A Christmas giveaway - Italian Christmas box from Mediterranean Direct (c/d 25 November 2011 NOW CLOSED)

Image credit - Mediterranean Direct

I was searching recently for an Italian hamper to send as a gift to my friend's 80th birthday, and was pleased to discover a company called Mediterranean Direct. My friend was delighted with her gift. She is quite a foodie and enjoys exploring new flavours.

Mediterranean Direct is a company specialising in Italian food and wine, their online store has a selection of over 500 foods from Italy, quite a choice. So many temptations!

As Christmas is rapidly approaching, I decided to do a pre-Christmas giveaway.

A winner will receive an Italian Christmas box.

A simple but tasty collection of sweet and savoury Italian goods presented in a decorative Christmas Box. A nice way to say thank you or Merry Christmas.
Handwrapped Mini-Panettone from Sicily with Christmas Toy (100g) - This is no ordinary Panettone and you will not find this quality in the supermarket. Fiasconaro follow traditional receipes including the use of delicious Sicilian fruit and a leavening process that ensures a light and moist texture. We think this is the best panettone we've ever tasted! On top of this it's beautifully wrapped and comes with a cute Christmas toy.
Cannellini Beans from Puglia (360g) - Canellini Beans are the traditional cooking ingredient for Le Cassoulet in France but they are loved in Italy all the same. Excellent in hearty tomato-based winter sauces but equally at home in chunky pasta or a salad drizzled with olive oil and black pepper. In short a great item for the store cupboard.
Classic Almond Cantuccini with extra Almonds from Tuscany in Gift Box (100g) - Produced at the Belli family biscottificio (biscuit factory) following traditional recipes. Signore Belli's rule is: No skimping on ingredients!. There are plenty of shortcuts producers can take but you won't find any of them here. Absolutely delicious! Serve with coffee or Vin Santo.
Arrabbiata(Spicy) Sauce (370g) - quality Italian tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil from Puglia and Calabrian chillis are used to make this tasty and spicy Arrabbiata sauce. Perfect for serving with Penne pasta on its own or can be used as a base, e.g. add tuna or salami.
Penne Rigate Pasta (500g) - a classic and popular Italian pasta translated as grooved quills because of their diagonally cut ends. It binds and holds the sauces in its ridges. Perfect partner for the aforementioned Arrabbiata.
Organic Conchiglie Pasta (500g) - these organic pasta shells are made from high qulaity durum wheat from the Montebello organic farm in Umbria. They will also work well the Arrabbiata as the sauce fills the shells. The pasta is dried slowly at low temperatures to keep all its nutrients and goodness.

I will have a delivery arranged straight to the winner.
To be entered in the draw please follow two simple steps:
1. Answer the question
2. Leave a comment on any other post.
Only people who will do both steps will be entered in the draw. I love reading comments, so please indulge me, you can choose any old-er post to leave a comment.

You do not have to follow my blog to be entered in the draw. If you decide to follow my blog, I will be thrilled, of course.

And the question is: what are your family Christmas traditions? If you do not have any particular Christmas traditions, tell me what do you love most about Christmas.

P.S. this is not a sponsored post, I will pay for the little hamper myself.

Good luck, everyone! The draw will be closed on 25 November, in good time for it to be delivered to the winner's address before Christmas.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The day has arrived to pick the winner of the giveaway. My baby boy is 16 months old today, not a baby anymore. I celebrate this event by giving away a little Christmas gift that I know I would have enjoyed myself.
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who entered and left comments. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about your family traditions, some made me smile, some made me think that I would like to introduce something similar in my family, so thanks again for all ideas and suggestions!

Now back to business. Going back to my draw, I asked people to leave two comments to be entered in the draw (one about Christmas, and another comment on any other post. I hoped it was clear enough from my post that this would be a requirement for the entry. Sadly, about a quarter of all entrants only left one comment. To be fair to all those who did both steps, I made a long list of everyone who commented and ticked off those who did two steps, and their names were put in the Raffleking). I did not make any judging on the merit of comments, all those who qualified, were entered.

And the winner is.... please a round of applause

ASPIE IN THE FAMILY

I will get in touch with you regarding your details and will pass them onto the Mediterranean Direct company to send your prize. I hope you will enjoy the Italian treats.

Thanks again to all the entrants! And watch this space. I will be doing another giveaway in January.