Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa; lives in The Hampton's, and also has apartments in New York & Paris.
I recently found her routine:
COFFEE AND OATMEAL Sunday is my favorite day of the week, totally. I get up around 7:30, get the house together, and then I make breakfast: oatmeal and coffee. I put the oatmeal in the microwave for three minutes, McCann’s quick-cooking oatmeal. I never use instant. It has no texture. I brew some Eli’s coffee, put it in my big white mug, add milk and then sit at the kitchen table and read the paper. I do everything at the kitchen table: it has a metal base and concrete top, and it’s in an alcove that faces south and overlooks the garden.
BLOGGING IN THE BARN After breakfast, I wander over to the barn; not an actual barn, but a barn like structure I built six years ago after we bought the property next door. It has a 2,000-square-foot kitchen, which is great, because until then I did all my filming and cooking in the house; it’s nice to have a separate space for work. My partner, Frank, shows up at the barn and we test recipes and work on the blog. I started a
Facebook blog three weeks ago and already have 100,000 followers. Amazing. I had resisted and resisted: I didn’t even know what it meant to be liked on Facebook. But I jumped into the abyss, and now I’m splashing around.
SUBJECT MATTER Each week I focus the blog on one of four things: cooking, travel, entertaining or house and garden. After I had Elmo on my show, I wrote about it and included the recipe for
Elmo’s heart-healthy cookies.
OUT TO LUNCH At noon, Jeffrey and I put the top down on the Mini Cooper and we either drive out to
Duryea’s in Montauk or to Hampton Bays to the Canal Cafe. I have a lobster roll or some type of grilled fish; I don’t like fancy food.
SHOPPING STOPS We might stop at
Eli’s in Amagansett to pick up some food for the week, but I also make the rounds of the garden stores: my favorites are
Lynch’s in Southampton and
Marders in Bridgehampton. We’ve got two acres, and although some of it is lawn, the kitchen garden is about a quarter of an acre.
PLANTS DU JOUR In the late afternoon, I’ll plant whatever we bought that day. Last week it was zucchini, dahlias in a beautiful plum color and French melons. I just like to get my hands dirty on Sundays.
MASSAGE TRADITION Every Sunday at 6 p.m. for the last 27 years I’ve had a massage. In 1985, I was working really hard, and one day I told myself, “I’m not having enough fun.” So I did two things: I got myself a red Mustang convertible and started having massages. I don’t have the Mustang anymore, but I still have the same masseuse!
COLONIAL TAKEOUT For dinner, Jeffrey orders takeout from the
1770 House and brings it home. I watch “60 Minutes” and the must-see Sunday TV shows; now it’s
“The Killing,” but I’m excited about Aaron Sorkin’s new show, “The Newsroom.” Jeffrey watches “The Killing” with one eye closed; he wakes up at 4, so he’s entitled to fall asleep at 9 or 10. I tend to watch until 11.
You may also want to see other posts I've done on Ina at my other blog
