Oh, Ina Garten

It’s been a mild autumn here, but now we’re moving on. Colder, wetter coming up. This is the current conversation with neighbours when we meet: oh, it’s lovely – too bad it won’t last. I have friends who live in a central European city and they leave over winter. They are artists – so flexible. They said something about either Sicily or Sardinia this year. I get very uncomfortable in winter here as it tends to be so damp. If I could figure out how to afford going south I think I would try it.

But, as ever, I digress. On to the subject of the day.

Among my recent reading was Ina Garten’s recently released memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. If you aren’t familiar with Ina, she’s something of an everything person, but she’s best known for her cooking shows and cookbooks.
The memoir is worth reading, IMHO. Garten is not your usual celebrity – for a number of reasons.

First, she’s short and chubby. Sort of something of an average looking every woman but so much more. And I see her as an F.U. to people who feel you have to look a certain way to be successful.

Her childhood wasn’t awesome and, interestingly – at least to me – she married quite young and the relationship has endured.

Also, she comes across as incredibly tenacious, very intelligent, and completely lacking in an off switch (eg, if I want to do it, I do it).

The only thing that made me twitchy in the book is when she talked about her famous friends. But that’s me being silly. She’s a famous woman who worked hard for where’s she’s gotten (ie, no nepo baby here without talent who is simply good at using someone else’s money).

Otherwise, this is a rather great read. Ina Garten has never been afraid of doing things which is a great antidote to hearing about people’s fears.

She’s powered through difficulties – trusts her own judgement and abilities.
She didn’t initially do stuff with food but clearly that’s where she ended up and she’s really good at it. I like her cooking shows, her cookbooks are good, she’s fun and interesting when she appears on other people’s shows.

And she loves Paris – like loves to the extent that when she was first married with no money she and her husband, Jeffrey (he’s a whole ‘nother interesting story), spent a summer in France living in a tent on $5 a day. When she had the money, she bought an apartment in Paris and there’s a lot of vicarious pleasure in reading about where it’s located, what’s great in the neighbourhood, and what she did with it.

Finally, she’s got great taste in perfume. Apparently, her signature scent is Frederic Malle Une Fleur de Cassis which is to her the epitome of Paris. A Dominique Ropion scent, released in 2000, notes include mimosa, sandalwood, jasmine, cassis, vanilla, rose, musk and aldehydes.

People I know who love this call it sex in a bottle but French sex. It’s got that dirty knickers thing going on under a lovely floral.

One of the first food things Garten did early on in her work life was a leap of faith in buying a food shop out on Long Island in New York. The shop was called the Barefoot Contessa and that name became her sort of branding.

It seems to me Une Fleur de Cassis fits right into that.

Are you familiar with Garten? Like her shows and books? Have read the memoir or are planning to?
Pics: Wiki and Wiki Perfumes