When Trisha Yearwood was asked to write a cookbook, she didn't have to look any further than her husband, Garth Brooks.
"He's a really good cook," says Yearwood, whose new book, “Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood,” hits stands next April 10. "He has a couple recipes in there that he actually made up, like Garth's Breakfast Bowl. It's just eggs, cheese, bacon, sausage, tortellini and hash browns. Sometimes he even makes French fries and throws them in there!"
And, filling as it sounds, Yearwood — whose first cookbook, “Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen,” hit the best-seller list — dares diners not to eat the whole thing.
"You tell him, 'I can't possibly eat all this,' and then embarrassingly, you'll eat the whole bowl," she says. "It's a favorite."
Other stand-out recipes culled from family gatherings and get-togethers at their home include a key lime cake and a crock pot mac-and-cheese that's "really easy. You just need macaroni, butter and cheese, let it sit for three hours and you don't have to do anything."
That laid-back attitude is a mantra for Yearwood, 45, who wrote her new book with the help of her mom and sister.
"Simple is better," she says. "I almost never make stuff out of cookbooks because they're either too complicated or there's an ingredient in there that I can't find. This book is for people who don't cook a lot because they're intimidated."
And perhaps those who want to discover the joy in cooking for loved ones.
"When I make something for Garth, he says, 'I've never had cooking in my life that tastes this good!'" she says with a laugh. "And I think he makes better coffee than me — he jokes that it's because he makes it out of love. I really do think that's true."