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I measure everything, because I always think that if I've spent so much time making sure this recipe was exactly the way I want it, why would I want to throw things into a pot?

Ina Garten

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Ina Garten
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: February 2
Author
Chef
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Ina Rosenberg Garten
Think
Making
Recipe
Thinking
Everything
Recipes
Much
Pot
Way
Measure
Always
Throw
Things
Spent
Would
Exactly
Time
Sure

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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.
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I don't like sitting at a table that's too large, where everyone is too far apart. That's a party killer.
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The thing about all my food is that everything is a remembered flavor. Maybe it's something I had as a child or maybe it's something I had in Milan, but I want it to taste better than you ever thought.
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If it's a cocktail party, I generally make five or six different things, and I try to choose recipes that feel like a meal: a chicken thing, a fish or shrimp thing, maybe two vegetable things, and I think it's fun to end the cocktail party with a sweet thing.
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I love to take something ordinary and make it really special.
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You don't have to do everything from scratch. Nobody wants to make puff pastry!
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Instead of going out to dinner, buy good food. Cooking at home shows such affection. In a bad economy, it's more important to make yourself feel good.
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I've lived in the Hamptons since 1978, when I first bought my store Barefoot Contessa.
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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.
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Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable.
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My mother would never let me in the kitchen. I always wanted to cook, but I was never allowed to. Her view of the world was, Cooking is my job, and studying is your job. I think, in retrospect, she didn't like the chaos. She was very orderly. It had to be her way.
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The most overrated tool: a pasta maker. Why make it when you can buy it? It's a lot of work!
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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.
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One of the great gifts that you can give people is to cook for them.
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I use other cookbooks for inspiration. I must say I tend to cook from my own cookbooks for parties.
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I get up every day, do the best that I can do, and go home and have a good time.
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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.
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