An Evening with Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa
Posted on November 16, 2012 by Leslie Blythe 3 comments
Last night I went to An Evening with Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa interviewed by KCRW’s Good Food host, Evan Kleiman at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. She is currently doing a book tour with her new cookbook Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. This is Ina’s 8th cookbook. I can’t even imagine writing one cookbook, let alone 8! Anyway, I have cooked through all 7 of her books and even made her Sticky Toffee Date Cake with Bourbon Glaze in August (she released the recipe as a teaser before the book came out), which is foolproof and delicious.
The main theme of the evening was keep it simple, which she has stuck to from the get go and is why she is so successful. I always have to remind myself not to over think it, which I always do. When I am in a dilemma with a catering job, I ask myself what Ina would do, pour through her books and come up with a solution. The words that describe her are – simple, elegant, straight forward, easy, etc. I love that. Clear out the clutter from your house and your mind.
Her husband, Jeffery, was a hot topic. Everyone wants to know more about the elusive Jeffery. They seem to have the perfect marriage spending weekends together. She said if she was hit by a bus (God forbid), that millions of women would be bringing him roast chickens. I believe that.
The other thing is that she hates cilantro (as did Julia Child) and you will never find it as an ingredient in any of her cookbooks. I don’t like it either, but I can now tolerate it in small amounts. This is the way I feel about lamb. I have never made it or blogged about it and never will. I hate it! C’est juste dommage.
She loves to have great music on during her parties and her favorites are a series of CDs called Hôtel Costes by Stéphane Pompougnac (a Parisian hotel famous for its luxuriance and a popular hang out of the Paris) a series of compilations.
Oh, she was also asked what kind of skin cream she uses. It’s RoC.
