Trisha Yearwood Takes a Taste of the South to the Big Apple

Ever since she debuted in 1991 with the No. 1 hit 'She's in Love With the Boy,' Trisha Yearwood has earned numerous accolades for her incredible voice, but with the release of two best-selling cookbooks, the Georgia native has demonstrated she's just as talented in the kitchen as she is behind the mic. So it's no wonder Trisha has been recruited to perform a culinary demonstration at the third annual Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival on October 9.

"I did a food and wine festival in Los Angeles a few months ago, and I cooked in front of a crowd and just loved it," Trisha tells the Boot. "I'm not very serious, as you know, and I opened it up to let people ask questions while I was cooking. I had a great time and it was really fun, so I'm looking forward to it. It's a chance to entertain on a different level. Music, of course, is my first love, but I love to cook too."

It was that love of cooking that propelled her to write two cookbooks. Her first, 'Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen,' published in 2008, and was written with her mom, Gwen, and sister, Beth. The trio also penned a second book, 'Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood,' which was published in spring 2010.

"What's really interesting is that the second book -- which I was skeptical to do because I thought maybe we got all the great recipes in the first book -- has really turned into our favorite," Trisha says. "Obviously, it's more successful than the first one, which I would never have dreamed, and it really has opened doors for me to go all over the place."

At the New York City Wine and Food Festival, Trisha's demonstration, presented by KitchenAid, will be Saturday, October 9, at 3:00 PM ET at Comix, located at 353 West 14th Street in Manhattan. The New York City Wine & Food Festival takes place Oct. 7 - 10 with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the hunger relief organizations Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength. Among the participants in this year's event are celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri, Martha Stewart, Giada De Laurentiis, Paula Deen and many more.

Trisha is looking forward to the event and is pleased to be included in the festivities. She says she's also enjoyed talking to fans about their favorite recipes since her two cookbooks were published. "A lot of people have been making this key lime cake," she says. "It has cream cheese frosting. It has a glaze that you put on the cake layer before you frost it, and it's an amazing cake. It's pretty. It's green and festive. A lot of people comment on that recipe because it's not hard to make. Most things in the book aren't hard to make, or I wouldn't make it."

One of Trisha's favorites is the crock pot macaroni and cheese. "You put everything in the crock pot and go away and come back and it's a cheesy mess," she sighs.

"A lot of people that I've met have said 'I like your books because I can cook out of them. I'm not really a cook, but I can make this or that' and that is a real compliment to me because I love cookbooks. I have a ton of them, but I don't cook out of some of them. They are just too difficult. You don't know what that spice is or what that is. We just keep it simple because that's how we were raised. I think most people that cook are those kind of cooks. So I'm really flattered that people have responded the way they have."

Though she's enjoyed doing the cookbooks, Trisha hasn't abandoned her first love, which is music. She's currently looking for tunes to record for her next album. "I'm listening to songs which is very difficult," she admits. "I'm picky, and we always talk about trying to find songs we haven't already done. I'm 45-years-old and a lot of what is being written right now is for younger artists. I listen to thousands of songs when I'm listening for an album. I think I'm going to have to double that number to find things, so I'm not rushing. The cookbook thing has turned into this career that I really didn't know what going to happen, so it's taking a lot of my time, but I'm definitely ready to make some new music, so I'm listening. Finding songs is always my priority -- to make sure the songs are there, but there will be new music."