Barefoot Contessa offers tips in new book

Ina Garten offers these tips from her new book "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust" (Clarkson, Potter, $35):

• Read the entire recipe before you start cooking.

• Follow the recipe precisely the first time.

• Buy the right ingredients.

• Put most of the ingredients on the counter before you start cooking.

• Measure all your ingredients. Use glass measuring cups for wet ingredients and dry measure cups and teaspoons for dry ingredients.

• Smell or taste ingredients for freshness before adding them to a recipe.

• Taste for seasonings while you're cooking to see how the dish is progressing.

• Don't walk away from something simmering on the stove. Liquids can boil over or evaporate.