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10 Reasons We Can’t Wait for Cooking for Jeffrey
If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then Jeffrey Garten (better half to Ina) stands to be the most doting, puppy-eyed, besotted husband in recorded history. Anyone who has watched her cooking show knows Ina and Jeffrey Garten are just two crazy kids in lurve. Evidence: At 48 years of marriage and counting, the power couple (the first line of Jeffrey’s résumé reads Dean Emeritus at Yale School of Management) still leave love notes for each other on the kitchen counter and celebrate work successes with “Old Fashioned Bistro Dinners.” As Mr. Barefoot Contessa, Jeffrey has eaten some primo meals in his #blessed life, and now Ina is sharing his favorites (hint: there will be roast chicken) with us in Cooking for Jeffrey, her tenth (count ’em) cookbook. In honor, here are 10 reasons I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Ships in 1-2 days.
1. Because… Ina. She’s the fairy godmother you’ve always wanted.
2. She’s getting personal. Try not to rubberneck at this woman’s life. A nuclear budget analyst for the White House (with an MBA and a pilot’s license!) who left Washington behind to open a specialty foods store in the Hamptons and inadvertently build a culinary empire, all while staying in sweet, sweet love with the man she met at 15? Tell me more. Pen poised over pad…
3. Her recipes are simply delicious. The flavors are sophisticated without being complicated. Garten has said she likes no more than three flavors in a dish, all complementing and balancing each other. As one writer said, Ina is “maximizing the familiar.” Her recipes are my most asked-for, and while I would like to take credit, I give credit where credit is due.
4. Her recipes always work. I mean that. I have never made a Barefoot Contessa recipe that did not turn out as promised. It’s not just the flavors that are unmuddled, but the instructions themselves, which make for recipes that are accessible to beginners and would-be Top Chefs alike. (And, seriously, store-bought is fine.)
5. They even work on the coffee table. Colorful and uncluttered, Ina’s cookbooks are made for display. Think of it as a twofer.
6. Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel. Worth the price of admission alone.
7. Whatever that cake is on the cover. See above.
8. Bread and cheese have their own chapter. Clearly, Jeffrey and I have something in common—a bemused distaste for diets. This chapter includes tips for creating the perfect cheese course, which, as you know, dear reader, is the new dessert. I love this even more because I know Ina’s mother was a dietitian by training.
9. I still dream of an invitation to dinner at her house. And certainly she invites everyone who buys her books to her house, right? That’s how she has all those friends.
10. Sweet Jeffrey. Dear man in his adorable sweater draped nonchalantly over the shoulders, he is amazing. Look at his good humor when faced with a camera—and probably after a wicked long commute! Doesn’t he deserve his own cookbook after all these years?
At 48 years going strong, Jeffrey and Ina are doing something right. Let’s hope the secret is in the sauce.