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Ina Garten on her memoir, and a life of reinvention
Even making a cocktail with Ina Garten takes precision, but boy, is it worth it. “The key to this is that it’s fresh juice,” she said. “So many times you go to a bar or restaurant and they make whiskey sours with, like, bottled lemon juice. That’s just the worst!
RECIPE: Ina Garten’s Fresh Whiskey Sours
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The kitchen in her studio in East Hampton, New York, is familiar to millions of viewers of her Emmy Award-winning cooking shows on the Food Network. But she doesn’t like to call herself a chef. “Well, I’m not,” she said. “I’m not a trained chef.”
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In fact, as she writes in her new memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens” (to be published October 1), back in the 1970s she and her husband Jeffrey were both working in economic policy jobs at the White House. But her “after hours therapy,” as she puts it, was hosting dinner parties for friends. “I just thought, this is backwards,” she said. “I love what I do after hours, and what I do during the day wasn’t so exciting to me.”
Just after her 30th birthday, she was reading The New York Times, when she spotted a little ad for a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa. “And I went home that night and I said to Jeffrey, ‘I need to do something creative.’ And that was the beginning of it.”
They bought the shop for $20,000, taking a second mortgage on their D.C. home. Jeffrey would commute on weekends, while Ina ran the store.
It was especially surprising because, growing up, Ina was not allowed to go off the beaten track in any way. “It’s not just that I wasn’t allowed to go off the beaten track,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to make a decision on my own.”
She was born Ina Rosenberg in 1948, and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where her father was a doctor and her mom stayed at home.
It was a very comfortable life, but there was a family secret: Her father was prone to temper tantrums and would physically beat her, even dragging her around by her hair. “I think I wanted to fight back, but I was afraid he would kill me,” Garten said.
Asked if her mother tried to protect her, Garten replied, “Maybe she was just as afraid as I was.”
But her life would change when she was just 16. While visiting her brother at Dartmouth College, another student named Jeffrey Garten spotted Ina through the library window. Asked what he found so attractive about her, Jeffrey replied, “Everything, absolutely everything. The way she was standing, she was laughing. And she was just beautiful.”
He wrangled an introduction, and they were married in 1968.
While Jeffrey is sometimes a congenial presence on Ina’s shows, he is also a noted economist, whom Ina credits with giving her confidence after her miserable childhood. But not about one key thing: she says she was scared that she wouldn’t be a good parent. “Absolutely, one hundred percent,” she said. “Jeffrey would’ve been a fabulous parent, just fabulous.”
But asked what he thought about their not having children, Jeffrey said, “I didn’t think so much about it. I was very busy just moving on, so it didn’t bother me.”
Ina threw herself into running the Barefoot Contessa with well-heeled Hamptons clients, including a woman who came in every week to buy 10 pounds of grilled lemon chicken. “And finally after weeks and weeks of this, I had to say, ‘What are you doing with ten pounds of grilled lemon chicken?'” Garten recalled. “She said, ‘My cat likes it.'”
But after a while, as Ina reveals for the first time, she began to question the traditional mid-century roles in her marriage, and asked Jeffrey for a separation: “I love to cook dinner, but what I don’t like is for somebody to expect me to cook dinner,” she said. “I think there’s a big difference.”
“So, what I say is, don’t cook dinner,” said Jeffrey.
“And then I cook it!” Ina laughed.
They clearly worked out their problems. Ina moved her store to East Hampton, but sold it in 1995. She was restless and wanted to try something new. So, she turned her talents to writing cookbooks. Her first, “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,” published 25 years ago, was a smash hit. “I somehow connected with home cooks in a way that I couldn’t have imagined,” she said.
Now she’s written 12 more. “I think it’s kind of like exercise,” Garten said. “The more you do it, the better you get at it.”
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And with another cookbook on the way, and a popular TV show, “Be My Guest,” Ina Garten says she’s doing what she loves.
And what’s more, before he died, she got an apology from her father: “He said, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking.’ That was it. And I realized he tortured himself as much as he tortured me. And it was over. It was so simple and it was so effective, and it meant everything. And then we went on to have a good relationship.”
RECIPE: Ina Garten’s Fresh Whiskey Sours
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Story produced by Julie Kracov. Editor: Chad Cardin.
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Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place to avoid contact with a chemical plume after a fire at a chemical plant.
Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters that a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers. That caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, which produced a plume of chemicals. The chief said she wasn’t sure what chemicals were included.
A small roof fire was initially contained, but reignited Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Eric Levett said in a video posted on Facebook as gray smoke billowed into the sky behind him. He said authorities were trying to get the fire under control and urged people to stay away from the area.
People in the northern part of Rockdale County were ordered to evacuate and others were told to shelter in place with windows and doors closed. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Christine Nesbitt did not know the number of people evacuated.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division were both on site, county Emergency Management Director Sharon Webb said. The agencies are monitoring the air “to give us more of an idea of what the plume consists of.”
McDaniel said crews were working on removing the chemical from the building, away from the water source. Once the product is contained, the situation will be assessed and officials will let residents know whether it is safe to return to their homes, she said.
An evacuation center was opened at Wolverine Gym in Covington.
Washington — Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off on Tuesday in the first and only vice presidential debate of the cycle, as the two candidates look to prop up the Republican and Democratic tickets with fewer than 40 days until Election Day.
The debate, hosted by CBS News at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City, will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.
Here’s what to know about how the candidates are preparing for the debate:
How JD Vance is preparing for the VP debate
The Ohio Republican has been preparing for the debate for more than a month, a source directly involved told CBS News, including with “murder board” sessions with a small team that includes Vance’s wife and his advisers, along with senior Trump adviser Jason Miller.
Among Vance’s main focuses during the preparation has been studying Walz’ debate style and policy record, the source said, noting that Vance will attempt to highlight what he sees as the Minnesota governor’s left-wing views during the debate.
Vance told reporters last week that his plan is to break down what the Trump-Vance administration would do to make “life better” and connect that to policy.
“So, we’re studying up as much as we can on the issues that matter to the American people, and I’m looking forward to it,” Vance said.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, is standing in for Walz during Vance’s debate prep, four sources familiar with the preparations told CBS News. Emmer and Walz have deep roots in Minnesota and are close in age.
Emmer told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he’s known Walz for decades and has spent the last month working to “get his phrases down, his mannerisms.”
“My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so JD Vance knows what he’s going to see,” Emmer said.
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How Tim Walz is preparing for the VP debate
Walz has been preparing for the debate with a close team of advisers, a source familiar with the preparations told CBS News. Some of the people involved also helped Vice President Kamala Harris take on former President Donald Trump, among others, like a long-time aid to Walz who worked with him during his bids for governor.
For Walz, whose name recognition was until recently limited outside of Minnesota, the focus is on continuing to introduce himself to the American people, according to the source. He’ll also work to highlight Harris’ vision for the nation’s path forward.
“You’ll hear me talk like I have about things that impact Americans, making sure they have the opportunity to thrive, making sure that we’re being factual in how we talk about that,” Walz told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow of the debate earlier this month. “And so I’m looking forward to it. I’ll work hard, that’s what I do.”
During debate prep, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is standing in for Vance, a campaign official familiar with the preparation told CBS News. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also assisted Harris during her debate prep in 2020, and is close in age to Vance.
When and how to watch the presidential debate
Debate coverage on CBS News 24/7 begins at 4 p.m. ET, with the debate getting underway at 9 p.m. ET on Oct. 1.
The 90-minute debate will be streamed on CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+ across all available platforms and CBSNews.com. The debate will also be simulcast across other broadcast and cable networks.
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Actor John Ashton, best known for his role as the by-the-book detective in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise, has died, his publicist Alan Somers confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. He was 79.
Ashton died Thursday in Ft. Collins, Colorado, after a battle with cancer.
“John was a loving husband, brother, father, and grandfather who will be deeply missed by all who knew him,” a statement said.
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Ashton was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on Feb. 22, 1948, and raised in Enfield, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California.
Throughout his 50-year career in show business, Ashton appeared in nearly 100 movies after making his debut in 1973’s “The Psychopath.”
He was probably best known for his role as Det. Sgt. John Taggart in the first two installments of the “Beverly Hills Cop” series alongside Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. He reprised his role in 2024’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.”
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Other film credits include “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “She’s Having a Baby,” “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League” and “Gone Baby Gone.”
On television, he played Willie Joe Garr on several episodes of “Dallas” and made an appearance on such shows like “Columbo,” “Police Squad!” “Hardball” and others.
“John devoted his career to honing his craft and bringing characters to life on the screen. His presence will be greatly missed,” Somers said.
Ashton is survived by his wife Robin Hoye, three children, three step-children and a grandson. He also leaves behind two sisters and a brother.
“John leaves behind a legacy of love, dedication, and service. His memory will forever be treasured by his wife, children, grandchildren, as well as his brother, sisters, his extended family and all who loved him,” Somers said. “John’s impact on the world will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come.”
The family requests any donations in Ashton’s memory be made to Pathways Hospice Care
Residents in Georgia ordered to evacuate or shelter in place after fire at chemical plant
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens across Lebanon as Hezbollah confirms a 7th top commander was killed
Residents told to evacuate or take shelter after Georgia chemical plant fire