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American Idol


 
 
Let’s start today with something big… Big for me. Something you don’t know about me? I am absolutely, unconditionally, with all my heart, the most loyal number one fan of the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Just after working as a nuclear policy analyst for the White House, Mme. Garten opened a gourmet food shop in the Hamptons and since then has been a cookbook author (nine books), television host, contributor to House Beautiful and her own personal interior designer. I have every single one of her cookbooks and I think I’ve watched every single one of her shows.

 So, knowing how much I adore Ina Garten, imagine my surprise today when I opened up my email and saw a letter from her! I literally felt my jaw crack open and my eyes widened. I almost couldn’t believe it. I have my friend Rex to thank for introducing my blog to her (thank you, Rex). Mme. Garten thanked me for including her roasted chicken recipe in my blog a few weeks ago and wished me well with my blog. To me, as I told Rex, this was better than getting a letter from the President of the United States thanking me for my humanitarianism. (That didn’t happen.) Equally as good as seeing Princess Caroline of Monaco a few weeks ago. (That did happen.)

I was so excited I could barely get the words out to tell my husband. My husband has watched every single episode of her cooking show that I have through osmosis because I am the boss of the house and if Ellie wants to watch a Barefoot Contessa marathon all day, we will. Here is what I love about Mme. Garten, the Barefoot Contessa…

She’s not afraid to use butter. She worships her husband, Jeffrey, and he worships her. Her cooking is straightforward, her ingredients are fresh, and she clearly loves to cook and to share her recipes. She loves Paris and the open-air markets. She loves flowers. She is a great decorator. She’s not a b*tch. She eats bread. She is self-made, intelligent, and lives her life with enthusiasm and finds happiness in the small things like vinaigrette. And, she’s jolly. Not fake jolly, real jolly.



 
My favorite recipe of hers is her beef bourguignon. Did you know the recipe calls for an entire bottle of wine! I think this recipe saved my relationship with my husband once. David was super mad at me, as usual, and this time I secretly knew I was at fault but would not admit it. So what did I do? I slaved all day(an hour and a half) making the most perfect Barefoot Contessa beef bourguignon for him. He loved it and loved me again. Thank you, Ina.

 


All of her cookbooks are absolutely brilliant. My favorite is her very first cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. The coconut cupcakes are to die for. My other favorite book of hers is obviously, Barefoot in Paris. There are great French recipes and great recommendations for your trip to Paris. Good news, she has a new cookbook coming out in October! This one is titled, Make It Ahead. You can preorder an autographed copy through her website HERE.

 
 
 


 
You can find the entire Barefoot Contessa cookbook collection HERE.       
 
I encourage all of you to check out her website. Whether you are an experienced cook or a beginner, there is a lot of useful information on her website. My favorite are her tips and her “good ingredients.” This is where she shares her sources for her favorite microplane rasp, French bread baskets, olive oil, cooking twine, platters, baking flour, baking chocolate… everything! Everything you need for your pantry.


 
 
 


I can’t even tell you how much I love her East Hampton house. I have a hard time concentrating on watching her recipes on her TV show because I am busy looking at the background of her kitchen.
You can find more pictures of Mme. Gartner’s East Hampton house HERE.
It gets better… She has an apartment in Paris. She even managed to haul a La Cornue stove up five flights of a windy Parisian staircase. She should receive an award for that alone. There is a great article in Town and Country about her apartment and life in Paris HERE.










As you know, I get wicked panic attacks where I think I’m going to die within the next eight seconds. All my husband has to do is turn on an episode of the Barefoot Contessa and as soon as that theme song comes on I start to relax. By the end of the show, I am good to go again. The Barefoot Contessa is like my own little Xanax. :-)


 
So thank you, Mme. Gartner, for all of your cookbooks, all of your TV shows and all of the joy that you give to my life and thank you for the email. Merci beaucoup!

*Something else you don’t know about me? When my husband does something to totally annoy me, I secretly give his cashmere sweaters to my daughter. One sweater per annoyance.

A toute! 
 

21 comments:

  1. I just read your juxtaposition blog... I work as an accountant (boring) and use your blog to breathe life into my day. Every picture in that blog did the trick! Thank you also for your introduction to Ina Garten. Its not that I haven't heard of her, I don't live under a rock, or used a recipe or two of hers, but now I'll sneak her into my days as well. Thank you, as always, for sharing!

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  2. I was able to see her speak at an event and she was truly as genuine as she appears....and extremely gracious. All her recipes are winners but I am partial to her chicken stew and also the roasted tomato soup....and the Italian plum tart.....and the apple crostata.....and the lst goes on!

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    1. I love that Apple crostata also. I have made that 1 million times. :-)

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  3. Dearest Ellie, you've become my loveliest addiction! Please google Brainstorm Israeli revolutionary stem-cell ALS treatment advance trials xxx elle

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  4. I love her, too! Her recipes are foolproof. I love her chicken with forty garlic, cous cous and brussel sprouts with pancetta. I also want her apartment in Paris and her house in the Hamptons. Luckily, I have my own Jeffry!

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  5. Congratulations, how wonderful to receive that acknowledgement. She's fantastic! Thanks for giving me a deeper appreciation.

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  6. I love Ina too and was always just as interested in her kitchen,house and garden. I'm sure she loves knowing she's brought so much to so many people. I love your honesty and really look forward to reading your blog. K xxx

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  7. Dear Ellie,
    Yet another reason as someone new to reading your blog to love you! Ina Garten has long been a favorite of mine, for all the reasons you list and more. My late husband always joked that Ina & I had such similar tastes in both cooking and decor that we must somehow be related.

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  8. Thanks Ellie, loved todays item and happy to hear of your excitement...

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  9. I Love Ina Garten! I record her shows and listen/watch while designing pillows. I should have a line called the Barefoot Pillows! I swear the ones I design to her show always turn out more elegant! She just effervesces elegance and seems like such a genuinely lovely person. Great post!

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  10. I too have every one of her cookbooks and have seen every show and love the way she has decorated her kitchen- so classic and elegant. She has amazing taste. Talk about delicious- you must make her Maple Oatmeal Scones from her first book which is my favorite Ina receipe.

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  11. Me too! Me too!!! Love her for all the reasons you stated. Sometimes when I am in my garden I am planning, planting, etc….and I am thinking what would the Contessa say, what would she do…so often I go back to her books, and inspiring pictures. Great post Ellie. Hope you are well. Sending you happy thoughts.xob oh and yes,..BUTTER ROCKS!

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  12. Hello again Ellie! I too love Ina Garten. With all her accomplishments she could be a b***ch, but you are right again, she is not. I love coconut so I will look up the cupcake recipe. I look forward to your posts - I always learn something or laugh. How good is that? (that is an Ina line)

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  13. Ellie, I couldn't agree with you more...Ina Garten IS an American idol. Not only for her style and trustworthy recipes, but for her genuine likeability. She doesn't have that inflated sense of self that some others in her field of work have. You must have read her email a thousand times by now (I know, pinch me!) Every time I make her French Apple Tart (Back to Basics), my dinner guests ask for seconds. I haven't made her Beef Bourguignon recipe yet, but it's now at the top of my list. * Something else about me? I used to volunteer at a small local Cooking School, assisting visiting chefs with their cooking demonstrations. I got to work next to Jacques Pepin and Lorenza de Medici. Oh how I wish I could be Ina's sous chef...neighbor? Friend?

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  14. Hi Ellie, Couldn't agree with you more!! I live in CT, and as the chill has crept into the air, I have thought to myself…can't wait to make Ina's beef bourguignon! Love her - love her food - she is genuine, happy, herself, and in a day when everyone is trying too hard, her jolly demeanor (so true) puts me at ease too. I'm a decorator, and I don't get star-struck, but one day I ran into her (almost literally) at Holly Hunt in NYC (of course, right -- chic, classic). As I tried to play it cool, I froze. I thought -- oh no, did I stare? did I have a funny look on my face? Why didn't I say something. Ugh, back to picking out grasscloth and leather. Did that just happen? Moment lost. I love all of those Ina-isms -- "two sticks of butter, I know it seems like a lot, but…"
    Two words - pastry cream.
    xxoo

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    1. I love Holly Hunt. I feel like I've spent half my life there looking at fabric. By the way, if I had seen Ina at Holly Hunt I would have frozen as well. Three words-love pastry cream. XOXO

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  15. I too LOVE her first book the most!I too have all HER books....................Think I will make the beef Bourg.........this weekend and toast to YOU!
    XOXO

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    1. I will be there with you in spirit this weekend with the beef Bourguignon! So nice to have met you last week in Paris. XOXO

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  16. Oh my gosh, I love her too, been following her for years, bring on the butter baby…..wonderful and calming show for me and she makes it look so easy, she is the first I look for when needing inspiration for something to cook! WOW, a contact from Ina, wonderful, awww
    nighty night Buddha nature! XO

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  17. I love Ina too! Love her show, her personality, her recipes, love her house and I'm always looking at the kitchen too! I've made several of her recipes, love the granola - it's amazing, tomato basil soup, veggie dip with eggplant and red peppers. They're all excellent and not all that hard! She seems very genuine! Wish she were a neighbor!

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  18. You are a delight in every way and I am enjoying reading your entire blog from beginning to end - this is how far I've made it so far! Thanks for your smart, sassy take on everything pretty and not so pretty!
    Two things:
    I have made Ina Garten's "Warm French Lentils" a million times and they are always perfect - so easy and so tasty!

    Also, please don't be so hard on your lovely husband :) In marriage, I find it is always helpful to remember that you are on the same side. Partners of the highest order. ♡
    Cheering you on from the middle of America! xoxo
    JLH

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