Taste of Home Magazine Seeks "Mrs. Holiday"

It’s pretty clear that America loves the holidays.

According to independent market research, more than $80 billion is spent annually on food during holidays. That represents about 15 percent of total supermarket food sales in the U.S.

Recognizing the enormity of the holidays to peoples’ personal lives and the U.S. economy, Taste of Home has begun a nationwide search to identify candidates for the position of "Mrs. Holiday." The title will include a spokesperson role with Taste of Home magazine and a $50,000 payment.

“Mrs. Holiday will be a new type of pageant queen,” said Taste of Home editor-in-chief Catherine Cassidy. “She’s an advocate, an ambassador and an inspiration who cooks for her family to bring everyone around the table at the holidays. She’s got memorable recipes combined with a celebration attitude.”

To audition for the role of Mrs. Holiday, women age 18 or older must visit the magazine's Facebook page to enter a virtual pageant. There they can submit a video entry of no more than two minutes to show/tell us how they bring the holidays to life and convince us why they should be Taste of Home's Mrs. Holiday. They also should submit a signature holiday recipe in 200 words or less.  

All entries will receive a free chocolate chip cookie recipe as a thank you for auditioning.

Unlike the Miss America pageant, consumers will have a hand in picking Mrs. Holiday by voting for their favorite entrant online through September 7. Mrs. Holiday will be selected from among the top 100 vote getters by a panel of experts.

Once officially crowned, Mrs. Holiday will be available to conduct interviews, cooking segments and blogging, as well as to make appearances across the country at retailers and some of the more than 300 Taste of Home cooking schools.

The full entry rules and instructions are provided on the Taste of Home Facebook page.