Where am I Now?: A Life Update

My newest cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey, was released on October 25th, 2016. This cookbook, one of my favourites, is not just a collection of dishes that Jeffrey adores but also a bit of a love letter to him for always encouraging me to do what I love.

My collection of cookbooks, along with my most recent one Cooking for Jeffrey

I’ve written numerous columns for Martha Stewart Living, the Oprah Magazine, and House Beautiful, and still currently write a column for the Food Network magazine. My husband and I live in East Hampton, New York, where Jeffrey is a professor at the Yale School of Management. As for me, I still presently host Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, which airs on Sunday mornings at 8:00am. Hope you can join me in learning how to recreate dishes and host your own dinner party!

I am currently in my 16th year of hosting Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network!

The Story Behind Barefoot Contessa Parties!

My philosophy is that simple foods made in advance works very well for entertaining as well as cooking for your family. I wanted to simplify classic comfort foods and hearty dishes so that they can be perfected by anyone, not just people with lots of culinary experience. I found that more people enjoyed dinner get togethers and catered parties when the food was simple. I wrote Barefoot Contessa Parties! because my 20 years' experience catering parties in the Hamptons taught me that the best parties were the ones where the host and hostess were having fun. And that meant that the simpler the food, the more relaxed the hosts are.

My Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook published in 2002

My Works

In 1999, I wrote my first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which was one of the best-selling cookbooks of the year. This book invites readers into my specialty food store and shares the recipes that made it such a success. In 2001, I followed with best-selling Barefoot Contessa Parties! in which I invites readers into my home and share ideas and recipes for having parties that are fun for all, including the host. My follow-up cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Family Style (2002), Barefoot in Paris (2004), Barefoot Contessa at Home (2006), Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics (2008), Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? (2010) and Barefoot Contessa Foolproof (2012) all continue my style of cooking with easy, delicious, and foolproof recipes that you can make at home.

My very first cookbook published in 1999

One of my more recent cookbooks where I encourage people to learn the art of food prep

After the success of my first two cookbooks, I was approached by the Food Network to host my own television cooking show. I signed to a 13-show season. My show, Barefoot Contessa, premiered in 2002 and received very positive reception.

I get to work with friends, family, and even celebrity chefs on my show Barefoot Contessa

The Birth of Barefoot Contessa

I first began to dabble in cooking while my husband Jeffrey was serving a four-year military tour during the Vietnam War. This was one of the most difficult times in my life, I even acquired my pilot’s license during this time to try and keep busy! When he finally returned from the military, Jeffrey and I took a romantic getaway to Paris, France for a four month camping vacation. It was the experience of a lifetime, and also the birth of my love for French cuisine. While in Paris, I was inspired by the beauty of the open air markets, produce stands, and fresh cooking ingredients, things that I had never seen before in New York and North Carolina. Once we returned home, I began to teach myself culinary techniques with the help of Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I started throwing weekly dinner parties, a tradition that would carry on for many years, and improved my home entertaining skills at our new home in Washington D.C.

Jeffrey as an army officer during the Vietnam War

While in Paris, we bought food at a local market and cooked meals on a camping stove

In 1978, I came across an ad in the New York Times for a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa. Little did I know this name would stick around for so long. The very next day, Jeffrey and I drove to Long Island and when finally arriving to the store, it was love at first sight. I bought the store, having absolutely no experience in the food business, or even business in general. However, I did know that I wanted to keep the name because it went along with my ideal of an “earthy yet elegant” lifestyle. I ended up relocating the store a couple times to accommodate for its growing popularity, and people praised Barefoot Contessa for its delicious food and style. In 1996, I decided it was time to take on a new challenge and actually sold the store to the manager/chef, building an office over top where I could try my hand at writing a cookbook.

The original Barefoot Contessa store in the Hamptons

My Life Before Barefoot Contessa

After high school, I attended Syracuse University, but decided to postpone my educational pursuits to marry my now husband Jeffrey Garten. Later, I took business courses at George Washington University, eventually earning my MBA. In 1978, I worked in the White House on nuclear energy policy. Although this was the experience of a lifetime considering all my ideas were going straight to the President, I wanted to do something independent with my own life, and this is how I got the idea to start Barefoot Contessa. Despite the techniques and recipes I know today, I had no formal training; I taught myself culinary techniques with the aid of French and New England cookbooks. Later, I relied on intuition and feedback from friends and customers to refine my recipes. I was mentored primarily by Eli Zabar, owner of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads, and food-show host and author Martha Stewart.

Syracuse University in New York, where I attended until deciding to marry Jeffrey

Michelle Obama and I when I revisited the Whitehouse years after working there

Welcome to my Blog!: A Little Bit About Myself

Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog!

My name is Ina Garten, but I was born Ina Rosenburg to my parents Charles H. Rosenburg and Florence Rosenburg on February 2nd, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York. I was raised in Stanford, Connecticut with my brother, my father, and my mother, a traditional Jewish family. With my father being a surgeon and my mother an intellectual with a passion for opera, I was encouraged from a young age to excel in school and had a strong passion for science. I’ve used this scientific mindset while experimenting with cooking, something that I also showed interest in from a very young age. My mother, however, refused to assist me in the kitchen despite my constant nagging, and instead directed me to concentrate on my schoolwork. For this reason, I’d say I share more qualities with my father, a lively and friendly individual, than I do with my mother. When I was only 15 years old, I met my husband-to-be and the love of my life, Jeffrey, on a trip to visit my brother at Dartmouth college. We have been happily married for 49 years and he continues to be one of my biggest supporters and inspirations.

My 15 year-old self at Dartmouth College. Time flies!

My husband Jeffrey and I on our wedding day in 1968

Jeffrey is my biggest supporter, especially in the kitchen doing what I love the most - cooking