Put cranberries and your culinary skills to work! The A.D. Makepeace Company, the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, and edibleSouthShore magazine are gearing up for the 3rd annual Make it Better with Cranberries Cooking Contest.

Yolanda Lodi, Rock Village Publishing author and editor of the Make it Better with Cranberries cookbooks, was on-hand at Tihonet Village Market on Saturday, September 24 to sign copies of the books and to recruit and offer recipe-writing advice to potential contest participants.

"You've got a lot of cooks out there who cook from memory. ... They may not feel comfortable writing their recipes down," Lodi noted.

The 2011 cookbook featured 43 recipes from local culinarians.

"And we're shooting for a lot more this year!" said Lodi, who has written five cookbooks of her own.

The Make it Better with Cranberries contest was founded by cranberry growers Gerry and Clark Griffith and held during the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association cranberry festival.

After that cranberry festival ceased, A.D. Makepeace attempted to incorporate the contest into its Cranberry Harvest Celebration, which it hosts annually in October in conjunction with the growers' association.

"But it was too early in the season for fresh cranberries," said Kim Houdlette, director of events and agricultural tourism for A.D. Makepeace.

In fall 2009, A.D. Makepeace, the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, and Trucchi's Supermarkets teamed up for the new incarnation of the contest.

Chefs and bakers drop off a sample of their cranberry creations at either Tihonet Village Market or Trucchi's, the entries are judged, and first-, second-, and third-place winners are awarded prizes.

A selection of submitted recipes then appear in a cookbook published the following winter. All proceeds from cookbook sales are donated to the Cranberry Education Foundation.

Entries are judged on appearance, overall flavor, creativity, ease of preparing, and cranberry flavor.

This year, entries will be accepted on Saturday, November 19, at Tihonet Village Market on Tihonet Road in Wareham from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at Trucchi's Supermarket on County Street in Taunton from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

First-, second-, and third-place winners will be selected in two categories: Adult and student/youth (ages eight to 16).

First-place winners will be awarded a $200 shopping spree at Trucchi's and second-place winners will receive a $50 Tihonet Village Market gift certificate. The third-place winner in the adult category will receive a one-year subscription to edibleSouthShore, while the third-place youth winner will receive a $25 Visa gift card.

Contestants may submit a photograph of their finished product for potential use in the cookbook by e-mailing Kim Houdlette at khoudlette@admakepeace.com.

Lodi encourages participants to submit short, one-to-two sentence blurbs about their recipe.

"If you have a little tidbit about the recipe, it adds another dimension to the cookbook," Lodi said.

One particular tidbit stood out in Lodi's mind. Last year's second-place winners, members of Wareham Girl Scouts Junior Troop 81794, pointed out that their Zesty, Zingy Cranberry Bread helped feed the homeless here in Wareham.

Lodi also suggests that contestants list ingredients in the order that they're going to use them and make sure to address each ingredient in clearly-described directions.

Using a can of cranberry sauce or a bag of frozen cranberries or a similarly variable ingredient? Make sure to write what size or weight you're using!

Make it Better with Cranberries Cooking Contest entry forms can be picked up at Tihonet Village Market, 146 Tihonet Road. For more information about A.D. Makepeace and the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, visit www.admakepeace.com and www.cranberries.org.