Pie-Palooza Recipe Contest Official Rules
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
1. SPONSORS: The Pie-Palooza Recipe Contest (“Contest”) is sponsored by Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., featuring Plugrà products (“Plugrà”), located at 300 S. Wacker Dr, Ste. 1450, Chicago, IL 60606 and RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC (“RDA”), the publisher of Taste of Home magazine, located at 1610 N. 2nd Street, Suite 102, Milwaukee, WI 53212.
2. ELIGIBILITY: This Contest is open to legal residents of, and physically residing in, one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are at least 18 years of age or the age of majority in the jurisdiction of their residence at the time of entry, whichever is older (collectively referred to herein as “Entrant” or “Entrants” or “you”). Employees of Sponsors, Ventura Associates International LLC (the “Contest Administrator”), and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, and advertising agencies involved in the implementation and execution of this Contest (collectively the “Contest Entities”), and their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouse) or members of the same household (whether related or not) are not eligible to enter or win. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law. All federal, state or local laws and regulations apply.
3. ENTRY PERIOD: Contest entries accepted between 12:00 am Eastern Time (“ET”) on August 6, 2026 and 11:59 pm ET on September 14, 2026 (the “Contest Entry Period”). RDA’s computer system is the official time keeping device for this Contest; and the awarding of any prize is subject to the eligibility and forfeiture provisions set forth herein.
4. HOW TO ENTER: To enter the Contest, visit www.tasteofhome.com/article/pie-palooza-recipe-contest (“Website”) and follow the on-screen instructions to sign in to, or create a free Taste of Home account. After successfully signing in, check the box next to “I want to enter my recipe in a contest” and select the Pie-Palooza Recipe Contest, and submit your entry, which must include: 1) a recipe (including ingredients and preparation method) with a buttery crust, and 2) the story behind the recipe (referred hereafter as the “Entry”). You may use other recipes for inspiration, but you must make your own unique ingredient and cooking instruction changes in order for the recipe to be considered. You can submit more than one (1) Entry. However, each Entry must be unique and/or different from your previously submitted Entry. Identical or duplicate Entries from an entrant will be disregarded and only the first Entry will be accepted and judged. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address.
4.1 ENTRY REQUIREMENTS/LIMITATIONS: By submitting your Entry, you hereby represent and warrant that: (i) the Entry is your original work; (ii) you are the sole and exclusive owner of the Entry and all rights in and to the Entry including all intellectual property rights; (iii) you have all rights necessary to grant to Sponsors all the rights set forth herein; (iv) no rights in the Entry have previously been granted to any person, firm, corporation or other entity or otherwise exercised or exploited; (v) the Entry has not won any previous awards or prize, and (vi) the full use of the Entry or any part thereof will not in any way violate or infringe upon any copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights of any person or entity (statutory or otherwise). You must have the written consent of any individual who contributed to the making of your Entry. You and any of the aforementioned individual(s) must consent to the Entry, and must consent to the use as set forth herein. If an Entry is deemed a potential winning Entry, you may be required to provide Sponsors with evidence of all such written permission(s) immediately upon request, and if you are not able to provide permission(s), your Entry may be disqualified. Entries that contain obscenity, offensive language, content that is violent or derogatory or other inappropriate content (in each case as determined by Sponsors), that are not in keeping with Sponsors’ image, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion, will automatically be disqualified. Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that Sponsors may receive many Entries in this Contest and that such other Entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to your Entry and you waive any and all claims you may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future that any Entries used by the Contest Entities may be similar to or the same as your Entry. The Sponsors reserve the right to disqualify any Entry for any reason. The Sponsors are under no obligation to disclose why an Entry has been disqualified other than the Entry was ineligible under these Official Rules. You also agree that the Sponsors shall have no obligation to post or utilize your Entry, that all such postings, if any, will be in the Sponsors’ sole discretion and that the posting or utilization of an Entry does not guarantee the Entry will be determined as a winner.
4.2 GRANT OF RIGHTS: By submitting your Entry, you hereby acknowledge that your Entry and all other materials of every kind whatsoever created by you relating to the Contest (collectively, the “Work”) are a “work made for hire” (as that term is used in the United States Copyright Act) for Sponsors, and Sponsors are the sole and exclusive owners, in perpetuity and throughout the universe, of all rights, title and interest in and to the Work, including without limitation all copyrights in and to the Work (and all renewals and extensions thereof now or hereafter provided by law) and all the rights therein and thereto, and may exploit the Work (and all rights therein) in any manner throughout the world without restriction on a gratis basis. To the extent the Work is deemed a work made for hire and owned by Sponsors, Sponsors grant their agents a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, modify, and create derivative works from the Work in any manner, in any media, for any purpose, including for purposes of marketing, advertising and promotion. Without limiting the binding effect of any of the foregoing provisions, in the event that any part of the Work is not deemed to be a “work made for hire” for the Sponsors, Entrant hereby irrevocably and exclusively grants and assigns to Sponsors (or, if any applicable law prohibits or restricts such assignment), Entrant hereby grants to Sponsors an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free, transferable license of, on a gratis basis, all rights, title and interest in and to such Work, including, without limitation, all rights of every kind and nature (whether now known or hereafter devised, including all copyrights therein and thereto and all renewals and extensions thereof), including without limitation for the purpose of marketing, advertising, and promotion, regardless of your eligibility for the Contest, and the right to use your name, likeness, voice, hometown (e.g., city and state) and biographical information about you in connection therewith, throughout the universe, in perpetuity, for all purposes, in any and all media, whether now known or hereafter devised. You hereby waive all so-called “moral rights of authors” and “droit moral” rights (and any similar or analogous rights under the applicable laws of any country of the world). You agree and acknowledge that no money or consideration of any kind will be payable in connection with each Sponsor’s use of the Work, whether commercial use or otherwise, in any and all media, whether now known or hereafter devised. Sponsors may contact you via phone or email regarding your submission. Entrant agrees that, in the event of an ineligible Entry, the opportunity for the Entry to receive publicity is the sole and sufficient consideration due to Entrant and that the license granted by Entrant herein shall be and remain valid and irrevocable.
4.3 All Entries must be created by a natural person without the benefit of computer scripts, automated processes or Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) generated images; if there is any question to whether a given computer process qualifies as AI, Contest Entities, at their sole and absolute discretion, will decide the Entry’s eligibility. The Entry must meet all specifications set forth in these Official Rules and on the Website, including, without limitation, format, and any other specifications. The Sponsors’ decision regarding the Entries is final and binding and not subject to challenge or appeal. All Entries become the property of Sponsors and will not be returned or acknowledged. Sponsors are not responsible for lost, late, damaged, delayed, garbled, illegible, incomplete, or misdirected entries.
4.4 In the event of any dispute regarding the identity of an Entrant, the authorized account holder of the email address used for the Entry will be deemed the Entrant. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institute) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.
5. JUDGING: All eligible Entries received during the Contest Entry Period will be reviewed and scored by Taste of Home food experts and judged by a panel of judges from Plugrà (collectively “Judges”).
Round 1: Entries will be judged by Taste of Home food experts based solely on the recipe submission and will not be prepared or tasted. Entries will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Ingredient List and Proportions (40%)
- Preparation Method and Clarity of Instructions (40%)
- Originality (20%)
The six (6) highest scoring Entries in Round 1 (the “Finalists”) will advance to Round 2.
Round 2: The Taste of Home food experts will prepare and evaluate the recipes submitted by the Finalists by following the recipes and instructions provided in the Entries. The Finalists Entries will then be judged by the Judges based on the following judging criteria:
- Creativity: 25%
- Is the recipe your original idea? Is the recipe reflective of unique twists to ingredient usage? Have you incorporated your personal touch to this recipe?
- Taste: 25%
- Does this recipe taste great with every bite? Does it have mass appeal? Would you want to make this recipe over and over again based on taste alone? Does it contain interesting, yet gratifying flavor combinations?
- Visual Appeal: 25%
- Does this recipe present beautifully on a plate or in a baking dish? Do your eyes make you want to eat this before you even smell or taste it?
- Crowd Appeal: 25%
- Does your recipe appeal to fellow home cooks everywhere? Does the recipe have easy-to-find everyday ingredients and is it easy to make? Does the recipe have a story that will inspire many others to make it?
5.1 TIES: In the event of a tie, the Entry from among the tied Entries, with the highest score for Creativity score will break the tie. In the event of a further tie, the Judges will determine the winning Entry.
5.2 The top three (3) scoring Entries as determined by the Judges based on the judging criteria, will be deemed potential winners in order from highest to lowest score. The highest-scoring Entry will receive the First Prize, second-highest scoring Entry will receive the Second Prize, and the third-highest scoring Entry will receive the Third Prize. See section 7 below for prize details. The decisions of the Judges are final and binding.
5.3 The Sponsors reserve the right to not award any prize if, in its sole and absolute discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Entries.
6. NOTIFICATION PROCESS: On or about October 16, 2026, potential winners will be notified by email (“Email Notification”) to the email address associated with their Entry to inform them of their standing in the Contest. Notified potential winners must reply to the Email Notification within five (5) days and must complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (“Affidavit”). At the sole discretion of the Sponsors, disqualification of a potential winner may result from any of the following reasons, including, without limitation: (i) a potential winner’s failure to respond to the Email Notification and submit the Affidavit within five (5) days after its transmission; (ii) the return of an Email Notification as undeliverable; (iii) a potential winner’s failure to provide the Sponsors with satisfactory proof of eligibility and/or any required file or documentation, and (iv) any other non- compliance with these Official Rules. In the event of a disqualification or prize forfeiture, the Sponsors, in their sole discretion, may or may not determine an alternate potential winner (time permitting) for the forfeited prize. A potential winner is not entitled to receive a prize until he/she has been (i) verified (ii) and is notified as a winner by the Sponsors or the Contest Administrator.
7. THREE (3) PRIZES: A total of three (3) winners will be selected.
First Prize: One (1) First Prize winner will receive USD $800.
Second Prize: One (1) Second Prize winner will receive USD $500.
Third Prize: One (1) Third Prize winner will receive USD $200.
7.1 The total value of all prizes in this Contest is USD $1,500. Limit is one (1) prize per household. The First Prize winner in this Contest will be ineligible to win First Prize in any other Taste of Home recipe contest for one year following the close of this Contest Period. However, such winner may continue to enter any other contests for which they are otherwise eligible and may win prizes in such contests.
7.2 All prizes will be awarded in the form of a corporate check.
7.3 Each prize is not transferable and non-exchangeable. No cash redemption is permitted. Sponsors reserve the right to substitute a similar prize of equal or greater value in the event that the stated prize cannot be awarded for any reason. All taxes, if any, are the winners’ responsibility.
7.4 Prize images depicted in advertising and promotional materials may vary from the actual prize as any depiction of prize is for illustrative purposes only. The trademarks associated with the prize are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with this Contest, and no endorsement is suggested or implied.
8. CONSENT AND RELEASE: To the fullest extent possible in law, Entrants, and on behalf of their respective heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns (“Releasing Parties”), release, defend and hold harmless the Contest Entities (the “Released Parties”) from any and all actions, causes of action, suits, debts, dues, sums of money, accounts, reckonings, bonds, bills, specialties, covenants, contracts, controversies, agreements, promises, variances, trespasses, lost profits, indirect or direct damages, consequential damages, incidental damages, punitive or exemplary damages, judgments, extent, executions, claims and demands whatsoever, in law, admiralty or equity, whether known or unknown, foreseen or unforeseen, against Released Parties which any one or more of the Releasing Parties ever had, now have or hereafter can, shall or may have which in any way arise out of or result from Entrant’s participation in the Contest, the acceptance, use or misuse of any prize, including property damage, personal injury or death. The Released Parties are not responsible for any typographical or other errors in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest or in the announcement of prizes or for any suspension of the Contest or inability to implement the Contest or award prizes as contemplated herein due to any event beyond its control, including delays or interruptions caused by acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather, utility outages, acts of terrorism or any federal, state, or local government law, order, or regulation, order of any court or regulator.
8.1 Except where prohibited by law, by accepting a prize, each winner consents to the use of his/her/their name, prize won, photograph, likeness, statements, video, being tagged in Sponsors’ or their agency’s digital properties, city and state of residence for publicity or advertising purposes in all media worldwide, without limitation, compensation, permission or notification.
9. CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM: This Contest shall be governed by and interpreted under the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A. without regard to its conflicts of law’s provisions. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Contest are hereby excluded, and any Entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. In the event that a court of competent jurisdiction finds the foregoing waiver unenforceable, Entrants hereby consent to the jurisdiction and venue residing exclusively within the federal or state courts sitting in New York County in the State of New York, U.S.A. and agree that any and all matters, disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, these Official Rules, or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.
10. PERSONAL INFORMATION & PRIVACY: Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and information submitted by Entrants is subject to Sponsors privacy policy at https://www.dfamilk.com/privacy-notice and https://www.trustedmediabrands.com/privacy-policy. Entrants agree that their personal information supplied to Sponsors may be used by Sponsors for internal marketing purposes and their contact information will be provided to Contest Administrator for the purposes of prize winner determination, clearance and fulfillment. If you are selected as a winner, your information may also be included in a publicly available winner’s list.
11. GENERAL: By entering the Contest, each Entrant affirms that he/she has read, understands, and accepted these Official Rules. In the event of any conflict between these Official Rules and any websites terms of service, these Official Rules shall govern with respect to all matters related to this Contest. The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the Contest if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Sponsors’ reasonable control impairs the integrity of the Contest, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion. In such a situation, the Sponsors reserve the right to award prizes from among the eligible, non-suspect Entries received up to the time of the impairment. The Released Parties are not responsible for error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive entry information by the Released Parties on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof. The Released Parties are not responsible for any injury or damage to an Entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from downloading any materials associated with the Contest. CAUTION: Any attempt by an Entrant to deliberately damage the Contest Website or undermine the legitimate operations of the Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made; the Released Parties reserve the right to seek damages from any such Entrant to the fullest extent permitted by law.
12. WINNERS’ LIST: For the results of the Contest (available after October 16, 2026): send a self- addressed, stamped envelope by October 16, 2026 to: Pie-Palooza Recipe Contest Winners List, Ventura Associates International LLC, Ref: WG, 494 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.
13. CONTEST ADMINISTRATOR: Ventura Associates International LLC, 494 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.