Splendid tableau

Famous foodie Lynne Rossetto Kasper -- known for her lush voice, enchanting stories and ready laugh -- reveals that she has iceberg lettuce in the fridge and pricey Spanish tuna in the cupboard, is not above potlucks and occasionally has grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. We caught up with the native New Yorker in her St. Paul home.

Q Describe your house.

A It's a bastardized neo-classical with a 1950s rambler -- complete with a picture window -- stuck on the front. It's wacky. And big. There are parts of this house I haven't seen in three years.

Q Is size what attracted you to this house?

A No, we bought it in part for the dining room. When it's gussied up and there are candles everywhere, it's all about romance. And it was the cheapest house in the neighborhood.

Q So you must use your dining room a lot.

A Well, we don't use it as much as we used to. Our style is so much more casual than it was when we lived in Europe. We host a dinner party a couple times a month, but we eat in the breakfast room. We really crowd everyone together to make it more fun. Besides, everyone ends up in the kitchen anyway.

A My kitchen is home to me. It's a working kitchen and most working kitchens aren't very glamorous. When you're in a kitchen every day, you start to understand what's necessary and how some things that look good aren't going to work.

Q Do you have a Sunday routine?

A We usually have people over for Sunday lunch. Unless I'm on a cooking jag, we'll do something really simple, like bruschetta and a salad, or have a potluck.

Q On a cooking jag? Don't you cook all the time?

A I cook most nights. Cooking relaxes me. But testing recipes is different. I have to concentrate, take notes, do it over and over. I like the seat-of-the-pants stuff. The fun of cooking is messing around.

A Oh, I had a long day recording, so we had grilled cheese sandwiches. I didn't even make a salad. But they were made with cheese from Hook's Creamery on bread from Rustica Bakery and made with butter. You have to use butter to really get them really crisp.

Q What three things would be we surprised to find in your fridge?

A Iceberg lettuce, an outrageous amount of condiments, and dried mullet roe. Oh, wait, you probably aren't surprised by that last one.

Q What's your first cooking memory?

A My mother making spaghetti sauce. That was rare because she was Tuscan and we mostly had polenta and vegetables, vegetables, vegtables. But I remember watching her at the stove. I can still see the pan, its black plastic handle. ...

A Oh, no, I was a health kid. If I could have had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I would have been the happiest 5-year-old in the world.

Q Does your interest in cooking stop at the kitchen door?

A I love laying the table. I do it a little different every time. I mix 1800s porcelain with dishes from Marshall's. I love the idea of not being staid.

Q Since you're a collector, I assume you have a collection of cookbooks.

A I collect everything and anything to do with the kitchen and the table. I've got bookshelves of books on Italian history, Italian cooking by region, gourmet books, generics, American, European, Caribbean, baking. ... Most of them are in my office and my assistant's office, some are in the sunroom, then there are still some in cartons downstairs. Someone estimated there are about 3,000.

A There's always a stack. Right now, there's: "Brookland," this novel about a gin distilling family; "Bridge of Dreams"; a book I'm looking at for the show (there's always one of those); a book on the history of the cork; a novel by Donna Tartt, and then there are a few copies of House and Garden filched from the doctor's office.

Q Your new book, "How to Eat Supper," is due out in April. Can you give us a sneak peek?

A It's very different from the other books, which were historical, cultural, geographical. This is very much about how we're eating today. It's a playful book. There's a lot of irreverence it in.

Q What's one thing you can't get through a Minnesota winter without?

A Muir Glen canned tomatoes. I've also got a stash of canned tuna from Spain. It's expensive. Only weirdos buy it.

A They recognize the voice. But I'm always flattered when someone remembers me or says they like my work.