Taste of Home Culinary Specialist Cheryl Cohen cooked for a full house Monday evening at the Tamarack Conference Center.

Following the theme “Festive in a Flash,” Cohen kept the audience spellbound with demonstrations of easy-to-prepare holiday dishes at the Taste of Home Made Easy Cooking Show.

Tamarack’s doors opened at 4:30 p.m. Monday to ticket holders who shopped and sampled from nearly 20 vendors.

“There’s all kinds of vendors, great food and lots of choices,” Kim Buckhannon, director of Beckley’s YMCA Happy Kids Pre-School, said. “I have sampled almost everything, and it’s all been delicious.”

“This is my first time here and it’s excellent,” Buckhannon added. “I work a full-time job, so I think it’s especially great to learn some easy dinner recipes that I can make in a quick fix.”

In addition to pulling people in, Taste of Home gave away tons of fun prizes.

“The giveaways are probably my favorite part so far,” Sherry Ball, of Beckley, said. “But I’m always excited to gain some new cooking ideas and tips. I’ve been here a few times before, but this year seems most exciting.”

Beckley native Joan McKenna said she pushed back relocating to her winter home in Fort Lauderdale just to attend the show.

“We stayed just long enough so we could come to this,” McKenna said. “My mom used to get the Taste of Home magazine and I always loved coming home to get the recipes she’d save me.

“So I know that they’re great,” she continued, “and my sister is a big fan. I’m getting my holiday fever here where it’s nice and cold, before I go back to Florida. It’s just not as easy to get in the Christmas spirit there.”

The Taste of Home Made Easy Cooking Show kicked off at 6:30 p.m., as Cohen demonstrated eight delectable dishes that eight lucky attendees took home at the end of the night.

“Today’s cooks are busy, but more people are cooking at home these days,” Cohen said. “People are always looking for ways to make something new, and for ideas for how to make the holidays more special for their friends and families.

“I am always excited to come into a community and share my love of cooking with new people,” the culinary specialist said. “I always have a great time at the show because the audience makes it fun.”

Sponsored by The Register-Herald, the cooking show is brought to Beckley by local sponsors including Belk, Kroger in Beckley Crossing, the Tamarack Conference Center and Sears.

Ann Kelly, cooking show coordinator and classified executive at The Register-Herald, said the show is always great because everyone is so familiar with the brand.

“It’s a wonderful show every year because people know the magazine,” Kelly said. “They know the cookbooks. We’re doing two shows instead of one because of the popularity of Taste of Home in this area, and we sell out almost every one.”

National sponsors of the show are Armour Eckrich Sausage, King Arthur Flour, Ocean Spray, Ziploc Bags and Ziploc Containers.

A limited number of tickets are still available for today’s Taste of Home Cooking School Made Easy, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Tamarack Conference Center. Doors will open at 1 p.m.

Tickets are $12 each and must be purchased and picked up this morning at The Register-Herald office at 801 N. Kanawha St. in Beckley.

— E-mail: cclark@register-herald.com