Recipes are pouring in for the 24th Annual TIMES NEWS Cookbook and Recipe Contest. The deadline is fast approaching, and you only have until midnight Saturday, March 12 to submit your original recipe for consideration in this year's contest, and for inclusion in our annual cookbook.

There are over $900 in prizes up for grabs, including grocery store and restaurant gift certificates. Everyone who submits a recipe will receive a TIMES NEWS pizza cutter.Categories for the 2011 cookbook include Appetizers, Casseroles, Desserts, Main Dishes, Salads & Sides, Sandwiches and Soups & Stews.Winners in each category will be notified by telephone on or before March 18, so be sure to include a daytime telephone number on each recipe submitted.Category winners will be required to bring their finished winning dish to the TIMES NEWS office in Mahoning Township, where our panel of judges will sample each entry to determine a grand prize winner.The seven top finishers will each receive a $50 grocery store gift card and a $50 restaurant gift card.In addition to the prizes awarded for winning first place in one of this year's categories, the grand prize winner will receive a $100 restaurant gift card and a $100 grocery store gift card.Each category winner will be featured in this year's cookbook with his or her recipe, a photograph and a brief biography.The cookbook will be included in the April 14 edition of the TIMES NEWS.Contest rulesTo enter, each original recipe should be neatly printed or typed on a single sheet of 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch paper, and must include the contestant's name, address and telephone number, as well as the category for the recipe, clearly marked at the top of the page.Entries will be judged for completeness, ease of preparation and duplication. In the event of a duplicate recipe, the one with the earliest postmark will be entered.Please note that we will accept only seven entries per household and the same recipe may not be entered in more than one category.Those who have won a prize in the recipe contest in any of the last two years may submit recipes for inclusion in the cookbook, but will not be eligible for a prize.Professional food preparers are not eligible to enter. Pencor and TIMES NEWS employees and their families may submit recipes for inclusion in the cookbook, but will not be eligible to win any prizes.Mail entries to the TIMES NEWS, P.O. Box 239, Lehighton, PA 18235, Attention Donna Hall; or e-mail recipes to

dhall@tnonline.com.