Taste of Home magazine will return to the Demopolis Civic Center when Taste of Home Cooking School culinary specialist Michelle “Red” Roberts puts on her show in May.

The May 31 date marks the second time in three years the event has landed in Demopolis.

“It’s the No. 1 national cooking magazine,” said Chamber director Jenn Tate. “We are very lucky to have her come to our town. We are expecting a lot of people to turn out and we expect that it will sell out quickly.”

The 2010 Taste of Home event, the first held in Demopolis sold out and Tate said this year, only 400 tickets would be made available and none would be available at the door.

“We’re only pre-selling tickets this year,” she said. “We had to turn a lot of people away last time because we were out of tickets.”

Tickets won’t go on sale until mid-March but Tate said once they do, those who want to attend should act quickly.

“After the 2010 event, we had people calling wanting to know when they were coming back, so there are a lot of people looking forward to the event already,” she said. “We had people coming in from all over…from Selma, Clanton, Meridian and even had some from Georgia.”

Tickets cost $15 and door prizes will be awarded throughout the evening, and everyone in attendance will receive a gift bag with lots of gifts.

“Nobody will go home empty-handed,” she said.

The Taste of Home Cooking School is a division of the Taste of Home magazine. Roberts is in her ninth year with Taste of Home.

Roberts, a native of Franklin County, Miss., earned in associate degree in food production from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss., and a bachelor of science degree in culinary arts from the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss.

Roberts also has a theater and performing arts background, which lends itself to her cooking performances in shows she has done throughout Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and the Deep South.