Sharing simple pleasures with our readership

One of the simplest ... and sweetest ... pleasures of life is the exquisite taste of food prepared specially, and lovingly, by friends, family members and co-workers.

With that in mind, the staff of the McCook Daily Gazette today joins in presenting "A Holiday Recipe Guide."

Twenty six Gazette employees and their husbands and wives contributed recipes ranging all the way from "Mile High Biscuits" on page two to "Venison Steaks Stroganoff" on page 18.

In between there are a taste-tempting assortment of recipes for cookies, candies, cakes, desserts, meat dishes, snacks and veggies.

"Buzzy Bee Peanut Butter Balls," "Peach Goop," "Orange Chocolate Meltaways," "Almond Bark Popcorn" and "Turkey Jerky" are among the intriguing offerings. "My mouth was watering when I was typing the recipes," said Connie Jo Discoe, the Gazette's news editor and recipe guru.

"Connie and Penny Johnson, an advertising sales consultant, joined to come up with the idea for the Holiday Recipe Guide, which ended up being filled with 173 recipes.

"We've done a number of recipe contests in the past," Connie said, "but this time we decided to give readers a break and call on the newspaper staff for the recipe ideas."

"Don't worry, though. We'll be having another recipe contest soon," she said.

The Gazette is grateful to Penny Cooper, a former newspaper employee, for sharing a pre-Christmas photo of her nephews, Andrew and Devin Murphy.

The youngsters, who are from Burlington, Colo., are featured with gingerbread men cookies in a color photograph on the front cover of the recipe guide. Their beaming smiles are an excellent expression of the joy and anticipation all of us feel as we look forward to the delicious eating that awaits us during the holiday season.

Enjoy! 'Tis the season to share joy and love. Delicious food, specially prepared for those we treasure, is an excellent way to do that.

While you're cooking up holiday delights, remember to set aside your favorite recipes. The Gazette will be sponsoring another recipe contest in the not too distant future.