I'm a fan of her chicken potpie recipe.

seagrass

I like about every recipe of hers that I have tried.

I guess if she has done well enough to afford to live in the Hamptons it doesn't bother me. She still seems a lot more down to earth than most other celebs.

Linda

I'm a fan of Ina's brownies and my cookbook software is full of her recipes. I think if I were to give credit to just one person for teaching me to cook it would be Ina. I wish Food Network would produce more new shows. IMO, she's gotten stale in the past several years.

I also really like her background, especially that she got up one day & decided to take her life in another direction. Of course, having a DH with a resume like Jeffrey's she was in a financial position to do most anything her heart desired. I'm sure that helped ease her transition. But her own education & background certainly gave her a head start on establishing her new career. Ina was working at the Office of Management and Budget as a budget analyst writing nuclear energy budgets and policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants for Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. She also earned her MBA. Not a resume to be sniffed at either. No doubt financing her Barefoot Contessa store was easier for her than many others with similar goals.

Still, along with Tyler Florence, Ina's my favorite FN show. I admire her accomplishments as well as her brownies. :)

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Jeffrey Garten

I love her brownies, too, and nearly every recipe of hers I've tried.

The airbrushing was likely not her idea, but the magazine people's decision. I think magazines are air brush happy.

I don't begrudge her lifestyle nor where she lives. I do occasionally chuckle at some of the expensive ingredients she chooses to use, but I can usually fine less expensive substitutes. For instance, I sometimes will substitute ordinary Swiss cheese for the Gruyere she loves to use in casseroles. I'm not offended by it, more amused.

Sally

I don't have a favoite Ina recipe, but enjoy her shows. The one who drives me crazy on tv is Martha. They have made her so hazy looking in order to hide her wrinkles, that I feel like my cataracts are getting worse when I watch her. The same thing goes for Barbara Walters on the View. The one camera that focuses straight on at Barbara is also kind of hazy.

I'm not sure how I would feel having to stare at myself on a 42" HD tv. Maybe I'd want to be "hazed" too!

I think Ina had to work hard to get where she is, even if she had a financial leg up at the start. I really like Julia Louis-Dreyfus even though she is a billionaire, and would be if she never worked a day in her life.

Because someone has the advantage of money is no reason to belittle their accomplishments nor their abilities. That's called reverse snobbism. Some of my best friends are mega millionairs..;-)
I think Ina is a good cook and I like her shows.
And....don't you think that turkey is airbrushed too??

None of the celeb chefs have their own recipes.

Their fans submit thousands of recipes, the staff chefs sorts them out, tries them out, changes ingredients here and there, the writers program a show around the final dishes. Still, in the taping of a show, many things can go wrong, they just cut those out.

The celeb chefs spend most of the time with the makeup team than with the recipes.

Famous comedians don't have to write their own jokes.

dcarch

Ina is my favourite TV cookbook author and show.
I love it that she's till down-to-earth even though she's wealthy.
She's also earned her wealth.

As Tricia mentioned she's worked all her life, and had very good jobs. Jeffrey is a huge success as well. If I remember, he's semi-retired and working from home now, or something.

I admire her, and her kitchen! She has every kitchen gadget known to man, which I certainly wouldn't do....hauling out a big machine to squeeze 2 lemons is not my thing, but if that's what she wants, power to her.

I also like her lighting in her show. Everything is so bright and cheery. And they do enough close-ups, she's not afraid to show her face.

I love Ina's casual elegance & her attitude that entertaining isn't about showcasing 16 different appetizers that you've spent the past 3 days preparing. She always seems to say to make 1 or 2 homemade simple appetizers & then find a great deli, cheese store, bakery, produce market, etc. & fill in with store bought items. Keep plating simple & keep flower & linen colors understated. My favorite dinner floral arrangements are now clear glasses filled with an abundance of fresh herbs reflecting the herbs used in the meal. I have gone much simpler in my entertaining since watching Ina. I also mix 'n match much more frequently. Actually, guess I really like Ina's style 'cause we rearranged our sunroom to more reflect a style I'd developed in my mind from watching her. Our sunroom is now our dining room.

dcarch, this video would seem to suggest that Ina does create recipes although I'm also pretty sure she has lots of assistance.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Ina talks about her recipes

In 2006, when Ina's "Barefoot Contessa At Home" was released I attended a signing at the Stonewall Kitchen flagship store in York, Maine.

She was engaging and personable for the hours & hours she greeted people and signed cookbooks. What surprised me most, seeing her in person, was that she was far more petite than I would have thought based on how she came across to me from her shows. I'd say she is about 5'2" (my height) and she has narrow shoulders and looked far more slender in person than I would have guessed.
Also, and even more striking to me, was how beautiful and unlined her skin was - though not in a Botox-y way (she still had natural laugh lines around her eyes, etc.) She had a remarkably lovely complexion and appeared to have been wearing minimal makeup. She wore a dark wool jacket with a gorgeous periwinkle colored scarf around her neck. A number of women wondered aloud after seeing her that they'd love the "recipe" for whatever she uses to keep her skin so glowy.
That's 5 yrs. ago and she might have begun to show more signs of aging since then, and I'm guessing the magazine used photoshopping regardless, but I can attest from first-hand scrutiny that Ina's skin is (was) enviably youthful for her age.

Who cares whether someone or something has been airbrushed. Ina has class ...she's very gracious and more power to her if she has money. I have a feeling she would not be as critical of some here as they have been of her. She also knows how to cook and most of her ingredients may be pricey but are not exotic. And I love Gruyere cheese. Hats off to Ina.

jude

A couple years ago she was at a book-signing in Toronto. I would have loved to have gone. There was a write-up about it, and she was just amazed at the amount of people that showed up. It seems she didn't think she was that popular here in Canada.

She apparently was very gracious then, too.

I agree about her complexion. With the close-ups on tv, you can see that she has good genes!

High-5 Jude! I agree totally.

I love gruyere cheese, too, but I can't afford it all the time. That's why I said what I did about substituting less expensive ingredients. I didn't mean to belittle Ina at all, as I am another in her fan club.

Sally

Her Lemon Bars! Om nom nom!