We all want to live in Ina Garten’s world, where the herbs are always fresh, the kitchen is gleaming, a pot is simmering on the stove, and her husband, Jeffrey, is whipping up a batch of perfectly chilled cocktails. In this fairytale home, the culinary goddess has written her 13 bestselling cookbooks (over 14 million copies sold worldwide) and filmed two television series, including Be My Guest with Ina Garten. Season seven just debuted on the Food Network with Tina Fey, Christine Baranski, and Itzhak Perlman playing sous chefs. While we wait patiently for our dinner invitation, we take a peek at Garten’s truly charmed and charming life.
WAKE-UP TIME: I’m up at 6:30 or 7:00. I have a hard time going to sleep, but once I get there, I stay asleep. Jeffrey does not snore. Lucky me!
BREAKFAST: Every morning, I drink Dallis Brothers Coffee—the Ellis Island Blend—and toast Eli Zabar’s health bread.
VITAMINS: I take a One-a-Day vitamin.
SNACK: At 10:30 a.m. on the dot, my brain goes “Tea!” and I have a cup of Mariage Frères Marco Polo tea with honey.
GO-TO COCKTAIL: I have three! In the summer, it’s a cosmopolitan, and in the winter, a whiskey sour. When I don’t feel like having a cocktail, I have Campari and soda. Is that too many? I spend more time talking about cocktails than actually drinking them!
WORKOUT: I go for walks a lot. Twice a week, a trainer comes, and twice a week I do yoga. I try not to do anything else! My work is physically active, so it’s not like I’m sitting around.
ENERGY BOOST: Tea, because I can’t drink coffee after the morning.
PRODUCTIVITY HACK: I take a nap. I check out for like an hour every afternoon. You need to be under the covers, though; you can’t just sit in a chair. The covers have to be up!
MOOD LIFTER: I call Jeffrey!
GUILTY PLEASURE: Eating ice cream at 10 P.M. It’s the worst thing you can possibly do. I mix vanilla bean Häagen-Dazs and raspberry sorbet. That’s my idea of cooking!
LIFE PHILOSOPHY: We all think we want to surround ourselves with people who love us, but the key is to surround yourself with people you feel love for. To me, it’s all about love. Everything we do is about love. It’s about being with people you love, feeling love, treating people with love, and approaching people doing crazy things with love instead of judgment. I’m not always successful, but I try to do that.
BE MY GUEST: I was talking to a friend, and she said people choose their profession to work out their issues as children. My mother was so controlling and never allowed me to cook, so I thought that was why I found cooking so satisfying. But when I started Be My Guest, I realized what had been missing from my mother was connection. The show is about cooking and connection, and it is so deeply satisfying to me.
GO-TO SPA TREATMENT: Every Sunday for 40 years, I’ve gotten a massage from the same person. It prepares me for the rest of the week. It’s easy to make the time when you don’t have kids, or cats, or dogs. My life is pretty simple! I also love a good facial. My favorite is in Paris at the La Prairie spa.
SKIN CARE MVP: I pretty much do the same thing all the time, but I’m erratic about it. I get a facial and think, “I’ll do this skin care routine twice a day for the rest of my life!” and then I forget about it. I use La Prairie products and think they’re really good. They’re expensive, but who’s going to take a chance on your own skin, right?
FIRST BEAUTY PRODUCT: I never had beauty products when I was a kid.
MAKEUP HEROES: I basically just use lipstick, mascara, and eyeliner, and I like classic brands like Estée Lauder and Clinique.
THE BOB: When I was 25 and working at the White House, my hair was all the way down my back. I went to a French hairdresser who said he wanted to give me a bob, and I’ve had the same hairstyle since then. You do the math!
BEAUTY TREATMENT YOU’LL NEVER EVER DO AGAIN: A bad facial is so uncomfortable. They use all these machines now! I like beauty treatments to be pleasurable.
IF YOU COULD CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I’d like to be a tall, thin blonde—wouldn’t everybody?—but then Jeffrey wouldn’t be interested in me, so I’m OK with my appearance!
PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF: Don’t make long-term plans, because what evolves if you let the universe reveal itself is so much more interesting than what you had planned. I’ve learned that over the years.
FOOD PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED YOU LOVE? When I’m on the road doing book tours, I love going to In-N-Out Burger and having the Double Double Animal Style. I’m encouraged because Julia Child used to love the same thing, so I guess it’s OK.
WHAT’S ALWAYS IN YOUR FRIDGE? Eggs—because you can always make omelets—fresh fruit, cheese, Pellegrino, and all kinds of vinegars.
LAST MEAL REQUEST? A very large French apple tart and a glass of Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes.
THANKSGIVING ENTERTAINING TIPS: People tend to have family members and friends with food issues. Do not make five different dinners for them. It’s a jigsaw puzzle, but figure out one meal that everybody can eat, and if somebody is a vegetarian, make sure you have several vegetable sides.
People sometimes feel like hosting Thanksgiving is a pain in the neck, but remember that these are the people you love. I invite people I love for dinner, and I want them to have something delicious.
WHEN IS STORE-BOUGHT NOT FINE? It’s not fine when it tastes like store-bought. For example, cake mixes always taste like cake mixes. There is something in the chemical flavor that’s just awful. But if you can buy pre-cut butternut squash, it saves you a lot of trouble. Haagen-Dazs makes fabulous vanilla ice cream, so I would never bother making it. That’s the distinction. Choose the things in the grocery store that are really good and not worth making yourself.
GO-TO HOSTESS GIFT: I like to bring a gift bag filled with good coffee, preserves, and granola that they can enjoy in the morning.
BEST THING ABOUT GROWING OLDER: Clarity. You understand what’s important and not necessary. You pare down anything that doesn’t bring you joy. It doesn’t mean not working hard, but it’s working hard towards things that make you feel good and that you think are worth doing.
SECRET TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE: Marry Jeffrey! Marry somebody who is a really good person, makes you happy, and really wants to be with you.
WHEN ARE YOU HAPPIEST? When I wake up in Paris and Jeffrey and I have nothing to do. We just follow our noses, go on long walks, hang out at cafés, and have dinner with friends.
Holly Parmelee, formerly an associate publisher at Little, Brown and Company, is an editor and writer at Serendipity magazine
