Ina Garten Recalls Her Husband Jeffrey’s Unconventional Proposal Over ‘Very Messy Sandwiches’ (Exclusive)

Jeffrey Garten’s proposal to Ina Garten wasn’t the grand, romantic gesture you might expect from the lovely couple.

Ina, 76, recounts their relationship in her new memoir Be ready when luck strikesexcerpt from this week’s PEOPLE cover story. It all started when Ina was 16, visiting her brother Ken at Dartmouth College. While there, her mother asked Ken to set her up with a classmate.

I put on my best blue skirt, my favorite blue and white wool and angora sweater, new blue Pappagallos that I bought with my own money so my mother couldn’t refuse to buy them for me, and a blue grosgrain ribbon in my hair,” the Barefoot Contessa the star writes in his book.

“At one point I passed the library, a building right off the beautiful Dartmouth Green. I later learned that a Dartmouth freshman was inside and admired me. As he told the story, Jeffrey Garten saw me on the Green and, immediately, he was delighted! ‘Look at that beautiful girl,’ he said to his roommate, who recognized me [and said] “I know her. This is Ina Rosenberg and we’re going to the movies tonight.'”

Ina Garten and Jeffrey Garten at home in East Hampton, NY on August 26.

Allison Michael Orenstein

For more on Ina Garten, including a full excerpt from her memoir, Be ready when luck strikespick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Going out with Jeffrey’s roommate didn’t turn out to be romantic, so Jeffrey asked if he could write to Ina himself. Read his first of many letters during their relationship below:

Dear Ina,

… I have the impression that [my roommate] Roger’s attempt to hook me up with you rubbed off on you the wrong way. If you felt he was trying to “trick” you, you couldn’t be more wrong. It’s true… I saw you (but we never met, unfortunately, when you were here this fall)…

If the idea of ​​dating a Jewish freshman from Florida you’ve never met doesn’t turn you off, how about you send me a message and we can work something out. If you are not at all interested, don’t even throw away the paper material.

Jeffrey’s first letter to Ina in 1965 Ina Garten details separation from husband Jeffrey in her new memoir: ‘Hardest Thing I Ever Did’ (Exclusive)

The two began dating, visiting each other frequently while Ina attended Syracuse University and Jeffrey completed his internship at Dartmouth on an ROTC scholarship.

“One spring day in 1968, when Jeffrey was about to graduate from Dartmouth and leave for military service, and I was about to take my final exams, we went to our favorite German restaurant in Syracuse and ordered very large, very messy sandwiches,” Ina writes. .

“Out of nowhere, between bites, Jeffrey said, ‘I think we should get married in December.’ What? Did I hear that right? It wasn’t a traditional proposal with an engagement ring and a declaration of undying love, but I knew how he felt.”

Ina and Jeffrey on their wedding day in 1968.

Courtesy of Ina Garten

They did get married in December at her parents’ house in 1968. Today, “they really don’t fight,” Ina tells PEOPLE. There was only one obstacle in their way — a separation in the 1970s, which resulted in an even stronger bond.

“We negotiated a different kind of relationship, which was more of a partnership,” says Ina. “He is such a kind, supportive, positive and constantly kind of adoring boyfriend that it was just wonderful.”

Be ready when luck strikes is out on October 1st from Crown Publishing Group and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

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