A look back at a popular annual recipe contest.
It seemed like a good idea: Run a recipe contest that combines people’s love of food with Nevadans’ urge to gamble and win, and you have the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Holiday Cookbook Recipe Contest. For many years, after it began in 1978, it proved to be a popular end-of-year tradition.
From the viewpoint of 2023, it’s interesting to see how the worlds of food and technology have changed, making these contests all but obsolete. The Gazette’s event started in pre-Internet times and before the plethora of cooking shows. The home cook had limited access to recipes, with the main source of inspiration coming from cookbooks or exchanges with friends and family. Recipe contests became an exciting way for many home cooks to jazz up meals.
Contests Grew
In 1978, the two local papers, Reno Gazette and Nevada State Journal (they eventually merged in 1983) combined their efforts to produce the first contest. The competition was designed with four categories (appetizers, salads, main dishes, and desserts/pastries). The submissions were first reviewed by food columnists Liz Hill and June Broili, but the final cash prizes were awarded by a panel of professional chefs. Judging was based on originality, unusual or uncommon combinations of ingredients, holiday themes, and ease of preparation. Prizes were minor by today’s standards, ranging from $15 to $50.
There were 200 entries received that first year. Staff writer Corinne Clifton noted that holiday and international recipes stood out among contest winners. Many were passed from generation to generation. A third-place winner in the dessert category caught my eye: Submitted by Trudy Lanning, it was an Italian cream pie, adapted from a recipe from her Bohemian grandmother. Despite comments in the paper saying, “We’re cooking up something spicy,” recipes included once-common staples such as Jell-O and ambrosia salad.
Community participation grew in 1979, with 300 entries. The next year, promotional efforts encouraged more locals to compete: “If you have a special holiday-oriented recipe you’re proud of, why not show it off? Cooks’ labors deserve some attention and appreciation.”
The contest tapped into the home cook’s desire to share recipes and harness a small moment of fame. At its peak in 1981, the newspaper received more than 700 entries, and enthusiasm remained strong, with about 500 entries in 1984.
The contest trailed off by the 1990s, mostly due to the staff efforts required to manage it. As Sandra Macias, former Gazette food writer (and a frequent edible Reno-Tahoe contributor who wrote this issue’s cover story!), pointed out, “It was a big deal. It was a lot of work. We pre-selected recipes for the chefs, produced the certificates for the entrants, and then we had the cleanup. We had our own work to do gathering the news.”
Resurrected as a Cookie Contest
Contest fever didn’t cool for long. By 1998, the newspaper encouraged readers to break out their mixing bowls and dust off recipes for a Christmas cookie contest. Categories were: Best Appearance, Best-Tasting Sugar Cookie, Best Gingerbread Cookie, and Best-Tasting Heart-Healthy Cookie. The top winner, among 50 entries, was Cindy Etcheverry, for her Christmas Star Flakes.
The Gazette continued to experiment, some years focusing on cookies and others on different food categories. The contest in 2013 was co-sponsored by Scolari’s and RC Willey.
“You could hear the moans … of pleasure as folk sampled the potato pierogi crafted by Beverly Coberly of Reno,” read a follow-up article by staff writer Johnathan Wright. “In some years, entries to Food & Drink’s annual holiday cookie contest begin as a trickle, a holiday box or two, then grow into a steady flow of GladWare, colorful tins, and other containers as the deadline approaches.” Coberly’s dish won out of nearly 150 other entries.
Technology may have dealt the final blow to the contests. In 2014, when recipes had to be submitted via Instagram, entries plummeted to only 50.
Macias notes, “It was great when we were a great little town.” But as the local newspaper reduced its staff, managing a contest became impossible. Now the home cook can be inspired by an Internet search yielding a flood of recipes. The only ingredient missing is quaintness and the personal touch.
Sharon Honig-Bear was the longtime restaurant writer for the Reno Gazette-Journal. She is a tour leader with Historic Reno Preservation Society and a supporter of all things cultural and historic. She can be reached at Sharonbear@sbcglobal.net.
