Julianne Hough, Dolly Parton: Food Flops

Julianne Hough photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

March 31, 2009 — Julianne Hough can’t cook; Dolly Parton can, but it doesn’t look so hot.

Food is important to everyone on the planet — and that goes for country stars and their fans. Here’s just a taste of what’s going on in country kitchens:

• Mostly disasters happen in the kitchen of Julianne Hough. "I burn everything," she confessed to Seattle’s KOMO-TV. "I kind of have ADD, like I can't like sit there and watch the stove. I run and I start cleaning up around the house, and then I'm like, 'Oh, shoot! The food and the water is boiling over!' And I'm like, 'Oh, no!’ I'm horrible."

• A bib or a napkin are likely not enough if you plan to eat at Dolly Parton’s house. "My food’s not pretty, but it’s good," she told Suzanne Alexander on the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. "I am not so worried about it lookin’ good. I want it to taste good, so you have to usually wear a blindfold to eat mine, ‘cause my fried green tomatoes are all just tore up. When I flip ‘em, they get brown, but they’re good!"

• Chef Jeff Parker includes appropriate baby food recipes in the liner notes for the Hushabye Baby music series, which recasts country material for the crib. As an example, the liner notes in the Dolly disc feature a dish called I Will Always Love Pumpkin, while the Rascal Flatts CD includes a concoction, inspired by "Me And My Gang," called Me And My Mango.

• Craig Morgan is featured on the Bush’s Beans site GrillU.com, which is loaded with cooking tips and recipes for barbecue season. "You don't have to be a master of the grill to create amazing meals, but it can help to have a little guidance," Craig says. Among the unexpected offerings: BBQ apple pie and BBQ ice cream cake.