Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients

Back in the day, when I was still watching television, Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa was one of my favorite shows on The Food Network. Most of the time, her recipes were easy enough that even I could follow along with her. Her easy manner as she visited the various markets to pickup food supplies, her time in her gardens and setting up places to dine outdoors, and welcoming her guests to her home for delicious meals was all part of the ambiance of her show.

The title of the cookbook highlighted today just reinforces what I like about The Barefoot Contessa - that she is a back to the basics kind of cook. That is my kind of cooking. Using simple ingredients to produce meals with a fabulous flavor sounds like a great plan to me.

In this particular cookbook, she focuses on the techniques she uses to create her great food and her easy entertaining style. There are close to a hundred new recipes to check out ranging from French classics easy enough for any of us to make, to her simple home cooking tips we all have grown to love.

As she covers the essential basics of how to gather the necessary ingredients together to how to host a successful party, she allows us to follow along so that we know exactly how to be a success at cooking, baking, and entertaining.


Reading and using a cookbook created by the Barefoot Contessa is like taking a master class at a well-regarded cooking school. She provides a question and answer section with answers to questions real people often ask. The beautiful full-color photographs and valuable cooking tips makes this a must-have addition to your library of treasured cookbooks.

Do you watch the Barefoot Contessa? What is your favorite TV cooking show?

Paula Deen 3 Quart Stack & Steamer, Stainless Steel

Anyone desiring to live a healthy lifestyle understands how important nutrients are for good health. When we cook our food, we need to save the nutrients for our body while we maintain the color and taste of the food to satisfy our soul. If the food doesn’t look or smell good, we probably won’t eat what we should.

That is one of the things I like best about the Paula Deen 3 Quart Stack and Steamer. Using the steamer does everything we want to make our meal delicious as well as looking palatable.

I have found that anything Paula Deen indorses is quality. This stainless steel covered saucepot with steamer insert is perfect for steaming vegetables quickly and safely so that we can enjoy the delicious tasting meal.

One of the best things I like about this steamer is that I can watch the food cook without opening the lid. Having wonderful cooking equipment in my kitchen makes it much more fun for me to spend time providing good home cooked meals. I love this steamer and I hope you give it a try as well. You'll be glad you did!

This item and more wonderful Paula Deen products as well as other kitchen pots and pans can be found on my Squidoo lens that pays homage to Paula and her products. You can reach this lens by clicking on the link just above this paragraph. If you would like to see more Squidoo lenses, you can click this link.

Are you a Paula Deen fan? Do you watch her TV shows? Have you ever visited her restaurant (if you have I'm going to be very jealous :))?