Ina Garten in Paris
By Heather Bolen
Ina Garten and her husband, Jeffrey, on the balcony of their Paris apartment. Image Source: Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten.
During a recent visit to Paris, I had the luxury of staying with a dear friend in her chic Parisian apartment in the 7th arrondissement.
Other than to visit the Eiffel Tower, I hadn’t spent much time in the 7th, and what a gem of a neighborhood it is! Tucked away on the streets leading away from the Eiffel Tower and Champs de Mars is a bounty of quaint shops, restaurants, and cafés, mostly off tourists' radar.
It just so happens that Ina Garten, one of my most enduring celebrity crushes, also has an apartment in the 7th arrondissement. To say I kept a keen eye out for her on my daily walks is an understatement!
“I never had a day in Paris that I didn’t like.”
Now in their seventies, Ina and Jeffrey both worked in Washington D.C. as government officials. Ina was a budget analyst in the nuclear energy policy department and served in two presidential administrations, under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter (she’s brilliant).
Indeed, Ina didn't go to culinary school, and she isn't a chef. While working in D.C., she started learning all of Julia Child’s recipes, and then, in 1978, burned out on working in nuclear policy, she purchased a small, full-service specialty foods store — the Barefoot Contessa — for sale in the Hamptons. The shop was a huge success. Twenty years later, she published her first cookbook, and by 2002 started filming a show for Food Network, also called Barefoot Contessa.
Today, Ina has published a whopping thirteen cookbooks (all New York Times bestsellers) and is pals with many other big names. Here she is with one of my other celebrity crushes: Stanley Tucci.
As inspiring as her career has been, so too is her 50-year marriage. She and Jeffrey are definitely #marriagegoals. Hearts burst when Ina recounted the story of their four-month European camping trip in 1971 shortly after getting married.
They were traveling on five dollars a day, so Ina had to prepare every meal on a gas camping stove. At a campground on the outskirts of Paris, she made beef bourguignon and set up elaborate buffets for dinner. "It was the first formative period in her cooking," Jeffrey says. "All those little shops in Europe — the boulangeries — Ina would walk through them and just glow."
Meanwhile, back when they were still dating, Jeffrey had written her a letter (that she still has!) explaining how he’d love to take her to Paris but since they couldn’t afford a hotel, he promised they’d go camping. He then told her that on their next trip, they could stay in a hotel, and maybe someday they could afford to have an apartment in Paris.
In 2000, that dream came true. Ina and Jeffrey purchased and remodeled a pied-a-terre on the top floor of a Haussmann building in the 7th arrondissement.
Image Source: Beatriz de Costa / Food Network Magazine
I love all of her cookbooks, but these three are my favorites. Her recipes are delicious and many of them are perfect for entertaining as she understands that the host can’t toil away in the kitchen while the guests mingle. Anyone can make French food from home with the help of Barefoot in Paris. The books are stylish, and she’s just so sweet and relatable. Look closely, and you can see how well-used mine are!
Photo by author. ©Travel & Culture Salon
For years, I’ve combined recipes from two of these three cookbooks to create an easy go-to dinner party menu. The chicken dish is crazy easy. It can be prepped ahead and then slipped in the oven to bake while you have cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. I serve the cashews and champagne cocktail, then (as instructed by Ina) make the blinis while talking around the kitchen.
You can also make the vinaigrette ahead of time (and simply toss it with greens just before dinner) and the individual desserts (bake while eating dinner).
Pre-Dinner Drinks and Starters
Raspberry Royale (Barefoot in Paris)
Blini with Smoked Salmon (recipe available in Barefoot in Paris)
Rosemary Cashews (Barefoot in Paris)
Dinner
Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil (Barefoot Contessa at Home)
Green Salad with Vinaigrette (Barefoot in Paris)
Couscous or Rice
Dessert
Peach & Blueberry Crumbles (Barefoot Contessa at Home)
Go-To Dinners is Ina’s latest cookbook, and my kids just gave it to me for the holidays. So far, I’ve tried chicken in a pot with orzo and the blueberry ricotta breakfast cake. Both easy and delicious!
P.S. For brunch, I also love the herbed-baked eggs from Barefoot in Paris, though this recipe is a bit trickier.
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