Barefoot Contessa

One of my favorite shows on TV is Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten.  (I lifted this photo from House Beautiful magazine's website)  I've been thinking a lot about why I love Barefoot Contessa so much.  I never cook any of the recipes, though they look delicious.  Too much butter, and butter heavy dishes do not fit into my diet plan for my yet to be revealed Thanksgiving vacation.  What I've decided is that I love Ina herself.  I love her baking segments.  I love how she gets into her ingredients and touches them, leveling the flour with her fingers and using her hands to pour the dry ingredients into the mixer.  She likes to make contact with her food.  Sometimes on Food Network shows you get the feeling that the chefs don't actually like to touch the ingredients. It's all to sterile, and lets face it, that's not realistic, is it?  Not that I cook in a dirty kitchen.  I don't, I promise!  But do you know what I mean?  Oh, and having said that, I love that she spills flour all over the place, and gets huge puffs of powdered sugar our of her mixer.  Her kitchen must be a mess when she's through, but that's ok, because mine is. too.

I love that she used ingredients that I can find at any grocery store.  When she uses peanut butter she uses Skippy.  When she uses mayonnaise she uses Hellman's (or Best Foods for we Westerners).  She also doesn't always use a brand new jar of every ingredient.  Sometimes her jars have been opened and used previously.  The only thing that I can't get is her homemade chicken stock, but she sure inspires me to make my own!

I also love that she just genuinely seems to love feeding people.  I know it's the premise of the show--cooking for entertaining, but she really seems to enjoy it.  I'd be happy to be a house guest at her house any time.  If I was ever invited I'd want to be invited to one of her beach meals.  They are always so fabulous.  I love when she sets a full table right on the beach.  It's so romantic and simply beautiful.  

I always learn things when I watch Barefoot Contessa, like how to shave Italian parsley from the stems, and how to get an egg shell out of the eggs when you've accidentally dropped on in.  I like learning these things from somebody who is not a trained chef, who's learned by being taught by others, and more importantly, through trial and error.  

Finally, I absolutely adore when her sweet husband Jeffrey is on the show.  He is such a dear, and I love the way they look at each other.  They love each other.  She shows her love for him by making his favorite dishes, and catering to his quirks.  He has this idea that he must eat roasted chicken every Friday night.  I can see something like that bothering me, but not Ina.  She just finds new and inventive ways to make roasted chicken for her love.

So thanks, Ina, for sharing your culinary skills with the world.  I think Barefoot Contessa is the best show on Food Network.  It wouldn't be anything without you, though.

PS  I lied when I said I never make Barefoot Contessa recipes.  I've made her Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins.  They are divine!  Run out ad get yourself some blueberries and make them for your 4th of July breakfast. These white and blue little beauties with some fresh strawberries on the side would make the perfect patriotic meal.

Comments

[Diana]

That sounds like a good show. It's funny how you can get attached to people on TV. I know I have a few real and non-real people on TV that I feel attached to. I'll have to check that show out some time.

[Hannah]

She is a gem. Someone told me once that they didn't like her show and how she cooks and I seriously gasped! She cooks from the heart, even with the cameras rolling. That speaks to me. I have made a few of her recipes and they all were divine.

[Jill]

I rarely watch her show, but I like that she's not skinny!

[claudissima]

Oh Amy, you hit a chord with me, I adore adore adore adore her. I have the same sentiments, specially with her husband, I wished I was as sweet as she is with him, me with Alf, I do the food, but sometimes, I just don't do the sweetneess. I also love her house and mostly her garden and the fact that she can go outside and cut everything, I love her dear dear friends, and just all the relationships she has, the birthday parties for kids, wow, I COULD go on and on and on...but one thing I have made many of her recepies, but mostly I have a funny tale about her creme brulee ALF LOVES IT so it was chrismas eve, or new year, and I had forgotten her receipie at home or something, and you know after a while, they expire, so I went and purchase her book, just for that...but I just love the food network channel and one of my favorites is her, it soothes me...I love it.! THANKS for posting about her. if I ever go back east...I will visit her.

[natasha]

I have a serious weakness for her brownie mix, as overpriced as it is! It's one of my favorite foods on earth!

[pjmesser]

I jumped over here from jill's.
I LOVE INA for the same reasons!!
I watch her show & have most of her books- I feel so much the same way- great post