Anyone heard of Ina Garten?

Aper Wikipedia: Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, Garten was the first of two children born to her surgeon father and homemaker mother.[1] Strongly encouraged to excel in her school career, she showed an aptitude for science and often won top honors in local science fairs. Garten's mother, an intellectual with an interest in opera, refused her daughter's requests to assist her in the kitchen and instead directed her to concentrate on schoolwork. Garten has described her father as a lively individual with many friends, and has commented that she shares more characteristics with him than with her mother. At 15, she met future husband, Jeffrey Garten, on a trip to visit her brother at Dartmouth College.[1] After a year of exchanging letters, they began dating when Garten turned 16. After high school, she attended Syracuse University with plans to study fashion design, but chose to change her major to economics. However, she abandoned her educational pursuits to marry shortly thereafter and did not obtain a degree. In 1968, Garten left New York and relocated with her husband to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. At this time, she began to dabble in cooking and small-scale entertaining in an effort to occupy her time while her husband served his four-year military tour during the Vietnam War. After completing his term, the couple journeyed to Paris, France for a three-month camping vacation that Garten has described as the birth of her love for French cuisine. During this trip, she experienced open-air markets, produce stands, and fresh cooking ingredients for the first time.[2] Upon returning to the States, she began to cultivate her culinary prowess by working her way through the volumes of Julia Child's seminal cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.[2] Her weekly dinner party tradition began taking shape during this time, and she refined and polished her home entertaining skills when she and her husband moved again in 1972, this time to Washington, D.C. In Washington, Garten worked in the White House and took business courses at George Washington University while her husband worked in the State Department and completed his graduate studies. Originally employed as a low-level government aide, she climbed the political ladder and was assigned the position of budget analyst, which entailed writing the nuclear energy budget and policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants for then-Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.[3][4] Strained by the pressures of her work and the serious, high-power setting of Washington, Garten once again turned to cooking and entertaining in her free time, constantly arranging dinner parties and soirees at her home on the weekends. Meanwhile, she was buying, refurbishing, and reselling ("flipping") homes in the Dupont Circle and Kalorama neighborhoods.[3] The funds from these sales gave Garten the means to make her next purchase, the Barefoot Contessa specialty food emporium.

Ina Rosenberg Garten (born February 2, 1948) is an American chef, former caterer, cookbook author, columnist, and hostess of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. Known for demystifying fine cuisine with an emphasis on quality ingredients and timesaving tips, she has been championed by the likes of Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and Patricia Wells as a top authority on cooking and home entertaining. Garten had no formal training, and instead taught herself culinary techniques with the aid of French and New England cookbooks. Later, she relied on intuition and feedback from customers and friends to refine her recipes. She was mentored chiefly by Eli Zabar, of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads fame, and domestic maven Stewart. Among her hallmark dishes are cœur à la crème, celery root remoulade, pear clafouti, and a simplified version of bœuf bourguignon. Her culinary fame began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa; Garten parlayed this success into a string of best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded convenience foods, and a popular Food Network television show.

i love ina garten.. love watching her show barefoot contessa. :) she and her husband jeffery is so sweet on that show :)

I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT IS BUT I LOOKED AND FOUND THIS INFO ON THEM: Ina Rosenberg Garten (born February 2, 1948) is an American chef, former caterer, cookbook author, columnist, and hostess of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. Known for demystifying fine cuisine with an emphasis on quality ingredients and timesaving tips, she has been championed by the likes of Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and Patricia Wells as a top authority on cooking and home entertaining. Garten had no formal training, and instead taught herself culinary techniques with the aid of French and New England cookbooks. Later, she relied on intuition and feedback from customers and friends to refine her recipes. She was mentored chiefly by Eli Zabar, of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads fame, and domestic maven Stewart. Among her hallmark dishes are cœur à la crème, celery root remoulade, pear clafouti, and a simplified version of bœuf bourguignon. Her culinary fame began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa; Garten parlayed this success into a string of best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded convenience foods, and a popular Food Network television show.

nope, didn't know her. But I have read fro the people's replies here...I am learning a lot. :)

i'm a big fan of the foodnetwork and i see her from time to time because her show comes out after my favorite one which is everyday italian. now giada delaurentiis is incredible. watch her she'll keep you entertained and makes you want to go into the kitchen and just cook and bake up a storm.