Ina Garten Says You Can Either Get on Her Train or Get Out of the Way

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Ina Garten** (0:15)
I remember thinking how crazy it was to disagree with the top cookbook editor in the country. And I remember saying to myself, well, either I'm wrong, and he'll never have to see me again, or I'm right, and he'll think I'm a genius.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (0:31)
I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and today I'm interviewing Ina Garten. Garten's best known for her cookbooks and her show Barefoot Contessa, which premiered on the Food Network almost 24 years ago.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:46)
I'm always looking for new ways to cook chicken, but nothing says summer more than cooking chicken on a grill.

**David Marchese** (0:51)
That show taught people how to cook, a quarter cup of olive oil, a cup of onion.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (0:56)
How to entertain.

**Ina Garten** (0:57)
So I'm going to have cocktails and hors d'oeuvres on the porch.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:00)
I'm going to have dinner on the dining room table.

**Ina Garten** (1:02)
It's going to be casual.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (1:03)
And how to be unfussy about it.

**Ina Garten** (1:05)
You can use ingredients from the store, like a pound cake or vanilla ice cream, that are just as good as homemade.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (1:11)
Garten's laid-back style and plucky personality made her both a household name and a cult figure.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:19)
Delicious.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (1:21)
Lovingly parodied and memed on social media.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:25)
Tonight, I'm making a wonderful dinner and it starts with brownie pudding.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (1:30)
And now, at 78, she's doing something new. Launching a video podcast called Happy Hour with Ina, and her 14th cookbook, Simply Ina, is coming out this fall. Here's my conversation with Ina Garten.
I am thrilled to have you here. I have watched you for such a long time. I have cooked your recipes. And so, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to The Interview, Ina.

**SPEAKER_7** (1:57)
Thank you, Lulu.

**Ina Garten** (1:58)
I love what you do, too. So, I'm so thrilled to be here. Really honored.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (2:03)
Okay, so I've been doing the math on your life.
You're now 78 years old. And you are just about to start this whole new chapter. You are launching a podcast.

**Ina Garten** (2:15)
I am.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (2:16)
Um, and you started your celebrated food network, uh, TV show when you were in your mid-fifties. And you wrote your first cookbook when you were in your early fifties.
And I find this very inspirational as a woman also in my fifties. What have you learned about taking on challenges in later life?

**Ina Garten** (2:35)
I think that, um, when I look back and I think about the things that I've done, like writing cookbooks and I love working scared.
Um, because it keeps me up at night. So I love, you know, I love this expression, getting out over your skis. Well, you have no choice. You've invested your money. You've, um, you know, sort of made a stake in what you've decided to do, whether it's books or TV.
Um, and very often I've said no to things for years until I figured out, how can I do this differently? Like, I don't, I don't like doing it the way everybody else does it. I like doing, taking something like books and saying, most cookbooks are in, when I started in 1999, most cookbooks had like 250 recipes. I mean, who needs 250 recipes? I need 75 really good recipes that I can make over and over again.
Um, and so when I decided to write cookbooks, I thought, okay, I'm going to write this book. I'm not even sure my publisher was convinced that it was going to work, but it worked out okay.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (3:38)
Yeah, I think one of the things, though, that happens when people get older in particular, is that you get more afraid, um, you know.

**Ina Garten** (3:45)
You get more afraid? Oh, that's interesting. I thought you were going to say get more confident.

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (3:49)
No, I don't.
Isn't that interesting? I actually don't think people get more- You have more to lose? Well, you have more to lose, you get more set in your ways, you know.

**SPEAKER_8** (3:56)
I'm just the opposite, actually. Yeah, I know. That's what I'm-

**Lulu Garcia-Navarro** (3:58)
and I think that's such a great, um, lesson, but I think it's, it's unusual.

**Ina Garten** (4:04)
I think I have a very low threshold of boredom. If I know how to do something, I don't want to do it again. I, I love, um, using what I've learned and, and figuring out the next step. It's really clear for me. If I ask myself one question, is it going to be fun?