It’s no secret that we consider the Barefoot Contessa to be a culinary Queen. Ina Garten possesses a certain je ne sais quoi in the kitchen that we long to emulate. She’s confident, adept, and demure, yet spirited, with just the right covetable balance of country chic. In short, she’s perfection. Which is exactly why when the Contessa speaks, we listen. And in a recent interview with Bon Appétit, she dropped more than a few major food rules to follow (a.k.a. swear, live, and breathe by) — from drinks, eats, and sweets preferences, to must-have kitchen tools, fridge and summer ingredient staples, and even the one food trend that’s on her shit list.
In the interview, Garten declared that (when pushed) she would choose cookies over brownies, but honestly, would like to pick both. (We are here for that, Ina!) The most important factoid we learned had to do with Ina's fridge staples. We were expecting the Barefoot Contessa to call out a fancy mustard or some kind of appetizer platter that she refreshes daily as her go to staples. But, Garten once again proved her accessibility when she instead answered that she always keeps "butter and eggs" on hand in her fridge. Those two ingredients might not sound like much, but when you think about it, butter and eggs are both baking staples and starter ingredients for a whole slew of easy dishes. Plus, you can always make a scrambled or friend egg for a quick meal with those dairy aisle items on hand. As Ina would say: how easy is that?!
So now we're officially planning to steadily stock our fridges with eggs and butter until the end of time. Oh, and feast on cookies AND brownies, preferably together. (Because why choose one, when you can have both?)