By: Craig Shelburne
I have relied on Trisha Yearwood’s cookbook, Georgia Cooking From an Oklahoma Kitchen, for nearly every homemade dinner over the last few months, with incredible success. And after savoring the last few bites of her fettucine alfredo yesterday, I decided to put the cookbook back on the shelf until summer since I’ve cooked pretty much everything in it, except for the cakes. (There are a lot of cake recipes in there.) In case you’re curious, here are my 10 favorite recipes so far, and they’re all really easy to make.

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For starters, I enjoyed the sausage hors d’ouerves, which you can double-size for meals. The chicken tortilla soup is a meal unto itself, although it would certainly complement her sweet and crunchy garden salad, taking its name from mandarin oranges and almonds. Trisha’s Pasta Salad is very satisfying as well, with a colorful mix of rotini, tomatoes, broccoli, bell pepper and sunflower seeds.

For heftier appetites, I heartily recommend the meatloaf and the barbecued pork ribs. If you are cooking for the holidays, the sweet potato soufflé will impress all of your guests. At breakfast, my guests gobbled up the lemon blueberry bread and the pecan pie muffins. Finally, even if you’ve never made a batch of chewy chocolate chip cookies (like me), her recipe is excellent for starters — and I bet it won’t be your last time.