Every once in a while, Jennifer Garner hits the internet with a video of her doing something extremely ordinary yet surprisingly hilarious. A year ago, she underwent a viral cleanse of her "contaminated" cat Moose, and the nearly two-minute experience provided fans with an antidote to a day of serotonin and stressful events. Now, here's the New Year's Eve version of her Pretend Cooking Show , an equally delightful and misadventure-filled video tutorial on how to make Sarah Foster's black bean and sweet potato chili.
The "Adam Project" star (aka "This Old Girl") posted the video on her Instagram on December 30, explaining that one of her New Year's resolutions is to enjoy more meatless meals . Foster's recipe, which Garner calls a "past favorite recipe," fits the bill, she notes, "It's great for enchiladas, tacos, a thermos for snowshoeing." Although So, while she clearly has a lot of experience with recipes, her cooking classes aren't quite up to the standards of, say, Ina Garten.
Her battle with the "terrible onion" quickly sets the tone for the video. After showing us footage of Gwyneth Paltrow expertly chopping onions (albeit with a few tears), Garner contorted her face and tried not to cry as she chopped onions. Although she survives the onion, a series of unfortunate little incidents only escalate.
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Garner's knife is another issue as she handles green peppers and garlic. “They need grinding,” she admits. "Ina would never cook with such a dull knife."
Ina also never lets her onions get too brown, which is exactly what Garner did when she told the audience to "Don't look!" Undaunted, however, she started singing Nat King Cole's "A Christmas Song" and Stop and think about the lyrics. The part about "turkey and some mistletoe" made her want to get a bird of her own, apparently forgetting that this was supposed to be a meatless meal.
Lack of jalapenos was the next obstacle, but—the solution! -The actor just pretends to be. Afterwards, things seemed to be going well, but she did tell the camera, "I want you to notice that I didn't prepare in advance. I did it on purpose to show you that it might be better if you did this."
Acting is definitely a better day job for Garner than cooking coaching, but it's fascinating to watch her enjoy it, frustrations and all. Honestly, her pretend cooking show videos on Instagram are more representative of most people's dinner prep process than the real thing. Dull knives, onion tears and missing ingredients are all part of the process - Garner even includes quotes like "Heavenly Murgatroyd...the way we are called to persevere in this life..."
Fans were so excited about the journey that one person even called Pretend Cooking their "favorite cooking show" in the comments. Yes, the famous presenter has successfully inspired others to cook their own chili. "Oooh this could be a great thing to make ahead and use for lunches during the week!" one follower wrote in part. Another added: "I love this idea, it's officially on my dinner list for next week!"
While Garner will be whipping up more meat-free meals in 2023, we hope she'll continue hosting pretend cooking shows, too.
