Reunited and it feels so good!
Jennifer Garner just spent her Sunday morning with "Barefoot Contessa" star Ina Garten — the inspiration for the actress's heartwarming and hilarious "Pretend Cooking Show," which she shares on social media — and the love fest was real.
"I understand if this brings up big feelings for you 😬, but I spent the morning with @inagarten. ❤️ In her barn kitchen, in her garden, having coffee…yes. It's true. 🤗 I even got a sneak peek of the new Barefoot Contessa cookbook— #CookLikeAPro— it's fabulous," Jen captioned a July 15 Instagram selfie with the Food network star.
"Thank you for the perfect morning, Ina, you are beloved for a reason. I can't wait to continue the conversation. ❤️, Jen. #sheseverythingwewanthertobe #luckyme."
For her part, Ina was just as enamored. She shared the same photo and captioned it, "Such a fun morning with @jennifer.garner! Nothing more soul satisfying for me than to spend time with a smart, compassionate woman I admire."
The women became friends three years ago after Ina learned that Jen, like many celebs — including Duchess Meghan, Taylor Swift and Gwyneth Paltrow — was a big fan. "Somewhere along the line I found out that she liked my cookbooks and my TV show, so I asked if we could cook together," Ina told People magazine in March. "She was very sweet she invited me to her birthday party. It was all girls in swimsuits — it was so Jennifer! It was so fun and not fancy, which is what she's like."
In February, Jen — who launched her own organic baby food brand, Once Upon a Farm, earlier this year — posted a birthday tribute to Ina on Instagram, sharing a pic of them eating together along with the sweet message, "Three years ago @inagarten cooked for me on my birthday…today is her 70th birthday and if I was able to cook for her, it would only be because she taught me (and the rest of America) how. Thank you and happy birthday, Ina. Xx."
Ina has confessed that she adores Jen's "Pretend Cooking Show," which sees the mom-of-three sharing homemade videos and recipes for her family's favorite foods including Ina's honey white bread (which Jen made into little bread men), the smoothie from nutritionist Kelly Leveque that Jen drinks every morning, kale and beet chips, a homemade bagel recipe (that failed the first time she tried it!), Huckleberry restaurant's English muffins, Martha Stewart's roast lemon-chicken soup, "pass-it-back" granola bars, chocolate pudding, The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever." and Mel's Kitchen Cafe's pizza cracker.
"Isn't she lovely?! I just think she's so wonderful," Ina told People of Jen before praising the actress's social media cooking clips. "I love her videos so much. She is adorable and smart and not at all performing — that's just who she is. I just think she's really special."