Relaxation With Ina

In this heat, pants are not an option.

The other day I went to GAP and tried on a bunch of clothes. I picked out a good pile of stuff to buy, but as I gazed upon the autumn appropriate clothes, I decided to abandon the purchase because of the heavy reality, that there is no end of summer in sight. I realized how ridiculous it is to buy various sweaters, thermals and jeans when the temperature this week is reaching 108 degrees. I wouldn't be able to wear any of these great items till November, and that kind of long-term preparedness, is not me.

I knew this week we'd be laying around in our undies, watching obscene amounts of TV. I set the DVR for The Barefoot Contessa. I used to watch the show daily when Kiki was a newborn. She was a "bad sleeper" and her afternoon nap always had to be in my arms, so I'd watch Ina Garten make delicious food. Ina is a diamond in the rough of Food Network. Her food is healthy, fresh, and easy to make. In fact her catch phrase is, "How easy is that?" Which always makes me smile. Last year Ina was on a talking tour, and I saw her speak in downtown Sacramento. She was interviewed by a woman with the honest-to-god name, Kitty. Kitty drove me mad because it was clear she had not bothered to read Ina's Wikipedia page before writing down questions to ask the chef, caterer, gourmet grocery store owner, writer, and branding genius. I fumed in my seat thinking, "Get this attention whore, Kitty, out of the presence of brilliance." Ina was graceful when faced with Kitty, a women drenched in gaudy clanging jewelry, and Ina didn't slap the hussy for being unprepared and shamelessly overstepping her moderator role.

My mom likes telling me how I was Mr. Rogers's number one fan when I was a kid. I'd sit cross legged in front of the TV and smile at him as he talked to me. My sister came to visit, and we watched Barefoot. She was impressed by Ina's presence, and said, "You know who she reminds me of? Mr. Rogers." I turned my head away, and said, "I don't see it." But afterwards, I realized she is right. Ina Garten and Fred Rogers are the most calming people I know of. Their emotions stay within a very tight range of happy and a little bit happier.

On Monday, in anticipation of being trapped indoors all week, I stocked the kitchen with everything I expected we'd need.  In addition to food for meals, I bought popsicles, ice cream, chips, salsa, yogurts, milk, chocolate milk, cheese and a couple boxes of cereal, like I was preparing for an apocalypse. Boredom and TV watching set the stage for noshing, and Barefoot Contessa makes me even more hungry. I found myself eating a box of cereal a day. The thing with cereal is it is so damn delicious that its easy to keep eating it past the point of being full, but after it's in the belly, soaked in milk, it swells to four times its size, causing painful post-thanksgiving fullness. Each evening I'd lay in bed with Kiki waiting for her to fall asleep (she is still a bad sleeper) feeling like I had cement hardening inside my stomach.

Kiki and I watched Barefoot this afternoon. The episode was called "shake it up" and Ina gave recipes for cocktail snacks and drinks. Kiki watched all week, but today she was really engaged. She started talking to Ina like she was having a conversation. She said, "Wow, lady! That's a lot!" and "Hey little girl! Hey you!" screaming at the TV to get Ina's attention. As Ina explains how tuna tartare is cooked by lime juice, Kiki realized her hollering wasn't getting Ina's attention, and Kiki asked, "Who is she talking to?"
I said, "She is talking to a camera. She knows people are going to watch it, so she is talking to an audience." Then I added, "She is talking to us, baby. She is talking to us."