Ina Garten
Ina Garten
Ina Rosenberg Garten is an American author and host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and a former staff member of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Known for designing recipes with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and time-saving tips, she has been noted by Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and Patricia Wells for her cooking and home entertaining...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth2 February 1948
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
There's something really wonderful about a party where you help yourself. Of course, first you get what you really want. But 'family style' service also really encourages people to connect with one another.
You can get bogged down in a recipe that's got a lot of steps and a million ingredients, and it takes all day to make. And then you realize, you've just got one dish. For Thanksgiving, you want an abundance of choices, and so you want dishes that you can put together really quickly, but that doesn't mean less flavor.
I think the best shortcut is to choose really simple recipes. Because I think you can make simple recipes that are as delicious as complicated ones.
The planning is everything. Deciding which dishes you're going to prepare can turn into the make-or-break decision five days later, when you actually serve the meal.
It's so important that you don't put the stuffing in the bird, where in order for the stuffing to get cooked you have to overcook the turkey. It's better to do it on the side.
My extravagance is my garden - it's the first thing I look at every morning when I wake up. It gives me so much pleasure.
I've lived in the Hamptons since 1978, when I first bought my store Barefoot Contessa.
People have more fun if they don't eat so much they have to be taken home in an ambulance.
I always like to have flowers on the table. I think they make it look special.
I get up every day, do the best that I can do, and go home and have a good time.
I time everything. I'm a scientist at heart.
I like almonds as a snack - keeps your energy up but doesn't fill you up.
I worked for the Office of Management and Budget in the White House, on nuclear energy policy. But I decided it would be much more fun to have a specialty food store, so I left Washington D.C. and moved to the Hamptons. And how glad I am that I did!
I absolutely adore Thanksgiving. It's the only holiday I insist on making myself.