Her Recipe for HAPPINESS
THE COUNTRY CROONER DISHES ABOUT THE JOYS OF COOKING AND SINGING
“My life isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with every choice I’ve made.”
— Trisha
Trisha Yearwood is used to impressing audiences with her showstopping vocals, but it was actually her mashed potatoes that truly wowed three very important fans: husband Garth Brooks’ daughters. “I think that’s what really won them over,” Trisha, 52, reveals to Closer. “They said, ‘This girl can marry our dad because she makes really good mashed potatoes!’ ”
It’s clear the Grammy-winning two-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year is just as talented in the kitchen as she is onstage. “When you sing, you hear the applause, and when people can’t speak because a meal you cooked tastes so good, that’s kind of like getting applause, too,” the host of Food Network’s Trisha’s Southern Kitchen says of her two passions. “I’m just lucky I don’t have to make a choice between the two!”
A FULL PLATE
Trisha is also thankful that Garth, 55, is a big part of both her worlds. “If you need something chopped, he’s your guy,” she boasts of his help in the kitchen. And their chemistry on their current tour is still magical: “We’ve sung together for 27 years,” she explains, “but now that the girls are grown, we get to just pack our bags and go do what we love to do with the person we want to be with. It’s awesome!”
They both relish their relatively new roles as grandparents, too, since daughter August, 23, welcomed baby Karalynn in 2013. “It’s so much fun and such a blessing to see your children start their lives,” Trisha says.
Family is everything to Trisha, who wrote her first of three best-selling cookbooks in 2008 with mom Gwen and sister Beth. She also recently launched a Williams Sonoma and Trisha’s Kitchen food line that celebrates five of her family’s cherished recipes. Both of her parents, now deceased, were great cooks, so Beth and Trisha revel in sharing their favorite dishes on TV. “When we make their recipes and tell their stories, we get a chance to keep them alive,” Trisha says. “I get so excited when I hear, ‘I made your mom’s potato salad!’ It’s such a cool feeling!” — Ron Kelly, with reporting by Katie Bruno and Ilyssa Panitz