Ina Garten

My extravagance is my garden - it's the first thing I look at every morning when I wake up. It gives me so much pleasure.

If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it's really like making a large chicken.

I absolutely adore Thanksgiving. It's the only holiday I insist on making myself.

I love to take something ordinary and make it really special.

The thing about all my food is that everything is a remembered flavor. Maybe it's something I had as a child or maybe it's something I had in Milan, but I want it to taste better than you ever thought.

Instead of going out to dinner, buy good food. Cooking at home shows such affection. In a bad economy, it's more important to make yourself feel good.

I try to greet my friends with a drink in my hand, a warm smile on my face, and great music in the background, because that's what gets a dinner party off to a fun start.