Trisha Yearwood has got all the charm of a Southern lady but, to the surprise of our young writer Reyhaneh Fathieh, no Georgia drawl.  Reyhaneh talked with Trisha about her latest venture — and it's not country music. Here's Reyhaneh's report:

Soft-spoken and polite, the multi-platinum country star told me cooking stories with such enthusiasm it was obvious she genuinely loves food. So much so in fact that her mother, Gwen, and sister Beth thought it fitting to compile a notebook of Trisha’s favorite recipes for her birthday a few years ago. The gift inspired what is now Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen, a collection of over 120 “comfort foods” the Yearwood gang “grubs” on, out in stores April 8.

Ever since college, when she “opened [her] first can of canned vegetables” and “decided [she] really needs to learn how to cook,” Trisha has been holding down the fort in the kitchen. But even a seasoned cook “has cooking disaster stories all the time, continually,” Trisha says. For instance, once when making her annual German chocolate cake in honor of husband and fellow country singer Garth Brooks’ birthday, Trisha “did something very wrong and the cake fell into a million pieces.” She says, “It looked so bad, I was in tears! And of course, Garth said, 'Serve it anyway, it’s just for me. I don’t care what it looks like.'” The episode didn’t hinder Trisha. She says,  “I still like to give baked things as a gift, because to me, it says, 'I think a lot of you.'”  I’m sure Garth would agree.