Hundreds flock to Conway for 'Taste of Home'

Did you know that the membrane of a jalapeo is the hot part, not the seeds? Or that using a plastic knife instead of a metal one helps keep lettuce fresh? Or that brown paper sacks are great for ripening avocados or storing mushrooms? Numerous tips such as these as well as new food and product samples and prizes were available at the Taste of Cooking School "Swing into Spring" expo and cooking show on Saturday.

Crowds were greeted with the aroma of garlic and onions as they came in the entrance of the in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on Saturday. Booths were full of the latest kitchen ware and food samples from around Conway and the country.

"We have (demonstrated) some products we that we have on promotion because we have several things on promotion just for Taste of Home," Jean Smyers, owner of The Kitchen Store in Conway, said in her booth on Saturday. "We've got the Garlic Zoom, which is really fun, people have loved it. We have the Twist and Chop, we have some knives, collapsible colanders, lemon and lime savers, and "Stips."

Kordsmeier Furniture held a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to their stores and were displaying products at the event.

Cindy McEwen from the Pampered Chef said their booth did very well. "We just talked to people and showed the new spring product and had door prizes," McEwen said. Demonstrators from all around Central Arkansas worked in their booth.

Chris Massingill of Conway set up a booth for her handmade "functional ceramics for contemporary ritual," which are mugs, sconces and platters displayed in her studio located at 809 A. Court Street. "I have two other artists in there with me, one who is working on some commissions and another artist who works in pastels," Massingill said. Currently the trio is trying to restore the building to have a storefront and they might hold classes there too.

Michelle Vance of Darn Good Chicken from Nashville cooked 'Darn Good Chicken' on Saturday and gave away trips. Vance said that the group travels to Conway for the Taste of Home Cooking School Expo every year.

Cooking Show

The advertising staff of the Log Cabin handed out gift bags made from recyclable plastic at the entrance to the Reynolds Performance Hall where the Taste of Home Cooking School held its "Swing into Spring" cooking show after the close of the expo on Saturday. Among the goodies in the gift bags were two Taste of Home magazine cookbooks, a copy of this month's Women's Inc. and samples of McCormick spices. Conway Christian high school students helped stuff the bags proved by LCD and Women's Inc.

Jill McCollum, director of dining services at Central Baptist College and the owner/operator of Jill McCollum Catering, and her sister, Jessica Fowler were emcees for the show. Jamie Dunn of Tulsa, Okla., a culinary specialist for the Taste of Home Cooking School who travels the southwest United States doing cooking shows, returned to Conway to demonstrate the steps to cooking: the Italian Herb Frittata, Avocado Eggs Benedict, Lemon-Nut Twists, a Taco Meatball Ring, Herb-Stuffed Roasted Cornish Hens, Chocolate-Almond Dessert Crepes, (Virgin) Strawberry al Moscato with Vanilla Cream and Flower Power Cupcakes all recipies in the Taste of Home's Brand Name Cookbook.

Dunn joked, "Today's show is for men, and it's for women, and it's for new cooks and old cooks and non-cooks and really scary cooks," on Saturday evening.

Door prizes were given to several audience members along with the Taste of Home dishes and dishware used by in the show. Also four audience members were picked to sit in the "Best Seat in the House," two leather reclining chairs provided by Kordsmeier Furniture, that were set on the stage during the cooking show. Occupants of the seats were given samples and even allowed to lick the mixing beaters used to make chocolate gelatin mixture for the Chocolate-Almond Crepes.

Denita Wilhite of Vilonia and her mother, Linda Warren of Hunter, were in the audience on Saturday. The mother and daughter said they attended the show every year. "This is what she gives me for my mother's day present every year," Warren said.

For more information on the Taste of Home Cooking School visit: www.tasteofhome.com. See more photos from this event at spotted.thecabin.net.