMM I would need a fountain of milk to go with all of this though! LOL! W
I wish there was this much interaction on all the forums!
B. Cakes, cookies, pastries
Definitely, cakes, cookies and pastries! No two ever taste alike... YUM! I think it's time to start baking some HOLIDAY COOKIES!!!
My Candy Land would be filled with all of the sweets listed above and more. It would have to have almost every type of candy and sweet that I could name. :)
I love the gingerbread house idea, and letting the kids have some friends over to decorate!
Although Chocolate and raspberry are definitely my favorites too! White chocolate with raspberry!
I think I need to go out and get myself one of those chocolate fountains!
One of our favorite things to do around the holidays is make chocolate lollipops out of the molds.. The kids have so much fun doing this, and they get to decorate them too! It's hard to wait for them to cool! YUM
E. Chocolate fondue fountains, or a Willy Wonka river of chocolate. Lotsa lotsa chocolate. And of course every other sweet imaginable. Including those with cream cheese fillings!
I would have to say my candy land would be filled with chocolate! I love chocolate so much that I eat it every day! I guess you can tell I am not a health fanatic.
I'd choose all of the above and more. Wouldn't it be amazing to walk around in a Land Of Sweets. Candies you haven't seen since your childhood, candy you've grown to love, sweets you never stopped wanting, things you craved during each pregnancy. Each new discovery would unlock another memory. Every path you take would open a window to a different part of your life. Very sensory and very delicious! And I heard, calories don't count in the Land of Sweets! ;0)
Nothing spells comfort food like chocolate!
CHOCOLATE, of course!!!!
E. All the above and more...this would be heaven for a kid and some adults!!!
E. All of the above, I'm genetically engineered to like all types of sweets.
This contest is now closed.
Definitely chocolate - and I just received the email about this at 11:07 am - so perhaps a 12 noon deadline was a bit extreme. Can I please have a chance at the tickets?