Do you have a great casserole recipe? Emily Farris wants you

• Mollie Hull Photography
• It’s casserole season

I’m not sure if dressing — the kind served with Thanksgiving turkey but not actually in the bird — officially qualifies as a casserole, but this week I read about a terrifying-sounding recipe for a turkey dressing made with Hostess Twinkies (the creamy filling is removed and used later for glazing the browned bird) and yellow corn muffin mix.

Emily Farris, the author of the cookbook Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven, says dressing is positively a casserole. “If it contains two solid ingredients and a binding agent, it’s a casserole.” Farris is once again looking for local cooks — not professional chefs, mind you — who have creative ideas for main-dish casseroles. Just maybe not too creative or requiring Hostess Twinkies as an ingredient.

For the last three years, Farris has hosted a fundraising Casserole Party — she passes the Pyrex casserole dishes around to collect money for Harvesters this year — where local cooks are encouraged to submit their recipes and the actual casseroles to the party. The casserole candidates are judged by a panel of tasters (and, yes, I was suckered into doing it again … but it’s for a good cause!), and prizes are awarded. You can find the rules and regulations here.

Farris, who once again joins the food-critics panel on KCUR 89.3’s Walt Bodine Show tomorrow at 10 a.m., has moved this year’s casserole party — held this Saturday at 6 p.m.— to a new location: the Honeytree Gallery in the Crossroads District. Farris says she’ll accept applications to the contest (and entry and registration are free) right up until Saturday so there’s an impressive groaning table filled with steaming casserole pans. The casserole party is free to contestants, but other guests are strongly encouraged to make a generous cash donation to Harvesters.