Everybody has one: a favorite treat you find only at the holidays.

It might be your grandmother's fruitcake, your mother's divinity or your aunt's Christmas stollen that gives you your first taste of the holidays.

Whatever treat it is, the Southeast Missourian is looking for the recipe.

While it's still a little early for Thanksgiving and Christmas menu planning, the Southeast Missourian is already looking for some of the region's very best holiday baked goods to share with our readers.

The Southeast Missourian is sponsoring a "Holiday Best" baking contest that begins today.

Here's how it works

Entries can be submitted in four different categories, which include cookies, candies, breads and cakes, and sugar-free treats.

Recipes must be submitted on an 8 1/2-by-11 sheet of paper, typed or legibly handwritten. An entry form with contact information for the cook must accompany each recipe. The forms are printed on Page11A of today's Southeast Missourian.

Entries are limited to one per person in each category. You have until Nov. 8 to submit recipes.

A panel of judges will select 10 semifinalists who will be asked to bake the treat and bring it to the Southeast Missourian offices on Nov. 23 for final judging.

Winners will be announced Nov. 27 when the submitted recipes will be published.

Each semifinalist will receive a Holiday Best T-shirt, a certificate of participation and a one-month newspaper subscription. Four grandprize winners will receive a $50 grocery gift certificate, a three-month newspaper subscription and a framed certificate.