There is still plenty of time to get your recipes in for the Leader Holiday Recipe Contest. Those who enter have the chance to win cash prizes and lots of glory.
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.
Judges will choose the top recipe in each category for a $50 cash prize. Then, 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 in Hillsboro, and diners that evening will vote for their favorite of the five dishes.
The overall winner will receive an additional $250.
“We’re looking for family favorites, recipes that are handed down and that have a history,” Leader publisher Peggy Scott said. “Anyone can find recipes on the internet; we want the ones that are handwritten on an index card that is stained and dog-eared from being used so much.”
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. The deadline to enter 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.
The winning recipes and as many more as space permits will be published in a Holiday Gift Guide special section in the Dec. 8 issue of the paper.
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.
Tickets for the dinner are scheduled to go on sale beginning Nov. 1 in person and online.
For more information about the contest or the Holiday Dinner, call the Leader at 636-931-7560.