Walkers Shortbread Recipe Challenge & Walkers Shortbread GIVEAWAY!(CLOSED)

It's here! It's here! I can finally talk to you guys about the Walkers Shortbread Recipe Challenge I participated in(and won :P) last Monday! Basically, 8 food bloggers were contacted and asked to develop recipes using Walkers Shortbread. We started this whole thing last fall, but due to weather complications we ended up having the event in February. We all had to make desserts that fell into one of these categories: cake, pie, tart, custard, pudding, or trifle. Then they were judged on taste, appearance, creativity, level of difficulty, and overall impression. Highest overall score=winner. Anyway, all us bloggers arrived at the NASFT headquarters, bringing 2 of each of our dishes (1 for judges, 1 for us all to try).

It was super cool. There was Walkers swag everywhere. Important looking people wandering around. And all of us food bloggers ogling the goodies, and eating some of the food they provided.

And of course, I got to hang out with Susan and Mallory (Girl in the Little Red Kitchen and Total Noms, respectively). As you can see, we were pretty much attached at the hip all day. It was so fun!

And then we have the desserts!! In the middle is each of us bloggers holding our dessert, and I actually made the photos of the desserts somewhat correspond with where they're standing in the photo. Here are links to each recipe on their blogs:
Top left dessert/girl on far left: Jessie of Cakespy's Salted Vanilla Butterscotch Shortbread Bars
Mid-left dessert/girl 2nd from left: Mallory of Total Noms' Meyer Lemon Tart with Raspberry-Thyme Sauce
Bottom left dessert/3rd girl from left: Serena of Big Apple Nosh's Hazelnut Banoffee Tartlets with Walkers Shortbread
Top middle dessert/left middle girl: ME and my Vanilla & Honey Shortbread Pie
Bottom middle dessert/right middle girl: Alejandra of Always Order Dessert's Chocolate Pear Custard Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust
Top right dessert/3rd girl from right: Emily of nomnivorous' Toasty, Tipsy Banana Cream Pie
Mid-right dessert/2nd girl from right: Esther of Ambitious Deliciousness' Fluffy Japanese Green Tea Cheesecake
Bottom right dessert/girl on far right: Susan of Girl in the Little Red Kitchen's Meyer Lemon Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

Um, yeah, can we talk about how gorgeous all those girls and their desserts are! So amazing. I was completely in awe of all of them.

But I'm a picky eater, as y'all know, so here's my plate of stuff to eat  :)

Our gorgeous judges and the judging table. We were lucky enough to have (from left to right) Corina Elgart (season 1 of TLC's Next Great Baker and owner of specialty cake shop, "Taste"), Denise Purcell (Editor for Specialty Foods Magazine), and Eva Meszaros (Associate Editor of Specialty Food Media.)

As you guys already know, the judges made their decision and by some strange twist of fate I was the winner. I was so stunned, look at how much I'm blushing here (also holding $500...that contributed to the grin)!

Walkers Shortbread Brand Manager, Lisa Sherman, posed with me and the 2nd (Alejandra) and 3rd place (Esther and Emily) winners. Such awesome ladies!

Posing with my pie :)

I am so thrilled about the win, in addition to the money (and a basket I'm GIVING AWAY to you guys, keep reading) I also won 2 tickets to the Summer Fancy Food Show here in NYC! Yay! Also, if you guys are interested in seeing more photos from the event, you can check out some on SmugMug.

Some photos of our super gorgeous program and the amazing gift bags all of us bloggers (and judges) got to take home! A big thank you to Walkers Shortbread along with Stonewall Kitchen, Twinings, Bonne Maman,  and Lake Champlain Chocolates for the deliciousness we found in our gift bags!

I loved the bio they wrote for me, super cute :)

I also feel like, in case you live under a rock and aren't familiar with Walkers Shortbread, I should give you some info on them: Founded in 1898, they're the leading brand of food exported from Scotland-they offer the widest range of shortbread, traditional cookies, cakes, oatcakes, and puddings to over 80 different countries AND they still operate their original retail shop in the Scottish Highlands (the village of Aberlour). Their products contain no artificial flavorings, colorings, or additives (which is super important to me!) and all the cookies/biscuits are certified kosher OUD. If you guys want even more info check out their site www.walkersus.com! 

And now....

WALKERS SHORTBREAD GIVEAWAY!

(CLOSED)

The winner is Cindy Brickley! Congratulations!

One Cooking Actress reader will win a Walkers Shortbread Highland Basket, this basket includes:

5.3 oz. Fingers, 5.3 oz. Orange Viennese, 4.5 oz. Keepsake Tin, 8.5 oz. Path to the Hills Tin, 5.3 oz. Petticoat Tails, 10.6 oz. Which Hand Tin, 5.3 oz. Triangles, 5.3 oz. Vanilla Shortbread, 8.8 oz. Scottish Cookie Selection.

Giveaway closes March 1, 2013, 12 AM EST.  After the contest is over, I will send the winner an email (so please make sure you provide an email address or some other way to get in touch with you), and obtain shipping information (we do not share this information with anyone). The winner will have 3 days to respond or another winner will be chosen, all prizes will be awarded. The winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Open to U.S. residents over the age of 18. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. 

How to enter: (REQUIRED FOR ENTRY IN THIS GIVEAWAY) 

Leave a comment telling me how you'd use all that shortbread (recipe links encouraged)!

Additional (optional) entries: (you will receive one additional entry for each of the following--so if you leave a comment for all of them, you can have a total of up to 8 entries/chances to win!) MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY-these entries are optional, not required.

• "Like" The Cooking Actress on Facebook-leave a comment on this post to let me know you did so.
• Follow The Cooking Actress on Pinterest-and leave a separate comment letting me know. 
• Follow The Cooking Actress by email (look to the right of this post to find it)-leave another comment.
• Follow me on Twitter @kayleblogna-leave a separate comment on here to tell me.
• Follow Walkers Shortbread on Pinterest-leave a comment on here letting me know.
• Follow Walkers Shortbread on Twitter @Shortbread-leave me another comment.
• Tweet this about the giveaway: Enter to win #FREE @Shortbread #giftbasket from The Cooking Actress @kayleblogna http://bit.ly/YAsihR #giveaway #walkersshortbread

**If you already like/follow any of these, it still counts. Just let me know you already follow each in separate comments**

Disclaimer: Walkers Shortbread  provided me with  product (to develop a recipe for a recipe challenge), and I was under no obligation to provide a positive review.  My opinions, as always, are all my own. As the winner of the challenge, I was also awarded additional prizes.We are not liable for technical failures or typographical errors, or resolving identity disputes related to the winner.VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW