Trisha Yearwood - Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood

There are those weve lost along the way who continue to live on in the sharing of these recipes and the telling of these stories. I can almost hear Garths mom, Colleen, whispering in my ear, The secrets the cinnamon! when Im making her cabbage rolls. Every time I make chocolate pie, I will see Ben Tillman smiling at me when I walk into the Tillman House and ask for fried chicken. Ill smile knowing that Miss Betty got to sign a few autographs along the way because of the success of her recipes in the first cookbook. And always, there is my daddy, humbly apologizing for some of the best meals I ever tasted, yet I know he feels proud seeing the people he loves the most represented in these pages. This book is dedicated to all those we love who arent with us anymore but whose lives, stories, laughter, and good food are represented here.

We love you, always.

Gwen, Beth, and Patricia

The greatest thing that can happen to an artist is to have someone come up to you and tell you how one of your songs has changed his or her life for the better. As an artist, you enjoy this experience so much. There is nothing in music that could please you more until you see it happen to your spouse. Talk about pride! To see peoples faces light up as they are telling Trisha how a song moved them to become more than what they were, to take chances, to take responsibility to take control. That is what communicating and communicating well is all about. Now take that one step further. I cannot count the times I have seen someone approach Trisha with his or her cookbook in hand to either share a story or ask a questionand they always ask Trisha for her signature inside the cover. I have watched her tirelessly sign, exchange recipe tips, laugh, and swap stories over the first cookbook. If you have ever met Miss Yearwood and talked to her about family traditions and meals, then you will understand what I am about to say. I cant tell which one she enjoys more: cooking or singing! She does both with a love unequaled. As her husband, I am very proud of all of her accomplishments, and I am very happy for her success. But I find myself being even happier for her because she loves what she does. And I think that is the secret to her success in music and in cooking. The greatest compliment you can give a cook is to ask for more, and that is all I hear as I stand by and listen to people talk to Trisha. For those people and for myself, I am very happy to introduce a second helping of heartfelt recipes from our family to yours.

Garth Brooks

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Id be sitting here writing an introduction to a second cookbook! Mom, Beth, and I were so overwhelmed and thrilled at the response to Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. What a sweet surprise! We enjoyed getting to meet so many of you out on the road, and exchanging recipes and stories. I was happy to find out that our way of life was shared by many of you in all parts of the country, not just the south! What I learned from you was that you liked our family stories because they reminded you of your own lives, and that you liked our recipes because they were easy to prepare and didnt have a lot of fancy, hard-to-find ingredients. We decided to stick to the saying If it aint broke, dont fix it!

We have a wonderful extended family, full of cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends who were kind enough to contribute recipes. For instance, it was from those family members and friends that we found my grandmother Elizabeth Yearwoods infamous recipe, which she used to make for my daddy.

Since weve received a lot of recipes that are traditions in our extended family but are new to us, weve been doing a lot of testing. We didnt want to include anything in this book that we hadnt made ourselves and didnt absolutely love. This has worked out well for our family members and friends, who have really benefited from our testingand gained a few pounds to boot!

Some of these newer recipes already feel like old favorites. I make things like Angela Spivey has become the new dessert hit at my house.

One of the best things about putting together this collection has been discovering new recipes. We all tend to stick to what we know, and Im usually a bit wary about trying out something new on my family, but this cookbook has made me brave! Its a real treat for me to get to introduce some new old recipes to my family, like my grandma Lizzie Paulks .

I have always associated really good food with really good company. If youre with people you love, and youre having fun and loving life, great food is almost like another guest at the table. You laugh, talk, and savor a good appetizer together. Or you assign your friends the job of chopping up the vegetables while you fire up the grill. Its really all about being together, and enjoying life surrounded by people you love and food you can share!

Anyone can cook at home, but that doesnt necessarily make it home cooking. Theres a lot of love in these pages that comes from generations of Yearwoods, Paulks, Bernards, Brookses, and beyond. Thats home cooking. Im proud to share this collection of recipes and stories with you.

If you have a slow cooker, now commonly referred to as a crockpot, that is over ten years old, chances are it has a liner that isnt removable. Think about buying a new crockpot with a removable liner for easy cleanup. The liner is also great if you want to remove the pot to serve at the table.