If you’re familiar with Ina Garten it’s most likely because of her cookbooks or her TV appearances. Or maybe both. In her new memoir Be Ready When The Luck Happens, Garten writes about authoring those cookbooks and doing TV work. 

In both cases, she had some trepidation at first, but soon was cruising along successfully in each of those endeavors. She mentions in the memoir that The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (her first) has sold 1.4 million copies and, 25 years after its initial publication, is still selling.

Her cookbooks and her TV work brought her fame, but there are other stories in her new book that I found more compelling than the details of her leap into the national limelight.

She and her husband Jeffrey had four months in the spring and summer of 1972 with no obligations. And no place to stay. And not very much money. So they spent those four months camping across Europe. With guidance from the book Europe on Five Dollars a Day, they slept in an orange tent at modest campgrounds. They had the opportunity to sample foods and markets unlike those they had experienced in the U.S. The absolute freedom to do anything and go anywhere while they were still in their 20s makes for a fascinating chapter.

While she was working in a government job in Washington later that decade, Garten saw an ad for a gourmet foods and cheese shop for sale in Westhampton NY on the east end of Long Island. Despite her lack of culinary experience, she made an offer. It was accepted. And soon she was in business with a steep learning curve ahead. Her tales of taking this huge step, addressing the challenges and making it all work out are filled with instances of serendipity as well as moments of panic and despair. 

Many years later, after reaping the rewards the cookbooks and TV work provided, Garten was able to purchase an apartment in Paris. Not as easy as it sounds. But she put significant efforts into finding the right spot for her and her husband and then into furnishing and decorating it. It’s something most of us can only dream about but it’s fun to enjoy a vicarious thrill along with Ina.

At age 76, she has enjoyed an amazing life. But her story has its dark moments, too. She mentions her unhappy childhood many times in this new book. She also writes about the period in the late 1970s when she and her husband separated for several months. Even during the years when they have been together, they were often apart because of military and work obligations. 

One thing I missed in this new book was a section of ten or twelve glossy pages with dozens of photos like those often seen in bios/memoirs. There are photos in the book but they are on the same paper as the text.

And the famous person who was the source of that nugget of advice which became the title Be Ready When The Luck Happens? Well, it’s there in the book!