I get up every day, do the best that I can do, and go home and have a good time. Ina Garten More Quotes by Ina Garten More Quotes From Ina Garten Take one flower that you like and get lots of them. And don't try to 'arrange' them. It's surprisingly hard to do a flower arrangement the way a florist does one. Instead, bunch them all together or put them in a series of small vases all down the table. Ina Garten flower together trying My favorite fall or winter lunch is big steaming bowls of soup. I usually invite people for around 12:30 and have two hearty soups like shrimp corn chowder and lentil sausage soup, which can be made a day or two ahead. Ina Garten winter two fall They say that gardens look better when they are created by loving gardeners rather than by landscapers, because the garden is more tended to and cared for. The same thing goes for cooking. I only cook for people I love. Ina Garten garden cooking people The most overrated tool: a pasta maker. Why make it when you can buy it? It's a lot of work! Ina Garten pasta makers tools The most important thing for having a party is that the hostess is having fun. I'm very organized. I make a plan for absolutely everything. I never have anything that has to be cooked while the guests are there. The only thing I might have to do is take something out of the oven and carve it. Ina Garten party important fun In the summer you want fresh, light and sort of quick things; in winter you want things that are comforting, so your body really tells you you want to go towards potatoes, apples, fennel, things that are warm and comforting. And loin of pork. Ina Garten light summer winter I don't like sitting at a table that's too large, where everyone is too far apart. That's a party killer. Ina Garten party sitting tables The dirty little secret is that I grew up in a household where there were no carbohydrates allowed, ever. No cookies, no bread, no potatoes, no rice. My mother was very extreme in terms of what she served. Since I left home more than 40 years ago, I've been making it right for myself. Ina Garten mother home dirty I'm really a scientist. I follow recipes exactly - until I decide not to. And then I'll follow something else exactly. I may decide I could turn this peach tart into a plum tart, but if I'm following a recipe, I follow it exactly. Ina Garten peaches recipes may I always have music. I love it to be very upbeat. When you're having drinks, I like something like Cesaria Evora. During dinner, I like the much more traditional - old Frank Sinatra and things like that. Ina Garten upbeat dinner drink I think there are two ways of eating, or cooking. One is restaurant food and one is home food. I believe that people have started making food that is easy that you want to eat at home. When you go out to a restaurant, you want to be challenged, you want to taste something new, you want to be excited. But when you eat at home, you want something that's delicious and comforting. I've always liked that kind of food - and frankly, that's also what I want to eat when I go out to restaurants, but maybe that's me. Ina Garten home believe thinking With more and more fast food available, it takes an extra effort to cook delicious, healthy meals. I have always been a proponent of simple, easy food that doesn't take forever to cook so you really can eat well at home. Ina Garten effort simple home The planning is everything. Deciding which dishes you're going to prepare can turn into the make-or-break decision five days later, when you actually serve the meal. Ina Garten make-or-break meals decision People have more fun if they don't eat so much they have to be taken home in an ambulance. Ina Garten taken home fun I think the best shortcut is to choose really simple recipes. Because I think you can make simple recipes that are as delicious as complicated ones. Ina Garten recipes simple thinking I use other cookbooks for inspiration. I must say I tend to cook from my own cookbooks for parties. Ina Garten party inspiration use I absolutely adore Thanksgiving. It's the only holiday I insist on making myself. Ina Garten holiday thanksgiving adore I worked for the Office of Management and Budget in the White House, on nuclear energy policy. But I decided it would be much more fun to have a specialty food store, so I left Washington D.C. and moved to the Hamptons. And how glad I am that I did! Ina Garten office white fun You don't have to do everything from scratch. Nobody wants to make puff pastry! Ina Garten puff scratches want I love Alton Brown's show 'Good Eats,' about the chemistry of food. It's really thoughtful. Ina Garten thoughtful brown chemistry
