POST FALLS - Rich Kalbrener relished the moment.

In his retirement, the Coeur d'Alene man has taken up cooking as his favorite hobby.

So Kalbrener was all ears as he enjoyed a VIP session and show featuring celebrity chef Jon Ashton of The Relish Cooking Show on Thursday night at the Greyhound Park and Event Center.

"Now that he's retired, he's interested in cooking," Kalbrener's wife Priscilla said with a wide grin. "I enjoy cooking, too, and did it all until he retired. Now he does all the cooking."

The couple have been to other cooking shows, but Relish had the most flavor, Rich said while having a glass of beer.

"This is a really nice venue, and (Ashton) taught us everything from freezing cheese to what wine to drink," Rich said. "The booths were also excellent. They offered a lot of samples, and it's nice to support local businesses."

True to form, Ashton's cooking on stage provided the spice. And his comical and lively presentations interacting with the audience were the sugar. It's not your average cooking demonstration.

Jennifer Alexander of The Press, a show partner, said it's "comedy central" with cooking mixed in. It was Relish's second show in Post Falls, again drawing hundreds of food fans.

Tapping into the autumn theme, among the recipes Ashton whipped up was an apple salad with toasted walnuts, cranberries and a creamy dressing.

Ashton, pretending to use a sample of the salad as an airplane headed toward a woman's mouth as the landing pad, gave the lady a taste.

The woman, hesitant about tasting the salad at first, tried it and said: "It's delicious."

There's always a lot of energy on Ashton's stage and, just when you think you're going to get lulled into watching food cook, he'll call someone up to the kitchen for some laughs.

Sue Bender of Coeur d'Alene said she enjoys the mixture.

"The recipes like that apple salad are simple - that's my kind of cooking," she said. "But I also like how they incorporate music into the show and how Jon keeps the audience going. It shows you that making food should be fun."

Jan Carlson of Post Falls said she's a "devoted" reader of Relish magazine, so attending the show was a natural.

"I made it a priority to be here," she said. "I really enjoy the magazine and watching Jon Ashton on stage is hilarious. That man can dance, and he's not a bad chef, either. His English accent is also a nice twist. It's entertainment at its finest."

Mary Martinez of Coeur d'Alene said she enjoyed the show because it's something different.

"It's not what a lot of people may think," she said. "It's definitely not just a cooking demonstration you see at a fair."

It was her first time at such an event and she would like to come back.

"Next time I've got to bring friends," she said. "It gives you a lot to think about with cooking, and it always feels good to laugh."