Ina

Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? A new cookbook by one of my culinary heroes -- Ina Garten which came out at the end of October . . . . It makes the seventh Ina book that I have and I enjoy them all --there is not a bad one in the bunch!

Even though it came out in October -- I had to wait until yesterday because I had a ticket to an author event with Ina!!!!
Me, friend Cynthia from Life + Style and 1998 other Ina fans.
They filled Unity Temple on the Plaza to the rafters!!!!
But we got to sit and listen to "Ask Ina" for a solid hour . . . . she is such a warm charming person.
And although there were 1998 other people in the room, after I left I felt as if Ina and I had a one or one conversation! It was great!!!

There was lots of laughter at some of the comments -- Ina has a great sense of humor (Jeffrey only makes coffee!!)

The most interesting Ina comment was that her favorite cookbooks are from specialty food stores similar to the one she had . . . . I, too, like those types of cookbooks (easy recipes and easily found ingredients) and that is how I found Ina in the first place -- her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was recipes from a specialty food store and although I had never heard of Ina nor seen her television program (if there was one then) . . . I liked the book because it was a specialty food store book!!!

We were sorry to see the hour end . . . but to make that sadness a little easier, we lunched at Webster House --

Fried green tomatoes for an appetizer . . .

Beef and Blue Salad for Cynthia . . .

And vegetable risotto for me -- a favorite of mine at Webster House!

And although Webster House makes wonderful desserts . . . we opted to pass and headed first to Christopher Elbow for chocolates and then to his shop, Glace, for ice cream -- I had roasted apple and Cynthia opted for Mango lime. It was the perfect end to the perfect day!!!!

Even though it was an inside event -- it was an outing and since it is Outdoor Wednesday, I'm joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.