Are Ina and Jeffrey Garten Really That Happy In Their Love Story Romance?

They’re good friends. I don’t begrudge them their platonic partnership. They’re growing old together.

Good point R1

Ina and Jeffrey decided early not to have kids and you can see that Ina is not remotely maternal, even with friend's kids she says she adores. An interesting thing she said was that her mother was fairly cold and didn't encourage her interests like cooking and instead pushed her into things like science. She said she identified more with her dad than her mom. Her dad she said was warm and gregarious.

It's very uncommon to see an older couple who is childless by choice on TV. I do think they share an interesting, loving relationship. I mostly doubt Ina is a dyke because of all her gay male friends.

R3 thank you.

They have a nice comfortable life together. That's good enough for them I guess.

R5 True. Maybe they are just Asexual?

I do think Ina is a cutthroat a businesswoman as Martha Stewart but because of her homey presentation, no one really believes it. Here is how "Barefoot Contessa" met its end according to Wikipedia: " The store was permanently closed in 2004 when property lease expired and negotiations failed between Garten (still the owner of the building) and the new owners. Allegedly, Garten tactically refused to meet lease negotiations to regain control of the store after Forst and Hodges lost the business to competitor, Citarella. Garten did not reopen the shop, but retained the property for potential new tenants."

I thought this was an interesting commentary about Ina and her concept of motherhood:

"There was one component of Ina's brand mélange that was adopted but then discarded: ideas of mothering and motherhood. "Very quickly I realized that coming into a food store was really like coming home to mom," she told Martha in that video. "You wanted to be made to feel really comfortable, you wanted to be welcomed." The idea crops up as well in the preface to the first cookbook, in an explanation of Barefoot Contessa-ism: "It’s about Mom." But even already there is a caveat: "It's more of an emotional picture of a mother who was always there," Ina writes. And when a friend was working too hard, she writes, she had him over and made him ice cream and cookies: "Isn't that what we wanted our mothers to do?" We did want that, and we did not get it. After the first book, "mother" is mostly stricken from Ina’s rotation of motifs. Mom is too fraught. Instead, Ina is a stalwart defender of being welcoming."

[quote]We all know that families now aren't necessarily like Ozzie and Harriet (it turns out Ozzie and Harriet's family wasn't all Ozzie and Harriet)... family has a traditional context, but today it's not as simple as two parents with 2-3 kids... it's about relationships... it's about people who are bound together by love and a sense of being responsible for one another... it's spouses with no children, like Jeffrey and me... it's a group of women who meet to cook dinner together once a month... it's a one-parent family with adopted children... it's two men who've made a life together... at the end of the day, all we have is love... getting love, but even more, feeling love...

Remember, she has an MBA and worked in the White House. Not all women have an ambition to be a mother.

In a recent Proust Questionnaire at the back of VANITY FAIR, virtually half the answers referred to Jeffrey in some fashion.

[quote]They’re good friends. I don’t begrudge them their platonic partnership. They’re growing old together.

Agreed. I get the impression Ina doesn't care about dick at all. Jeffrey's probably a great companion and she loves her late-middle-aged gay friends. I doubt she feels like she's missing anything.

Ina is so morbidly obese and whiney, no one would try to fuck her-male or female. They’d have to dip her in flour and find the wet spot.

R12 terrible visual.

She is not all that fat. Maybe not even officially obese. Yes, she's overweight but she's neat and she seems to be quite active for her age, as does Jeffrey. I'd rather be as overweight as Ina and as rich as she is than normal weight and poor, which I am. She's got nice hair and a still pretty face and a zillion bucks. We should all be so lucky.

R14 well stated! We must all love her body and all or else we wouldn’t be watching her. If she was obese that would be a different story.

Thanks R15. Your post too!! Also I've watched Ina since she began on FN and her weight stays the same. It's not like she's gained any weight in about 15 years. That might just be the weight her body is comfortable at. I hope when I'm her age I can say I haven't gained any weight in about 15 years. I'm assuming one of these days just eating the same as I eat now I will start to gain weight. It happens to almost everyone. Also I don't see any signs at all of Ina having any kind of work done on her face. I was shocked to see the wedding pictures as she really doesn't look all that different now. Again, we should all be so lucky.

Bump

She used to be skinny.

Martha Stewart will always be a better woman because she has children. I'm sure Martha looks down on Ina, and for good reason.

Martha: "Ina is barren and I pity her."

Considering Martha spawned Alexis, I think that was enough punishment for both Martha and the world.

R14 & R15 = fatties.

R18 what is wrong with Ina’s right leg. In the picture it looks twice as big as other leg.

Young Jeffrey was hot! Young Ina was cute.

Why was he in the military? It was not what NJBs of our generation did then.

R24 yes I believe he was in the military.

[quote]Are Ina and Jeffrey Garten Really That Happy In Their Love Story Romance

"Love Story" romance? I don't think either of them died at a young age.

Did you mean "storybook romance?"

But why, R25? Not what people our age did if they could help it.

Whatever the situation it seems to work for them.

She farts alot. Alot.

They're happy together, they're growing older together, and I get a "best friends" vibe from them.

What I wonder is, how many of Ina's gay pals are also Jeffrey's gay pals? Of course most of them are much better-looking than he is and ought to be out of his league, but maybe he's rich enough to punch above his weight.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Just my opinion, I enjoy Ina; she seems more likeable than Martha. (Martha is a mother, and seemingly worked out her relationship with her daughter, Alexis. Alexis had great difficulty becoming a mom.)

I like it that Ina had a career before her current one; she seems more grounded and happier than Martha.

If I had to buy one of her cookbooks, which one is the best?

I do love watching her cooking show, she's pleasant enough and the food always looks very good.

And it gives me the chance to pretend I'm a wealthy retiree who has nothing to do all day but get the flowers and table just right for gatherings of old friends, and I can afford a lovely comfy beach house and $300 cheese boards for after dinner nibbles. Who wouldn't want to live like that.

One òf my bst friends worked with Jeffrey at Yale and loathed him. She said he's an arrogant, unpleasant asshole who was universally disliked by colleagues.

[quote]OP I hate U! I hope a large sword goes in your ass piercing UR heart.

It had better be a really good quality sword.

R37's friend is an anti-Semite!

R36 Agreed! They seem to have a loving relationship and a nonstop stream of good food in a cozy home. Ina, if you're reading this, will you adopt me?

R40, Ina and Jeffrey don't want kids. Or pets. Not a criticism, but Ina never struck me as maternal in the least and she admits that herself. Even interactions with kids is perfunctory and you know she can't wait until they get out of her perfect house.

You say that like it's a bad thing, R41.

I can’t imagine Jeffrey getting on top of fat ol Ina and plowing her into next week. They’re both gay.

I think Ina is just non sexual and Jeffery is gay. I loves her gays friends because she knows the won't bother her.

BTW, why does the florist gay keep coming to set all these table settings for her and he never gets invited to even taste a damn thing? He may think of her as friend but to her he's just the help.

Maybe Jeffrey is one of those old-fashioned Jewish men who is happy to get laid in the missionary position once or twice a year.

I bet she used to squirt very good mayonnaise out of her vagine. And very ketchup until she went through the change.