The best original cranberry recipe of the year will soon be revealed.

The third annual "Make it Better with Cranberries" cooking contest — sponsored by the A.D. Makepeace Company, the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, Trucchi's Supermarkets and "editbleSouthShore" magazine — began Saturday, Nov. 19 when entries were dropped off at Tihonet Village Market or Trucchi's Supermarket in Taunton.

Judges gathered at Tihonet Village Market on Saturday afternoon where they sampled and graded each of the entries, rating them on a scale from 1 to 10.

All the recipes submitted had to include at least one cranberry product. Entries were judged by about 15 taste-testers in the areas of appearance, overall flavor, texture, creativity, ease of preparing, and cranberry flavor.

The submitted dishes ranged from breads to entrees, such as chicken salad with cranberries, to a wide variety of desserts. Jams, salsas, and even a cranberry barbecue sauce were submitted.

Dee Vicino, who was serving her second year as a judge, said that she was never big on cranberries until the tasting last year, but now she's a fan.

"It's fun and interesting to see what people will do with [the cranberries]," she said, adding that she couldn't pick a particular favorite, but in her top three were an orange and cranberry scone, a cranberry rugelach (a type of Jewish pastry), and the cranberry barbecue sauce.

Kim Houdlette, Manager of Agricultural Diversification for the A.D. Makepeace Company, said the entry turnout was just under 50 recipes, which is comparable to the past two contests.

Ann Trucchi Condon, CFO for Trucchi's Supermarkets, has not only worked in organizing the event with Houdlette for the past three years, but also helps judge the entries. She said she can't really remember a distinct favorite out of all the entries, but one dish in-particular stuck out in her mind.

"Last year someone submitted cranberry empanadas," Condon said. She couldn't remember if the dish placed in the contest, but the creativity made it memorable to her.

First-, second-, and third-place winners will be selected for both the adult and youth (ages 8 to 16) categories after the votes are tallied and research is done to prove that each of the recipes is original. Houdlette said that in the past they've had to disqualify some entries because they were copied from cookbooks.

First-place winners will receive a $200 shopping spree at Trucchi's and second-place winners will receive a $50 Tihonet Village Market gift certificate. The third-place adult winner will receive a one-year subscription to "edibleSouthshore," while the third-place youth winner will receive a $25 Visa gift card. Most of the submitted entries will be featured in the 2012 edition of the "Make it Better with Cranberries Cookbook." The winning entries will be highlighted.