Getting Started

It took me a while to pick a topic for my first post. I have decided it is only fitting that I pay tribute to The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. As noted in the sidebar, I have never been known for my cooking. In fact, I spend most family holidays sulking outside of the kitchen after my mother has shamed me for being the slowest potato peeler in North America. Until Ina Garten, I had only mastered the following: chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chess pie and biscuits (I am clearly a baker rather than a cook, and yes, I maintain that there is a difference.) If you are in a similar position, I highly recommend Barefoot Contessa at Home. I particularly like the roasted pepper and goat cheese sandwich recipe. Other than a few panicky emails to Farrell during the roasting of the peppers (“Should my oven REALLY be smoking this much?!?”), I felt very gourmet and confident in my abilities. And it turns out that in cooking, as in a lot of things in life, confidence is the real key. (Oh, and apparently you can’t go wrong if you cook everything in olive oil and kosher salt.) - LG