Perhaps the statistics suggest her priorities.
Since country star Trisha Yearwood married country megastar Garth Brooks in December 2005, she has released one album and published two cookbooks.
Her brand-new book, "Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends" (Clarkson Potter, $29.95), will bring her to the Mall of America on Sunday to sign autographs. Although she usually shows up at Garth's weekend gigs in Las Vegas to sing a few tunes, he probably won't be with her at the megamall. But he did write the foreword to the book and supply a few recipes.
Drawing from family members and friends, "Home Cooking" features hearty and wholesome recipes for Grandma Yearwood's coconut cake, cowboy lasagna and something called "Garth's Breakfast Bowl."
We caught up with Yearwood on a recent morning at her Oklahoma home that she shares with Brooks and his three teenage daughters.
Q What's for dinner tonight?
A I don't know yet. I was supposed to be at a track meet, and it's hailing right now. I thought that we were not all going to be together for dinner, but I think now we are. It's cold and rainy, so it could be chili or a soup night.
Q Who chooses the menu -- you, Garth or the girls?
A Me. I'm cooking, I choose. It depends, actually. Garth cooks a good bit and sometimes he'll say 'Let's do this or let's do that.' Sometimes I put it up to a vote for the girls. But I make the final decision. With as busy as the girls are with soccer and stuff like that and school, if we get a home-cooked meal and actually sit around the table and eat two or three times a week, we feel pretty lucky.
Q Compare writing a cookbook with recording an album.
A There are a lot of similarities. I'm choosing songs that move me, and you hope other people will be moved by them. Same for recipes. I've likened when you've cooked a meal for someone and you see the satisfaction on their face as they eat, that's like the applause at a show. I guess the ego in me enjoys both aspects of that.
In the first book, I answered a lot of questions about specific recipes. I think I was being tested: 'Does she really cook or did she just put her name on the book?' I'm hoping I passed that test. I really do love to cook.
Q Are you working on another album?
A Not at the moment. This cookbook has taken about a year of consistent work. Once we get done with this book tour and I have a chance to relax a little bit, I'm hoping to get back into the studio sometime this year.
Q You co-wrote this book, as you did "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen," with your mother and sister. Rank, in order, who is best in the kitchen?
A I'd put Mom first and I'd put me last. We have different specialties. My sister is the one of the three of us who has done more experimenting. She's brought a lot of recipes into this book that were not things that we all grew up on.
Q How's Garth in the kitchen?
A He's really good in the kitchen. Before I moved out here, he was a single dad making dinner for these girls every other night. They joke that there was a lot of botched macaroni and cheese and frozen Tyson's chicken strips. He's the experimental guy in the kitchen. He'll take a recipe I've been making forever and say, 'What if you try this with it?' But when he changes it, it's always better. He's got good ideas. I totally trust him in the kitchen. If he says, 'I'm making dinner tonight,' I know it's going to be something really good.
Q What are his favorite recipes in the book?
A He likes casseroles. He likes baked spaghetti. He really likes the chili, so he'll be happy tonight.
Q With eight eggs, a pound of bacon, a pound of pork sausage, 9 ounces of cheese tortellini, 10 ounces of grated Cheddar and 16 ounces of Tater Tots, how many calories are there in a Garth-sized serving of "Garth's Breakfast Bowl"?
A I would say a Garth-sized portion would be in the ballpark of 3,000 calories. You shouldn't probably eat again for at least the rest of the day -- and maybe partly into the next day.
Q When are you and Garth going to record that duets album that he's been promising ever since you two played at Target Center for nine concerts in 1998?
A It's still being talked about. I don't want to make a duet album that we can't tour [to promote]. And he doesn't want to go out on tour until the girls are grown, which I support and respect. So that's another four years.
Jon Bream • 612-673-1719