We’ve long been fans of Jennifer Garner’s Instagram series, #PretendCookingShow, but right now it feels like exactly the kind of cheerful content we need to get us through quarantine. Over Memorial Day weekend, Garner posted her latest “episode,” this time featuring a recipe for orange-almond biscotti from Cook’s Illustrated.
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Jennifer Garner Makes Orange-Almond Biscotti In the Latest Episode of ‘Pretend Baking Show’
The recipe is apparently one of Garner’s favorites, as evidenced by the schmutz crusted onto her recipe page, and so felt like an obvious choice to make in an effort to “get back to a little bit of normal life,” as she puts it. As with any good show, Garner’s cooking adventure has love, loss and a few unexpected twists and turns. First her beloved stand mixer fears it has let her down (don’t worry, their wedding is still on), then the almonds are briefly forgotten (something they do not take lightly and later exact their revenge by taking an age and a half to toast) and the ever-present fear that Garner’s children might discover her secret hideaway, all set to tunes pulled right from another show we love, Schitt’s Creek.
Our favorite two things about this latest installment, however, are when Garner ends the episode by dipping her freshly baked biscotti into a glass of red wine at 11 a.m. (a true breakfast of champions) and the fact that, despite this being a recipe she’s made repeatedly, her quarantine-addled brain just can’t seem to get on board, a feeling we can all relate to. She skips steps, circles back, forgets ingredients and just generally laughs her way through it. In addition to showing us peak goofy Garner, it’s an excellent reminder to go easy on yourself, even if you’re trying something brand-new. Or, in Garner’s case, bumbling your way through something you’ve done multiple times before. Either way, you’re doing just fine.