Ina Garten's love of her husband Jeffrey is both well-known and well-exhibited in Barefoot Contessa. The economist and professor has made frequent appearances on his wife's show, with his cameos always bringing a smile to viewer's faces. One of his more memorable appearances was in the episode "Post Cards from Paris," in which Ina makes a series of meals inspired by her visits to France's capital. One of them, her country French omelet, is a substantial affair stuffed with bacon, potatoes, and chives — and Jeffrey gets to enjoy it for his lunch. In the episode, he even manages to identify which restaurant's food the meal is inspired by. "He wins the omelet prize!", says Ina in response.

Elsewhere in the episode, Ina makes a host of French classics, with veal chops with Roquefort butter and a potato basil purée. Jeffrey makes another appearance later in the show, when he's sent out to find French bread and dessert. We've gotta say, we think there are worse jobs out there than being Ina Garten's personal shopper.

Who'd have thought that Barefoot Contessa would get so musical? We'd imagine that maybe wasn't on Ina Garten's scorecard when she first started her show, but by Season 11 things were starting to get a little more extravagant. As such, it was only fitting when the cast of Young Frankenstein arrived in the Hamptons fresh from Broadway, to join Ina at a dinner party. Garten rustled up a feast consisting of orange-glazed ham, lobster and corn chowder, and fruitcake cookies.

It's perhaps not surprising that this specific musical's cast ended up at Garten's house. After all, she's famously friends with Mel Brooks, the director of the original 1974 film and the composer and co-writer of the Broadway version, who appeared in an episode several seasons prior. It also wasn't surprising that this cast of consummate performers would eventually burst into song — and they did just that at the end of the episode. "Nothing could be finer than to eat a meal with Ina in the Haaaaaamptons!" they belted out, which can be seen in a clip on YouTube. For her part, Ina looked like she was having the time of her life, and we don't blame her.

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Ina Garten has been in the public eye for decades now, so it's no wonder that she's able to get some of the biggest stars around on her TV show. We saw evidence of this back in 2018, when Hollywood actor Emily Blunt swung by Garten's Hamptons home as part of her promotional tour for "Mary Poppins." Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rob Marshall, and John DeLuca all arrived at Ina's, with Blunt herself tackling some roast potatoes. "I cannot wait ... I feel quite a lot of pressure to get these roast potatoes right," Blunt said on her way to Garten's house, seen via YouTube. I feel like the whole Blunt family will be very let down if I mess this up."

Well, luckily, she nailed it, while Garten responded in style by roasting a capon to accompany Blunt's spuds. It was all part of the theme of the episode, which was to make a British-style Sunday roast, in keeping with the theme of the film being promoted. It seems like Blunt had such a good time cooking with Ina that she ended up going back a few years later. In 2022, the actor appeared on "Be My Guest with Ina Garten," when the cook served Blunt some scones with clotted cream and jam, and the two debated the layering order of the two ingredients.

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Ina's always had an eye for ways to make her show feel eye-catching and fresh, without resorting to tired old gimmicks. In season 7 of Barefoot Contessa, she managed to do this by bringing in everyone's favorite four-legged friends: Dogs. In this episode, appropriately titled "Pooch Party," Garten throws a beach party for her friends' dogs to mark one of their birthdays. The episode culminated in Ina, her pals, and their pets enjoying a fabulous shindig at the seaside, with the dogs having the time of their lives.

As is expected from Ina Garten, she also made some delicious food to go with this party. One such dish was her potato salad, which she spiked with loads of fresh dill and fierce mustard, bringing everything together with some buttermilk and mayonnaise. She served the potato salad with chicken sausages and homemade relish, with a chocolate-frosted sheet cake to finish everything off. Oh, and to drink? The occasion called for sea breeze cocktails. We'd imagine the dogs didn't get to try those out, but that's probably for the best, huh?

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Ina Garten has no shortage of glamorous pals, and every now and again she pulls a star-studded episode of Barefoot Contessa out of the bag to showcase them in all their glory. In a season 21 outing of the show, appropriately titled "Barefoot in L.A.", Garten relocated to the City of Angels to catch up with her famous friends. This episode was a who's who of Hollywood, featuring celebs like Jennifer Garner and Wendy and Carnie Wilson. True to her foodie roots, Ina also ended up cooking with Wolfgang Puck at his restaurant Spago.

In classic fashion, though, Garten then brought it back to the Hamptons and invited the cream of the crop around in the form of Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka. The brief here was to cook California-style, even though the duo are practically neighbors with Ina, having bought a $5.5 million home in East Hampton back in 2017. Interestingly, too, this wasn't the only time that Garten and Harris would collaborate on a cooking show: They also appeared together on an episode of Bobby Flay's "Beat Bobby Flay."

Ina Garten wasn't always a TV cooking star. Long before she ever graced our screens, she was working in the White House under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Although she eventually stepped away from her role working on nuclear policy to open the specialty store that would eventually make her name, she's never forgotten her Washington roots. This was showcased in "Barefoot in Washington," a special episode of Barefoot Contessa in which Ina went back to the most famous home in the country and met none other than Michelle Obama.

Ina's visit coincided with the 2016 U.S. election and Barack Obama leaving office after his two terms, so it's no surprise that the exchange between Garten and Michelle Obama was pretty heartfelt. In a touching moment in the episode, Garten expresses how much she and her friends will miss Obama's role in the public eye, and states that she knows that she'll go on to do something incredible. "I'm gonna come and eat at your house ... So don't be surprised!" Obama stated in response. For her part, Ina seemed pretty keen on the idea, and we may yet see another crossover episode with the two of them in the future.

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Ina Garten's famous catchphrase "store-bought is fine" has become somewhat of a good-natured joke amongst fans of the TV personality, who have pointed out that she tends to skip widely available ingredients for more expensive, artisanal options. Well, let it never be said that Ina can't get in on the fun. One of the best moments in Barefoot Contessa history was in the season 17 premiere, when she debuted the new run of episodes with "Store-Bought Is Fine," a show where she showcased recipes that could wield the power of ready-made ingredients.

In the episode, Ina Garten used some of her favorite brands to whip up dishes like turkey sandwiches with Brussels sprouts slaw and sweet red pepper hummus. She also made a delicious roasted eggplant parmesan with her favorite jarred marinara sauce (which is Rao's, in case you were wondering). Ina didn't let her store-bought ingredients get in the way of her culinary skill, though: She even rustled up a notoriously difficult baked Alaska in the episode.

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Superfans of Ina Garten will know that she doesn't just hang out with famous people – she also has a host of rather fabulous friends who work in and around the Hamptons and make regular appearances on her show. In one particularly memorable moment, she enlisted the services of Michael Grim, a local florist and close pal of Garten. Or, rather, she volunteered her own services in "Ina's Take-Out," an episode where she treated Michael to a full three-course meal made for his lunch break from work, which she made and transported to him in a picnic hamper. Honestly, you need a friend like Ina Garten.

You'll feel like that even more when you see what was on the menu. Michael was treated to a lunch that started with roasted shrimp with Thousand Island dressing, before moving onto salmon with lentils. For dessert, she gave Michael pecan squares spiked with orange and lemon zest. If that wasn't good enough, she also made extra for Michael to give to his customers. Now, where is his store exactly?

The great thing about TV chefs is that while you could expect them to be competitive with each other, that's usually not the case. Instead, they frequently collaborate and show up on each other's shows, to the delight of viewers. In "Cooking with Giada De Laurentiis," a season 19 episode of Barefoot Contessa, that very thing happened: Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis teamed up to swap knowledge and recipes for the benefit of their shared viewers (and, we would imagine, their ratings).

As for what was on the menu, it was pretty luxurious. The chefs traded recipes for lobster and potato salad, chocolate cassis cake, and mascarpone and lemon gnocchi. Perhaps the most interesting moment in the whole show, however, was Ina's revelation that she had never made gnocchi before. Given that this episode aired in 2013, it's kinda wild to think that Garten had got to that point in her life (and her show) without busting out this classic ingredient, but hey — stranger things have happened!

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One of the best things about Barefoot Contessa is that in the show, Ina Garten doesn't just spend her time showing us how to make fancy meals. She also goes out into the community and gives back to folks who deserve it. She did just that in "Training Day Dinner," a heartwarming episode where Garten cooked for ambulance volunteers. Ina made it her mission to provide catering for the East Hampton volunteers' monthly cookout. She worked with local barbecue chef Joe Realmuto to ensure that each of those volunteers went home with a full stomach.

As for what was on the menu itself, it was pretty special. Garten and Realmuto rustled up barbecue pork ribs and served them with an old-fashioned potato salad. For the latter, she worked with friend and volunteer Sandy Vorpahl, who likely had the inside scoop on how hungry her team would really get. To end the meal, Ina pulled out all the stops with cranberry-pear crostatas. Beats ending the cookout with some warm, melting ice cream, right?

We love episodes of Barefoot Contessa where Ina steps away from her Hamptons home (even though it is pretty beautiful, we're not gonna lie). So you can imagine how much everyone enjoyed it when she took it one further and left the physical ground beneath her feet, to serve a meal aboard a boat. In "All Aboard," Garten rustled up a meal to be served on her friend's sailboat, at a party that came complete with a nautical theme. As with many memorable moments in the long-running series, this twist on her classic service style stuck in our mind thanks to its variation on the form.

Rest assured, though, that Ina didn't try to cook her entire meal at sea; instead, she prepared her food in the comfort of her own kitchen before taking it aboard. In this episode, a roasted shrimp and orzo recipe was the star dish, with Garten cleverly using seafood to tie into the location of the meal. A simple roasted eggplant spread served as a tasteful and tasty appetizer. Finally, Ina produced a show-stopping dessert in the form of a coconut cake, upon which she scattered generous handfuls of grated coconut.

One of Ina Garten's many strengths is her ability to conjure up a sense of comfort, warmth, and nostalgia. She's not just the vehicle for those feelings, though: She's also keen to feel them herself. That's why the episode "Remembered Flavors" sticks in so many people's memories, as an example of Garten treading back down memory lane and reintroducing herself to the food of her past. The whole episode was a wonderfully warm experience, where viewers got to learn more about Ina while simultaneously enjoying what we all come for: The food.

Ina revisited her mother's cooking by making split pea soup with crispy kielbasa, and she even went one further by rustling up a spicy pimento cheese spread from her young days in Brooklyn. She also took a trip back to her early married life, cooking lamb stew with spring vegetables, which she would make when she and Jeffrey were young newlyweds living in Washington, D.C. Finally, she brings us a little more up to date with her fresh raspberry mini corn muffins, which she used to make at her Barefoot Contessa store — which, of course, inspired the very series that you watched this episode in.

There's this perception out there that Ina Garten only makes the fanciest of dishes, with ingredients that are impossible to find. Well, that's absolutely not the case. Don't let the Hamptons setting fool you, folks: Garten is more than willing to get down and dirty with her grub, as she showed in an iconic episode from season 6. In "Drill Dinner," Ina cooked with firefighter Scott Elley, who's been making dinners for his fellow workers for 30 years. In the episode, Elley and Garten make a mammoth amount of Sloppy Joes, with 35 pounds of meat and over a dozen peppers going into a pot to make sandwiches for almost 100 people. We're willing to bet she doesn't cover those quantities in her own kitchen!

In true Ina Garten fashion, though, she does add a touch of class. Garten pairs her Sloppy Joes with a stilton dressing, giving the sandwiches a funky twist. She also whips up some beef barley soup for the firefighters (well, they do need a lot of protein, right?), and treats them to pecan caramel sundaes for dessert.

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Now, it's fair to say that Ina Garten knows a lot about cooking. But even she needs to refresh her food knowledge every now and again. She was provided with this in her 2019 Barefoot Contessa episode "Cook Like A Pro: Cook With A Pro," in which she spent time with three professional chefs to learn the specifics of their trade. In turn, we as the viewers received an insight into what it takes to be some of the best cooks around there.

Ina started by working with Natasha Pickowicz, Flora Bar and Altro Paradiso's pastry chef, who talked her through how to make the ultimate roasted carrot tart. Chef and cookbook author Missy Robbins then guided Ina through some tips and tricks for making the ultimate fettuccine, and chef Marie Aude Rose finished things off by teaching Garten how to create perfect crêpes with chocolate sauce. This episode was particularly iconic as it showed viewers at home that even after 26 seasons, Ina Garten still has a lot to learn.