4 min read
Key Points
To reconnect with cooking, I decided to channel my inner Jennifer Garner and spend the weekend making her favorite recipes.I prepared Jen’s weekend staples: pizza from scratch, burritos, and even a bread-making tradition Jen has maintained since childhood. Ultimately, the experience gave me a newfound appreciation for the joy of cooking, and I realized that not everything has to follow an exact science.
I will never find myself in the same culinary category as Ina Garten—or Giada De Laurentiis, or Julia Child, for that matter. I’m not a professional chef, and honestly, I have zero aspirations to be. But there is one bona fide home-cooking icon that I do feel qualified to share a kitchen with, at least figuratively speaking: Jennifer Garner.
If you’ve ever fallen down a rabbit hole of Jen’s social media cooking series, Pretend Cooking Show, you know that she has a refreshingly approachable strategy to cooking—one that includes infectious enthusiasm, fuss-free recipes, and instructions that are actually easy to follow.
She’s all about making good food, feeding the people she loves, and having fun while doing it. And that’s a philosophy I can get behind. So, I decided to do exactly that—spend an entire weekend cooking just like Jennifer Garner. My goal? To channel her particular brand of joyful, easygoing culinary style. Spoiler: I learned a lot, and ate really well while doing it.
FridayDinner: Homemade Pizza
Megan Schaltegger
I knew that Jen (the imaginary version in my head coaching me through this mission) and I were going to get along when I found out her idea of a perfect weekend dinner involved pizza.
During a recent sit-down with Delish, she admits that whenever she’s feeling “ambitious,” homemade ‘za is the challenge: “If I don’t have time, I will buy the pre-made dough from my favorite pizza place nearby. If I have time, I’ll make it myself.”
After ordering a plethora of ingredients (god bless Uber Eats for delivering it all while I game planned recipes), I whipped up a dough with fast-acting yeast, preheated the oven, and poured a glass of wine while I let it rest. Maybe it’s because I just binged The Five Star Weekend, but it felt like the Jennifer Garner thing to do. Then, I made her three-ingredient sauce (whole tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, and a large pinch of flaky salt, that’s it) and waited.
Once the dough doubled in size, it was time to roll it out and get to topping. I played a little music because WWJGD (what would Jennifer Garner do), tossed on pepperonis and peperoncini, and threw that bad boy in the oven. Because of my glorious George cooking steel, it was out and ready for slicing in under 15 minutes. I felt seriously accomplished, and honestly, the effort wasn’t anything crazy.
SaturdayBreakfast: Ground Turkey Burritos
Megan Schaltegger
On the weekends, Jen tells us, her kids want burritos for lunch. “But they’re very simple,” she says. “I mean, it’s literally like a packet of taco seasoning in ground turkey on the stove.”
I’m more of a Saturday morning brekkie fan, so, in the spirit of Jen’s do what makes you happy energy, I decided to alter her recipe slightly. I still used ground turkey but added eggs, hash browns, refried beans, and avocado. I even whipped up a little burrito sauce to go on the side. Glorious!
I invited a few friends over to partake since, ya know, I don’t have three kids at home to feed instead. I loved getting to just gather around the table with the people I love for no special reason, except to laugh and enjoy each other.
Megan Schaltegger
Look at her!
Lunch: Sourdough
“I will always do a weekend bake,” Jen says. “So, on Saturday, it might be pancakes. It might be a quick bread. It might be muffins.”
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But one of her go-to bakes comes from a sweet childhood memory: “On Sundays, growing up, my mom made bread,” Jen says.
I had no problem embracing Jen’s love for bread. I spent the rest of the late morning and early afternoon mixing, stretching, and folding, and waiting while it bulk fermented.
I’m not new to the sourdough game, per se (I’ve been at it for a few months), but I still never know how a loaf is going to turn out.
Megan Schaltegger
This one just so happened to be a 10/10. It felt like a karmic reward for following Jen’s go-with-the-flow attitude.
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie
Megan Schaltegger
For dinner that night, I knew I wanted to recreate the cozy recipe that Jen says she always makes when her daughter comes home: Ina Garten’s chicken pot pie.
Megan Schaltegger
Despite forgetting an egg wash on the crust (no sweat off my back!!! It turned out perfectly golden brown), the whole process was seamless. And I can so get why Jen’s daughter and her friends always request the dish when they come home. It’s simple, hearty, and that good. S/o Ina, too!
SundayBreakfast: Ina Garten’s Honey White Bread 
Megan schaltegger
Don’t mind my wet hair and bare face! I’m not actually an A-list celebrity…
Sunday was the day I was waiting for. While technically, I did end up making bread on Saturday, I saved the best, most Jennifer Garner-esque recipe for last: Bread Man. Growing up, Jen says her mother made two bread loaves—one regular and one they could shape into a little man—and it’s a tradition she’s carried on with her own kids. Now, it was my turn!
Since Jen loves Ina’s Honey White Bread—“[It] probably tastes the most like home to my kids,” she says—I made my own version.
Megan Schaltegger
And honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt so much joy trying a new recipe. It felt so silly and fun to play with my food like I was a kid again. And of course, I still had the sandwich loaf to indulge the more practical 30-year-old part of me.
Megan Schaltegger
What I Learned…
Somewhere along the way—probably between my tight grocery budget and rigid sourdough schedule—I forgot that cooking is supposed to be fun. This weekend reminded me of that.
It’s not always about getting everything right or following a recipe to the letter. I gave myself permission to relax and just go with it, whatever it was. And without even realizing it, I found myself embodying Jen’s culinary philosophy. I cooked to feed myself and my friends, to enjoy myself, to make something delicious without overthinking it. The experience was less of a challenge than I thought and more like recess: a time to play in the kitchen.
