Auntie Goes to School

I was recently on a flight to Florida on a Saturday morning. Luckily I had the faaabulous individual television screens on Jet Blue to occupy me. As I was flipping through the channels  I saw that Barefoot Contessa was about to start. It isn't a given that I will always stop what I'm doing to watch Auntie, but something immediately caught my eye...and it wasn't the food.

Before I was able to plug in my headphones to hear what she was planning on making, I noticed that Ina was in a classroom full of high school students with special needs.

The whole scenario both shocked and thrilled me. It seemed so unusual to have Auntie in that setting. She's always with her friends, other celebrities, chefs, or various service providers. I recall one or two Barefoot Contessa episodes with children in them over the years and they were pretty awkward. Auntie isn't particularly natural with youngsters. Hence the shock.

The thrilling part? Not only were there children, but they had developmental disabilities...an issue very close to my heart. I am a teacher of young children with special needs, and I have a child with Autism and ADHD. I blog about that here at www.awesomeism.blogspot.com

The premise of the show was that Ina was going to do some baking with the students, and then they would sell what they've made at a bake sale to raise money for field trips. It was such a nice change of pace from the usual posse of TR the model, or Michael the florist, or even Jeffrey bumbling around like a modern day Mr. Magoo.

I was pleased with the way Ina was interacting with the students, giving them positive feedback and trying in her own giggly way to make them comfortable. It was enough to almost make me forget about her foray into frozen food. But not quite. I don't think I'll ever forgive her for that, but this did soften me up a bit! After doing a bit of research I found out that this show was a from 2012....but I am really glad I finally caught it. 

The recipes that she made with the kids looked fantastic.  Old-Fashioned Banana Cake and Blueberry Muffins.

I hope to see Auntie break her own mold a bit. It was really such a treat to see her in this light. Even more impressive was that she didn't seem to even mention or acknowledge that these students were anything but your typical, average kid. It was a great approach.

Who knows? Maybe next we'll see her making something for the homeless? Although she'd have to leave East Hampton for that. NEVERMIND!