A Week With Ina

It's not often I have time to watch The Food Network anymore, but this slow, rainy week allowed me moments to carve out time to make sure I caught some episodes of "The Barefoot Contessa" with my favorite cook, Ina Garten.

Her show is how I learned to cook. I used to think I couldn't cook something unless I'd seen someone do it first. I wasn't good at just reading a recipe and following the directions. After watching her for years I began to become more comfortable with my kitchen skills. And even though I'm comfortable enough now to use a recipe on its own or google one of hers, I still love to watch her.

This week I got recipes for a chicken caesar salad sandwich, chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing, maple baked beans, blue cheese dip and tarragon potato salad. Needless to say, I've been on something of a cooking kick.

Here are the kids helping ice the cupcakes:

Her recipes NEVER disappoint. If she cooks it, you can bet it's delicious. Some of our favorites from her are chicken hash, brussel sprouts sprinkled with raisins and bacon and her individual meatloaf recipe. Those have been staples in this house for years.

This week I added a few more to our family favorites.