Move Over Miss America, There's A New Crown In Town And Her Name Is Mrs. Holiday

NEW YORK, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As we sit here wedged between Mother's Day and Father's Day, 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% of total supermarket food sales in the U.S.*

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There are more than 65 million fans of Taste of Home magazine, its iPad edition, website, books, and special interest publications. They count on Taste of Home to be their go-to resource for the holidays.  For example, website traffic at TasteofHome.com increases by 25%-40% before every holiday.  Geared up with recipes and ideas, these women head right to retail to start their holiday food shopping.

Recognizing the enormity of the holidays to peoples' personal lives and the U.S. economy, Taste of Home has begun a nationwide search on Facebook.com/TasteofHome to identify candidates for the position of Mrs. Holiday, a spokesperson role at the company, which includes 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 Facebook.com/TasteofHome 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. The full entry rules and instructions are provided at Facebook.com/TasteofHome.  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 at Facebook.com/TasteofHome starting on June 4 and ending on 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.

About Taste of Home
Taste of Home is America's connection to the personal recipes of people who like to cook at home as a way to bring family and friends together, particularly at the holidays. Each year, thousands of people from across the United States and Canada submit more than 40,000 recipes, of which 3,000 are published. Every recipe that is published is carefully evaluated and selected by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, which ensures that it can be prepared with affordable, everyday ingredients. Taste of Home content is available in print; online at Tasteofhome.com; in books; via digital download on iPad, mobile apps and Kindle; and Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Obtain a subscription at www.TasteofHome.com or on your favorite digital download device.

About Reader's Digest North America
Reader's Digest North America comprises operations for Reader's Digest Association in the United States and Canada.  It is at the core of the strategy to expand RDA owned and operated brands, including Master Brands Reader's Digest, Taste of Home and The Family Handyman, and Enthusiast Brands Birds & Blooms, Farm & Ranch Living, Country, Country Woman and Reminisce, across multiple media platforms to provide consumers content when they want it, where they want it, to expand its Master Brands geographically, and to increase partnership opportunities. Reader's Digest North America reaches consumers through its various print and digital magazines, websites and social media outlets, books and home entertainment products. Further information can be found at www.rda.com.

* Based on IBISWORLD special report August 2010

Related Links:
Audition on Facebook to be Taste of Home's new Mrs. Holiday.
Taste of Home is the go-to holiday resource for people who cook at home for their families and friends.

Media Contact:

Gary Davis
Reader's Digest North America
646-293-6206
Cell: 917-379-9351
[email protected]

SOURCE Taste of Home