• I made a Thanksgiving feast using only Ina Garten's recipes. Most were easy and affordable. • I made turkey, green beans, stuffing, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, pie, and cranberry sauce. • After 10 hours of cooking, the meal for 12 was beautiful and filled with delicious highlights.

When I first became interested in cooking, I spent a lot of time watching Ina Garten on Food Network and diving into her cookbooks and recipes.

To me, Garten is one of the greats — so when I decided to cook an early Thanksgiving dinner for friends, it was a no-brainer that I'd put together a menu full of "Barefoot Contessa" recipes.

Like Garten, I kept things simple and elegant, choosing classics like roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Although I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner

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