Countdown for Holiday Cookie Contest deadline at Star Tribune

The 16th annual Holiday Cookie Contest is just around the corner, so get your recipes entered soon to meet the Oct. 19 noon deadline. That's Friday, so get to work! We are fond of original recipes, but we also are interested in hand-me-down recipes you've made your own that originated via other sources, such as cookbooks or magazines or family favorites. And be sure to include with your entry the story behind the recipe because we love those as much as we do delicious cookies.

Send entries with your name, address, e-mail address and daytime phone number to taste@startribune.com (and write "Taste Holiday Cookie Contest" in the memo line). Or send them by mail to Taste Holiday Cookie Contest, Star Tribune, 650 3rd Av. S., Suite 1300, Minneapolis, MN 55488. There is a prize of a $200 gift card to a local cooking store for the best recipe. We will publish that one and four finalists on Nov. 29 in Taste. So get to baking. You can't win unless you enter!