It’s time to dust off those holiday cookbooks and dive in, because the Leader Holiday Recipe Contest is now accepting entries.
“Here in the Leader office, a lot of us use recipes we’ve gotten from this contest over the years all the time. They’ve become family favorites,” Leader publisher Peggy Scott said. “We’re eager to see what this year’s crop of recipes will bring.”
The contest is open to home cooks of any age throughout Jefferson County and Eureka. There are five categories: appetizer, soup, salad, side dish and dessert.
Readers are welcome to submit a recipe in any or all the categories, up to a maximum of five entries per reader. The deadline for submitting recipes is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11.
To be eligible for the contest, entries must include the following information:
■ The submitter’s full name and address.
■ A daytime telephone number.
■ Complete instructions for the recipe.
■ The category in which the recipe is submitted.
■ Any information about where the recipe came from and why it’s special.
Judges will choose the top recipe in each category to win $50 cash. Those five recipes will be prepared and served at the Leader Holiday Dinner, set for Friday, Dec. 16, in the Field House at Jefferson College.
Diners that evening will vote for their favorite of the five dishes, and that winner will receive an additional $250.
Recipes that are family favorites, that use ingredients in novel ways or that have a history or story attached are preferred. Recipes taken directly from websites or cooking shows will not score well.
Since its inception in 2014, the dinner, a collaboration between the college and Leader Publications, has raised more than $15,000 for the Jefferson College Foundation. The money is typically used to send students to culinary competitions across the region.
“After two years of not being able to have it because of COVID, I think people are eager to get back to this event,” Scott said. “It’s always a lot of fun, and it’s great to be able to collaborate with the college and raise money for the students.”
The winning recipes and as many more as space permits will be published in a Holiday Recipe and Gift Guide special section in the Dec. 8 issue of the paper.
Recipes may be submitted by email at news@leaderpublications.biz; by mail at P.O. Box 159, Festus, 63028; or in person at 503 N. Second in Festus.
Tickets for the dinner, $25 each, are scheduled to go on sale beginning Nov. 1. VIP tickets, $40 each, add a pre-dinner reception with wine and hors d’ouvres.
For more information about the contest, call the Leader at 636-931-7560.