Ina Garten Explains Why She Decided to Make That Giant Cosmo

It seems like a lifetime ago that Ina Garten further cemented her place in our quarantined hearts by making an enormous cosmopolitan cocktail and posting the instructional video on Instagram. It was quintessential Barefoot Contessa material — just what you would expect from Ina minus the production value of her television show — but it was still surprising. It had a real “Where the heck are we and what is going on?” vibe.

While a far cry from the effortlessly reassuring nature of her usual material, it worked because it was exactly what we needed. And that, says Ina in an interview with People, was exactly the point. She talks about how she uses Instagram and what she has been posting throughout the pandemic. “I think people liked that I kept it upbeat, even though we were all anxious,” she explains. Between little laughs, big cocktails, and quintessential comfort food, Ina’s Instagram has been a light in dark times, both for her audience and for herself. “It gave me a focus when we didn’t have one and connected me with people who were really struggling.”

In the interview, she also talks about how big the changes at the beginning were for her: Jeffrey was suddenly home all the time, never at work or traveling. “I always wondered what it was going to be like when he retired,” she said. “And when this happened, I thought, oh, I guess that’s what’s it’s going to be like.” And like all of us, she suddenly found herself with oh-so many meals to cook, noting that she hadn’t cooked every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for herself daily in years. And certainly not without her usual ability to source the best and most perfect ingredients for every dish — even Ina had to learn to compromise during the pandemic.