Holiday Helper Tips From Dunkin' Donuts® Coffee at Grocery

How to make holiday entertaining easy

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Dec 20, 2011, 09:30 ET

ORRVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With the holiday season in full swing, Dunkin' Donuts® packaged coffee, available where you buy groceries, has partnered with entertaining expert Jeanne Benedict to brew up some essential tips to help you entertain family and friends. Available in a variety of delicious flavors and sizes, Dunkin' Donuts® packaged coffee can be enjoyed anytime at home – before, during, or after your meal.

Jeanne Benedict, lifestyle author of popular books including Sophisticated Entertaining and Celebrations, shares these twelve tips to make holiday entertaining easy:

Last-Minute Gifts. Find last-minute gifts while grocery shopping. Look to your favorite aisles for inspiration. For example, a bag of Dunkin' Donuts packaged coffee makes a great stocking stuffer or hostess gift when paired with a holiday themed mug.

Lights Out? Stock up on all the holiday lighting essentials. Keep a supply of extra light bulbs in a variety of sizes for your house and both indoor and outdoor strings of holiday lights. Also include surge protectors, extension cords and power strips. Between your holiday lights, decorations, and visiting friends, the last thing you need is to blow a fuse.

Unexpected Guests. Create an instant party by brewing up a pot of Dunkin' Donuts packaged coffee for friends and family. It is available in your grocery store and comes in all the varieties your friends and family love.

Writing Thank You Notes. Get a jump on thanking folks like teachers, party hosts, and gift-givers by printing out a bunch of holiday thank-you cards ahead of time, which can usually be found for free by searching online.

Create a Quick Holiday Atmosphere. Pick up a new set of votive candles and glass holders for instant and elegant holiday atmosphere. (And, a little water in the bottom of the candleholder will help prevent melted wax from sticking to the glass).

Give Your Kitchen a Simple Holiday Feel. Incorporate a few seasonal items like snowman oven mitts or reindeer dish towels.

Low-Cost Holiday Touches. Freeze cranberries, fresh mint, or citrus twists in ice cubes to add a hint of seasonal flavor to beverages when unexpected guests drop by.

Keep the Kids Occupied. Be sure to have plenty of frozen sugar cookie dough on hand along with holiday sprinkles and cookie cutters as a last minute baking activity for parents and kids.

Keep Homemade Holiday Cookies Crisp. Put crumpled wax paper in the bottom of the cookie jar so the air can circulate and prevent them from becoming soggy.

Keep the Adults Occupied. For easy group entertainment, make sure you have a selection of classic board games on hand and take a minute now to make sure all the playing pieces are intact, cards are accounted for and pencils are sharpened.

Contain the Spills and Thrills. Have a stain stick handy for the inevitable table mishaps. No one wants a family photo with a big stain on their holiday sweater!

Coffee to Compost. Reuse and recycle. After you brew some coffee, add the grounds to your composting efforts to help keep your garden green.

Browse the coffee aisle or find a store selling Dunkin' Donuts packaged coffee near you at www.dunkinathome.com.

About The J.M. Smucker Company

For more than 110 years, The J.M. Smucker Company has been committed to offering consumers quality products that bring families together to share memorable meals and moments. Today, Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of fruit spreads, retail packaged coffee, peanut butter, shortening and oils, ice cream toppings, sweetened condensed milk, and health and natural foods beverages in North America. Its family of brands includes Smucker's®, Folgers®, Dunkin' Donuts®, Jif®, Crisco®, Pillsbury®, Eagle Brand®, R.W. Knudsen Family®, Hungry Jack®, Cafe Bustelo®, Cafe Pilon™, White Lily® and Martha White® in the United States, along with Robin Hood®, Five Roses®, Carnation® and Bick's® in Canada. The Company remains rooted in the Basic Beliefs of Quality, People, Ethics, Growth and Independence established by its founder and namesake more than a century ago. The Company has appeared on FORTUNE Magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States 13 times, ranking number one in 2004. For more information about the Company, visit www.smuckers.com.

The J.M. Smucker Company is the owner of all trademarks, except Pillsbury, the Barrelhead logo and the Doughboy character are trademarks of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license; Carnation is a trademark of Societe des Produits Nestle S.A., used under license; and Dunkin' Donuts is a registered trademark of DD IP Holder, LLC, used under license. Borden and Elsie are trademarks used under license.

CONTACT: Megan Ferries
RF|Binder for The J.M. Smucker Company
212 994 7572
[email protected]

SOURCE The J.M. Smucker Company