Capel Rugs has selected Ann Hiatt, rug department manager of Salem Creek in Winston-Salem, N.C., as the winner of its centennial cookbook contest. The contest, part of Capel Rugs’ year-long 100th anniversary celebration, invited the company’s 5,000-plus customers to submit recipes that have been favorites of their families for generations. Along with the recipes, contest participants shared the stories behind their dishes—the history and experiences that make them so special.

Hiatt’s winning recipe, “The World’s Best Cookie,” which combines pecans and raisins, was passed along by her father. He typed it up for Hiatt in 1985, at which point it was already 75 years old. “It was his grandmother’s—or my great grandmother’s,” said Hiatt. “He was a wonderful cook and baker and our home growing up always had a tin of these cookies in the kitchen.” Hiatt received a $100 prize for winning the Capel cookbook contest, and her recipe will be posted online for all to enjoy.

“This cookie recipe is not only delicious, it’s also more than 100 years old,” said Vickie Carder, Capel Rugs’ sales representative for North Carolina. “It’s a perfect match for celebrating Capel’s own 100th anniversary year.”

Other contest submissions also were filled with touching stories about family and friends. A submission for a “Wild Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich” recalled a childhood memory of receiving a PB&J sandwich from a friend’s mom before heading out to spend summer mornings on a lake. Another entrant, who submitted a recipe for chocolate macaroons, talked about how his mom would make these cookies each Christmas Eve. An additional contestant submitted a recipe for stack cakes from her grandmother and mother.

For more information, visit www.capelrugs.com.