Ina Garten and Julianna Margulies at the celebrity chef’s East Hampton home.Photo:Ina Garten/Instagram
Ina Garten/Instagram
Ina Gartenhas all the tips to keep hosting fun.
On Wednesday, the Food Network host shared her own secrets for having friends over for dinner, complete with a menu that details the perfect time to throw everything together.
“Jeffrey and I had some wonderful friends for dinner on Saturday night,” Garten wrote on Instagram. She shared that she wanted the menu to “wow” her guests while still being “simple to prepare so [she] could have fun at the party, too.”
“It’s too stressful to cook an entire dinner just before people arrive (yes even for me!),” she said. With this in mind, Garten focused on preparing dishes that could get a lot of the leg-work done in advance and be thrown together just before guests arrived.
For her dinner party, Garten shared the six different dishes that made the menu and how she paced out the lead up to her guests' arrival. (All the recipes are on herwebsite.)
Starting early with dessert, Garten made the dough and cut-out the shapes for theseshortbread cookiesthe night before. She eventually baked them off right before dinner. She also served acoffee granitawhich got thrown together the morning of her soirée.
For drinks, theBarefoot Contessabatched and chilled somewatermelon cosmosin the morning, too.
To cap off the a.m. prep work, Garten made a few of the more savory elements. She whipped up someguacamoleto be ready when guests arrived and also started making the broth base of hershrimp and swordfish curry.
Ina Garten and her husband, Jeffrey.Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Later, the hostess prepared basmati rice 15 minutes before it was time to eat and cooked the seafood in the curry for 7 minutes, to keep everything fresh and flavorful for the meal.
“The dinner was pretty good,” Garten said. “I don’t think anyone was disappointed!”
Garten encouraged fans to “try this menu for your next party.” She added: “It’s a good one.”
The Good Wifestar said she “is still dreaming of that watermelon cosmo and that entire dinner”
In February, theFood Networkstar revealed her kitchen remodel in her home in East Hampton, N.Y.
“During the Pandemic, I gave myself a project of renovating my kitchen, which I actually hadn’t done in 25 years!!” she wrote in the caption ofan Instagram postshowing off her new digs. “I built my dream pantry and bought my favorite Lacanche stove plus lots of food photographs and a great view of the garden.”
source: people.com
