The smell of good southern cooking filled the nooks and crannies of the Selma Convention Center Tuesday night as Selma homemakers were cooking with gas.

ALAGASCO Chef Clayton Sherrod performed a clinic at the Annual Homemakers Cooking School put on by WHBB and WDXX.

The house was packed.

“It’s a big event,” the radio stations’ owner Mike Reynolds said. “We have way more folks than can get tickets to get in.”

The night- filled with good food, prizes and cooking tips- is apparently the hottest ticket in Selma.

Those that wanted to come had to wait outside in the rain to get tickets, then come early to make sure they got the best seats.

Carol Averitte and her family were the first in line.

They arrived at the convention center by 3 p.m. and the show didn’t start until 7.

“We’re usually the first ones here every year,” she said. “I love to cook, it’s a lot of fun.”

“They wanted to get good seats, what can I say?” Reynolds said. “You have to come 10 days ahead of time to get a ticket.”

Sherrod- who brought his latest cookbook “Simply Southern”-

treated to the assembled masses to delectable treats like his fried green tomatoes.

Sherrod is known as the ALAGASCO Chef and the Alabama gas company co-sponsored three of his cookbooks as well as Tuesday night’s show.

As the chef worked the room-whipping up dishes and jokes the whole time-it seemed like much of the crowd was there for the entertainment as well as the cooking lesson.

“It’s been a lot more fun since Chef Clayton came,” Averitte said.

Adding to the festive atmosphere was host/cameraman Larry Morris, who entertained the crowd and passed out prizes during the intermission.

Reynolds said the event is a lot of hard work for his staff, but it is a fun night for them as well as the community.

“The staff probably works harder, but we do a lot of promotions that involve hard work,” Reynolds said. “These employees I can say enough about them. Most of the staff has been with me when we bought the station back in the early nineties. They do whatever it takes.”

Reynolds added that the staff is willing to do what it takes to make their listeners happy.

“Our listeners are the basis for the radio station,” he said.