BLUEFIELD — Hundreds traveled from near and far Tuesday to be a part of the Taste of Home Cooking School at the Brushfork Armory.

“When I started coming to these shows, I was very inept at cooking,” Randy Caudill of Wytheville, Va., said. “Then I went to my initial show and actually observed them during the process.”

Caudill was one of more than 700 residents to attend Tuesday’s cooking show sponsored by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Grants Supermarket and Kammer Furniture. When asked if he was now a good cook, Caudill had a simple response.

“Let’s just say my wife cooks once every two or three weeks now,” Caudill said. “And that is so she can get a meal in. She misses the kitchen.”

C.L. Kendrick traveled more than 132 miles from Martinsville, Va., to be a part of the Taste of Home Cooking School in Bluefield.

“I used to cook for the fire department for 28 years,” Kendrick said of the Patrick Henry Volunteer Fire Department in Patrick Springs, Va. “We did fund raisers every month.”

Margaret Broyles of Bluewell said the last cooking show she attended in Bluefield was more than 10 years ago.

“The last one they had here was about 10 years ago,” Broyles said. “We loved them, and they quit having them. Since I saw this in the paper, I’ve been looking forward to it. I buy the Taste of Home cooking books. I love them.”

Barbara Goforth of Bluefield also was looking forward to Tuesday’s cooking show.

“I get the magazine, and I think they’ve got great recipes,” Goforth said.

Dolly Hambrick of Bluewell also was glad to see the return of a cooking show to Bluefield.

“It’s been about 10 years,” Hambrick said. “I always came with my sisters. They need to have them (the cooking shows) more often.”

Rachelle Broyles of Princeton also used to attend the cooking shows in Bluefield.

“I missed it,” Broyles said. “But back then I didn’t cook as much.

Taste of Homes culinary specialist Cheryl Cohen walked the crowd through eight different recipes as part of a “Easy Breezy Spring” cooking show. The crowd also received gift bags complete with recipes, coupons, samples and cook books.

“There is over 100 recipes in here, including the eight recipes I’ll be doing this evening,” Cohen told the crowd. “So get your cook books out of the bag.”

Daily Telegraph Publisher Randy Deason said the newspaper was pleased to be able to bring the Taste of Home Cooking Show to Bluefield with help from Grants Super Markets and Kammer Furniture Company.

“We are just happy to be able to bring an event like this to Bluefield,” Deason said. “It’s another way to connect with our community.”

“We are just real proud to have this event and host this event with our partners Kammers and Grants,” Daily Telegraph Advertising Director Terri Hale said. “We plan to make this an annual event. We just appreciate everyone’s cooperation.”

“It’s great to see a turnout of so many of these folks who make up our area’s homes,” Harry Kammer, of Kammer Furniture Company, said. “We are just pleased and happy to be a part of it. Kammers is happy to be a part of it.”

“Spot,” the official mascot for Grants Supermarkets, also was happy with the crowd.

“It’s not hard to spot a deal at Grants and at the cooking show,” Spot said.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com