We Have a Winner! Meghan Smith CD Giveaway

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And the winner for the Meaghan Smith It Snowed giveaway is – Liz who said her favourite christmas song is: “I love love love White Christmas. Originally, it was the version heard on the Home Alone soundtrack. Right now, though, I am seriously enjoy the Michael Buble version :D”

Congrats Liz! I’ll be sending you your prize tomorrow! Please contact me at courtneyraejones[at]gmail[dot]com to provide details on where you’d like your prize sent.

Please stay tuned for my next giveaway in early January! Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my first giveaway. It was a lot of fun! :)


Mini Peppermint Oreo Cheesecakes

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Wow, I cannot believe that we are only 2 weeks until Christmas Eve! December has flown by, and I’ve fallen behind on my Christmas baking! *hah* There have been so many other Christmas related things to do such as shopping, parties and Christmas movie watching! Oh man….Elf always makes me giggle. Normally, I have my tree up by December 1st, but that’s been put on hold as well. My focus this weekend will be to decorate the condo, put up the tree and catch up on some baking. I hope to make some gingerbread cookies and possibly some chocolate raspberry linzer cookies. How’s your Christmas baking coming along?

This week I organized my work Christmas lunch. We had our lunch at a fantastic restaurant in town called Pizzeria Gusto. The food was delicious!!! The best pizza crust in town by far. As a treat for everyone on my team, I made these mini cheesecakes and eggnog cupcakes (recipe to be posted on Sunday) for dessert. The mini cheesecakes were definitely the winning treat of the day. I was asked to share my recipe immediately by a few co-workers…so here we go! :) Hope you get the chance to enjoy these creamy & delicious minty mini cheesecakes this Christmas season.

Oh! And before I forget…please be sure to enter The Fig Tree‘s first giveaway (in honour of the Christmas season). Simply check out my post Merry Christmas with Music from Meaghan Smith & leave a comment about your favourite Christmas song. Draw will be on Wednesday, December 14th. Be sure to check back for the winner! :)
Ingredients
  • 42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos)
  • 2 pounds of cream cheese; at room temperature
  • 1 cup of granulated white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
  • 4 large eggs; at room temperature
  • 1 cup of sour cream
  • pinch of salt
  • garnish: peppermint chocolate christmas bark

Note: makes 30 mini cheesecakes

Peppermint chocolate christmas bark recipe to be posted this week!

Method

1. Preheat oven to 275’F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each cup.

2. Chop the remaining cookies coarsely and set aside.

3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Make sure the scrape the sides of the bowl down frequently to prevent lumps. Gradually add the sugar; beat until well combined. Beat in the peppermint extract.

4. Combine the eggs in a small bowl. Drizzle the eggs into the cream cheese mixture a bit a a time, beating to combine. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the sour cream and pinch of salt. 

5. Stir in the chopped cookies by hand.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set (about 22 minutes). The cheesecakes will be firm, but still jiggly. 

7. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate in tins at least 4 hours (or overnight) to allow the mini cheesecakes to set. Note: cheesecake is a form of custard and needs this time in the fridge to firm up, but stay creamy in the middle. Remove the cheesecakes from the tins right before serving. Garnish as desired. Peppermint bark worked really nicely with these mini cheesecakes.

Source: based on a recipe by Martha Stewart

A Merry Christmas with Music from Meaghan Smith

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I have something special for you – my lovely readers. Today I’ll be doing my first giveaway on The Fig Tree just in time for the Christmas baking season. I’ve been listening to this Meaghan Smith album (It Snowed) non-stop the past few weeks. It’s the perfect Christmas album to bake to. Perfect to play for Holiday dinner parties as well! The album is truly unique and a shining star amongst all of the Christmas albums out there. Meaghan has managed to take older Christmas tunes such as Silver Bells and turn it into something really special. Meaghan’s version of Silver Bells can actually be heard in the upcoming Christmas episode of The New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel. Many of Meaghan’s songs have a classic jazzy sound, but with an edge. She’s recreated Drummer Boy with a fun, youthful hip-hop beat. Her version of Christmas Time is Here (ie. from Charlie Brown Christmas) is so catchy and playful. And I have a soft spot for her version of Baby It’s Cold Outside, as she does a duet with one of my favourite musicians – Buck 65. The real gem of the album is the dreamy, wintery song – It Snowed. It’s guaranteed to put you in the Christmasy of moods!

Last weekend, I was lucky to attend a small, intimate concert here in town put on by Meghan Smith herself. She mainly played her fantastic Christmas songs, but also threw in some of her beautiful songs from her debut album The Cricket’s Orchestra. All of her songs were performed with husband (or as she calls him ‘her husBAND”). The two of them have such chemistry on stage. Meaghan has such a fun stage presence and is so charming. I highly recommend both of her albums – It Snowed and The Cricket’s Orchestra. Both albums are available on iTunes and in record stores throughout Canada. Her voice will truly knock your socks off. A true Canadian talent!

Also, be sure to check out Meaghan’s website for her upcoming tour schedule.

If you’d like to be entered into a draw to win this fantastic Christmas album, please leave a comment detailing your favourite Christmas song. I’ll be announcing a winner on Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Please check back on Wednesday to see if you’ve won! Note: Winner will be chosen at random. 

Cheers!