Today is the day that a cooking show from the nation’s top cooking magazine will come to Benton. Gift bags, door prizes and a free Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook with a chance to win valuable door prizes are just the beginning of the excitement that comes with each ticket.
Taste of Home, part of the Reader’s Digest family, will hold an official Taste of Home Cooking School at Benton High School auditorium today. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.
In a typical 30-minute televised cooking show, three recipes are usually made. But at the Taste of Home Cooking School, 10 recipes will be made right in front of a live audience — and that’s just the beginning of the excitement.
Taste of Home magazine has been America’s favorite cooking publication for years because it allows home cooks to swap recipes and exchange cooking tips about real food — not “fancy” food that can be found only at overpriced specialty markets.
Starting this afternoon, this recipe- and idea-swapping experience will be available to local food (and eating) enthusiasts as folks from across the state will gather to learn more about the show’s local vendors, pick up free goodies, and most importantly, watch a live cooking show.
Doors open at 2:30 so ticketholders may have plenty of time to browse vendor booths, which will be set up in Benton High School cafeteria. The show itself will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Before the show, attendees will get a chance to see a healthy cooking demonstration in the vendor area by Total Solutions of Fitness Unlimited. Other vendors will have food for sampling, coupons to give away and prizes for attendees to win. Those vendors will include Harp’s Grocery, Pampered Chef representative Kelley Turley, Dinner’s Ready, Arkansas Hearing Center, Nelson’s Jewelers, Benton Advertising and Promotion Commisssion, Dianne Roberts Art Studio & Gallery, Peaceful Haven Funeral Home, Carson Physical Therapy, McClendon’s, Johnston’s Home Center and Dee Forbush of Scentsy Candles.
The live show — hosted by Taste of Home chef Jamie Dunn — will entice all of the senses. Imagine watching a delicious recipe being made, while actually smelling the meat as it cooks and hearing it sizzle on the pan.
The Taste of Home Cooking School has proven so popular in other parts of the country that lines of hundreds of people typically form outside the doors before the show opens, organizers of other shows have reported.
“As soon as the doors are open, people start running to find a seat. They want to be where the action is. They want to be there for the prizes and the entertainment value of it,” said Jamie Dunn, host of the show in Benton.
While live cooking is always fun, what most people find even more exciting is free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff! Each $10 ticket comes with a goodie bag, which will include gifts from Firehouse Subs, the Courier, Fitness Unlimited/Total Solutions, Carson Physical Therapy, KFC, Nelson’s Jewelers, Harp’s, Ernie’s Sassy Boutique, Letta’s Flowers and Gifts, SAS Shoes, Pampered Chef, McClendon’s Appliance, Johnston’s Home Center, Benton SewVac and Appliance, Moody Cabinets, Arkansas Hearing Center, Dianne Roberts Art Studio & Gallery, Peaceful Haven, White Furniture of Benton and Mary Kay Cosmetics. One lucky bagholder will even find in their goodie bag a diamond from Nelson’s Jewelers in Benton. All the bags will have a jewel, but only one bag will have the diamond that can be verified at Nelson’s Jewelers.
Other goodie bag giveaways include a wine paring wheel from Gallo Family Vineyards and coupons and other gifts from Jimmy Dean Sausage, Velveeta, and Ziploc, all of which are official Taste of Home Cooking School sponsors. Each bag also includes a Taste of Home Cooking School magazine, with 110 recipes, including the recipes that are made during the show.
In addition to the gifts in the goodie bags, attendees will have the opportunity to win lots of valuable door prizes. Several local stores will give away items that will be displayed on the stage and awarded throughout the show. These door prizes — some valued at hundreds of dollars — will be given away by Harp’s, the Courier, KFC, Letta’s Flowers and Gifts, SAS Shoes, McClendon’s Appliance, Johnston’s Home Center, Benton SewVac and Appliance, Dee Forbush of Scentsy Candles, Arkansas Hearing Center, Dianne Roberts Art Studio, Peaceful Haven Funeral Home, Westside Pharmacy, Sears, Sport Show, Sutherlands, Benton A & P, Nana’s Bakery, Frederick’s Salon, Pink Purse and Lander’s Automotive. Door prizes from all of the national sponsors will also be given away, including three different Taste of Home Cookbooks.
During the show, Dunn will prepare 10 simple dishes that are family loved and trial-tested. Those recipes include:
•Zesty pasta with sausage and peppers;
•Romaine ceasar salad with homemade croutons;
•Gram’s chicken pot pie with Velveeta;
•Asparagus tomato chicken salad;
•Artichoke pasta with capers and chicken;
•Orange chocolate tart;
•Fresh mushroom clafoutti;
•Freezer berry jam;
•Sour cream blueberry muffins; and
•Jimmy Dean maple breakfast casserole.
At the end of the cooking show, Dunn will give away all 10 of the dishes she prepares, including the serving dishes.
“Even if they don’t eat the food, (people) just love to win,” she says.
Winning, cooking and socializing will be the highlight of the Taste of Home Cooking School. The show will encourage healthy cooking habits — and perhaps even more frequent cooking.
|
Razorbacks
