Ina Garten »
Ina & Jeffrey Garten: In Love For 40 Years
Published on: July 30, 2009 – 12:13 pm by Jillian Madison 
Comment
Ina Garten and her husband Jeffrey have been together for 40 years, and they claim to be as much in love now as they were when they met in high school all those years ago. From the outside, it seems they have a rare relationship that is to be envied. We should all be so lucky!
However, things can’t always be so perfect, can they? Here’s how we imagine them experiencing the not-so-happy moments that all marriages have:
Other posts on Food Network Humor:
---Jeffrey, You Old Dog---Barefoot Contessa: the Jeffrey Garten Birthday Episode
---Ina Garten Dissed Jennifer Garner
---Alton Brown Celebrating 10 Years Of “Good Eats” With Live Shows
---Top 10 Reasons Ina Garten Is Disgusted
THIS WEEK: Ina Garten porn, Giada's gone Chinese, a review of Giada's Parmesan Garlic Dipping Sauce, Paranormal Cake Challenge, Down Home with the Neelys and Gina's rude sister, NFNS recap, tons of listener mail, and more!
I remember that one when he was on his laptop. But look at the screen – it’s not even on! And before she gets there he is typing away. ha ha
I laughed out loud at the last one… hahaha
LOL! I loved them all. Why is it that on Food Network shows featuring friends & family, they always ask the cook how they made the dish? The whole show was showing us how to make it and then the host goes into detail about how he/she made it and everybody praises the person. Hello? Isn’t that their job to cook good food? Plus, nobody cares about how it was made. Just pass the damn food. My, that turned into a rant. Sorry.
Ina certainly seems to be in the public eye quite often this past year. In the past, she hardly ever did anything extracurricular for Food Network.
Maybe when Lehman Bros. flamed out Jeffrey lost his Brooks Bros. shirt and Ina now has to carry some of the burden.
I love the episodes where Jeffery has to go back out of town (again) and Ina tells him “Aww, Jeffery. Too bad. We’re having a barbeque at the beach and I’m making your favorite chicken dish. I’ll miss you!” Gads. If she really loved him wouldn’t she just keep her mouth closed and not tell him all the fun he’s going to miss? Maybe what she’s really saying to him is “Aww, Jeffery. Too bad. But somebody has to go work while I play in my new three million dollar barn with my gay buds! See ya!”
One of the things that makes me (and my husband) like Ina and Jeffrey so much is that their “story” is really quite similar to ours. We met when my DH was a junior in college, and I was a senior year in high school. We’ve been together since then and have been married almost as long as the Gartens. One major difference, though, is that my husband likes to cook and is pretty darn good at it.
Hahahaha…could you imagine Jeffrey rolling up to KFC.
Isn’t he a professor or dean at Yale? He probably has his own table at Pepe’s.
Every time there is a “show of affection” on the show, like a peck on the cheek or a half-a$$ hug, I squirm in my seat. It’s so forced and uncomfortable.
“…could you imagine Jeffrey rolling up to KFC.”
How far would Jeffrey have to drive to find KFC anywhere in the Hamptons?
Haha Jeffrey’s probably never been to KFC in his whole life – or any other fast food place, for that matter.
I feel really sorry for poor ol’ Jeffrey…he works, works, works, and she just goes to the beach or the flower shop and spends his money on food for her weird friends…do they have any children??? I never thot so, since she never mentions them…maybe that’s why she has “adopted” so many of those “festive” men :)
I hope he runs off with some hot babe, like the “Count” Douchebag on “Real Housewives of NY” did to the “Countess” LuAnn….hahahaha
Aw. I think they’re sweet. They live their lives exactly as the wish, and it just so happens they do it together. Either that or they have a really great writer on staff to make me think so!
How come Jeffery hasn’t been on any of the new episondes of Barefoot Contessa????
Jeffrey hasn’t been on the show this season because he is still working his ass off to pay for her barn!!! Her kitchen in the house wasn’t good enough?? Oy vey!
More Ina stuff, please! You’ve nailed it.
Haven’t heard about Jeffrey in this new season. Is he alright????
Jeffrey will go down as one of the great cuckholds of all time. I love it when she’s all “I sent Jeffrey to the store to get some green onions! I hate to think what he’s going to come back with!” Then the roll of the eyes. You can practically hear the unspoken “that moron” at the end of her sentence.
If Jeffrey knows what’s good for him, he has a hot blond chippy in the city.
Don’t you think it’s odd that there hasn’t been any mention of Jeffrey this season? Saturday, Ina made a birthday bbq for two couples and once again, no Jeffrey. Does anyone know what’s going on?
She stays at home during the week, cooking for gay friends and plastic-surgeried “socialites,” and he’s off somewhere, anywhere…as long as it isn’t at home. Then, when Jeffrey does arrive on Friday, he’s met by a rampaging Ina at the door. She showers him with kisses, wraps her bulk around him, and all the while, he’s looking off, allegedly toward the kitchen. She calls him “Sweetie,” he replies with, “what’s for dinner?” She pours him a whiskey sour and calls him “babe,” he replies with “is that chicken I smell?”
Later, when the camera lights go off and everyone’s gone, Ina’s in her den watching her two-disc special edition DVD of “Sleepless in Seattle,” and Jeffrey’s upstairs fast asleep. In the guest bedroom.
@ sistahdelish I ALWAYS say Jeffrey has a chippy in the city!! That is why, whenever he comes home, he has to run up and take a shower.
I certainly think that it’s quite odd for her not to mention Jeffery’s name this season, since she acts like a little school girl in love when he shows up. I’ve noticed all of the affection is initiated by Ina. It has always been my suspension that he has another woman.
Rod Labbe’s comments (above) are hilarious. It’s funny how this show inspires off-line fantasy storylines in the viewers’ minds. My husband & teenage daughter and I have a pet name for Ina (which I will not mention since it is somewhat impolite) and we laugh at ‘poor’, brilliant, educated, accomplished zillionaire Jeffrey pretending to be a dummy to Ina’s mommy cook. The bottom line is the Hamptons are the attraction here – the recipes are recycled Julia with 5 times the butter, salt and sugar. Still, it is fun to watch in a morbidly fascinating way!
I’d love to see an episode of Contessa featuring the ghost of Julia Child! Only this would be the much older Julia, the one who used to lean precariously over the meals and grunt and burble incoherently–all while another chef nervously tried to prepare something edible before Julia spit her dentures into it. She and Ina would make a great team! Ina, advising us all to use “good vanilla,” while Julia takes a swig from the bottle and says, “wow, that IS good!” Giggling nervously Ina freaks when Julia’s wig gets caught in the potato mill. A knock-down battle ensues, with Ina developing a very rapid case of shpilkis in her genechtagazoink. Jeffrey pops in with chopped liver, it’s waved under her nose, and Ina revives.
She looks around the kitchen. Besides Jeffrey, no one’s there! “Babe, I just had the strangest dream,” she whispers, wiping away a tear. “I dreamed that Julia…”
“Hey!” Jeffrey shouts. “Who the hell dropped their teeth on the salmon loaf?!!”
OMG, Rod. I laughed ’til I cried….
I love to watch Ina ’s cooking show,in fact if I miss it I record it. I use her recipes all the time, and her entertaining ideas are really useful. I like it when Jeffrey is on her show,and it is very obvious they have great affection for each other and after 40 years of marriage not everyone can say that. All of Ina’s friends,some are gay ,so?I think it would be alot of fun to be her friend and be invited to be on the show, who wouldn’t love to eat that good food Ina cooks?Mary P
@Mary P: I totally agree with you! Ina is one of my all-time favorites on FN, and Barefoot Contessa is really the only show that I make sure to watch whenever it’s on. I confess that I poke fun at some of Ina’s idiosyncrasies here at FNH, but I assure you that it is all in good fun and that I truly enjoy Ina’s effervescent personality, her gracious style of entertaining, and her awesome food. It would be an honor and a pleasure to attend one of Ina’s gatherings.
Mary P, you can forget about being invited to eat at Ina’s! That is, unless you fit the following criteria:
(1) you’re rich
(2) you’ve had a face lift
(3) you’re gay and rich. Being gay isn’t good enough. You’ve got to have the bucks, too.
(4) you’ve been to Paris several times “just for the heck of it”
(5) you’ve written a screenplay, directed a movie, or wrote a book.
(6) you’re a famous borscht belt entertainer, a la Mel Brooks.
(7) you’ve just moved to the Hamptons and need someone to host your “open house.”
(8) you’re a florist with highlighted hair. And you’re a male.
(9) you’re an expert at organic gardening and are willing to break your back working in Ina’s garden. Compensation: a greek salad with, ugh, feta cheese!
(10) you’re an ex-employee of Barefoot Contessa (only in good standing, obviously).
(11) you’re Ina’s editor.
(12) you’re a hunky guy named TR with no apparent means of support. Yet, you’ve got a “fishing shack” worth thousands.
If you meet any of these requirements, expect a call from Ina! Otherwise, content yourself with watching endless repeats of Ina blinking into the TV lights!
Rod
@Rod: What a hoot! One of the best posts ev-ah :)
really enjoy her show, great recipes, very relaxing to watch and very informative
Frankly, I’ve had about all of 2 ton Ina that I can take.
For those who say they have “tried” her recipes, then you are in the same upper class crust as she is because frankly, while she does use quality ingredients they aren’t the cheap ones. I don’t know of many families who can spend $40 on dinner every night of the week and still be preparing it at home.
I give credit to her for her accomplishments. Although she (and Jeffrey from my understanding) both had a “comfortable” youth, they did work very hard and became successful. I appreciate Jeffrey’s Vietnam service and his military history in the Special Forces. I appreciate Ina being a Nuclear Policy advisor for the White House and preparing papers and decicisons for several administrations.
Bottom line here though is that they are very wealthy and they have a lifestlye that is only dreamed of by the average person. And showing that over and over with recipes that are costly and geared to the fake socialite upper crust are hard to swallow for the average American.
I have no problem with success but people have to remember here that the current success is from the TV show and it isn’t the “rich and famous” who are the viewers and supporters of the show. Tone it down for a more average person and for the love of God, leave all the gays out of it.
I think Ina’s recipes are great. Not all of them mind, but what I do is take some of her recipes and cooking/baking tips and combine it with other chefs’ views and guided by my own tastes and preferences, come up with dishes I love and that work for me and my family. I think Ina and Jeffery’s marriage seems genuine and if it isn’t, it’s none of our business! Their interaction is only offered as an aside to the main point of the show – cooking. So don’t be spiteful or mean or presume to know what’s going on with them. Either watch the show/s and take from it what you will, or don’t watch. It’s quite simple really!
I am missing Ina’s husband and worry that he may be ill.
I always figured Ina was Jeffrey’s “beard”, which is totally fine if it works for them. I have noticed Jeffrey’s absence, however, and I wonder if their situation has changed. Perhaps he ran off with one of Ina’s florist-friends, or something.
I love Ina and yes, I tape her programmes for when I have the flu and want something really escapist to watch. But one thing, I have never once ever seen a person on her show who was anything other than Jewish or WASP, doesn’t she know any Black people or Latinos, Asians or people from anywhere else? There are never any genuine Europeans either. Also there are never any ordinary working class types there either.
Funny place, the Hamptons!
I like the gay men too and occasionally we get some lesbians, but the unreality is amazing.
I think Jeffrey should be given his own show, as a great spin-off, called “What I do during the week.”
Susanne