Love to Love it #47 August 20, 2008

Oh how I love to LOVE Ina Garten.  She is so fabulous!  Her show, Barefoot Contessa, is my favorite on the Food Network.  She has a fabulous life.  She lives with her husband Jeffrey in the Hamptons.  Her show revolves around her life entertaining her friends and family.  She really knows how to throw a party.  What I love most about her is she pulls off elegance with such ease.  Whether she is hosting a Sunday morning brunch or a Friday night dinner for Jeffery, she loves cooking and especially for those she cares about.  She also writes cookbooks.  I own Barefoot Contessa Parties, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, and Barefoot Contessa At Home, buy them here.  My favorite is Barefoot Contessa Parties, but they are all great!  I will warn you, her food is not South Beach approved .  She doesn’t skimp on the heavy cream if you know what I mean, but once and a while, a decadent meal is pure bliss!  

I have to say that thing I love to love most about Ina is her story.  She was working in the WHITE HOUSE office of Management and Budget during Jimmy Carter’s administration, and decided she needed a change.  She wasn’t doing what she loved.  She went out on a huge step of faith and bought a speciality food store in the Hamptons, without any experience to draw from!  Talk about brave!  She spent 18 years running that store, Barefoot Contessa before she sold it.  Once she sold the store, she started writing cookbooks and began new endeavors on the Food Network.  That inspires me!  Even though she had a fantastic job at the White House of all places, she didn’t settle for doing something less than what she really loved.  We all could learn a little from that.