The holiday season may get a little easier for party-givers with the new series, “Barefoot Contessa,” hosted by Ina Garten. The show, which focuses on entertaining, will offer tips and recipes for a variety of get-togethers. Garten has been synonymous with Barefoot Contessa since opening the specialty food store of that name in the Hamptons on Long Island in the late 1970s. (She has since sold it.) She has written several “Barefoot Contessa” cookbooks as well as a column in “Martha Stewart Living,” so a TV show seems overdue. The program debuts at 11:30 a.m. Saturday on cable’s Food Network.
But perhaps you’re too worried about Thursday’s holiday to think about anything else. Food Network can help there, too, with its “Thanksgiving Cooking School,” a four-hour marathon of shows and chefs tackling Turkey Day topics. It will air 6-10 p.m. Tuesday. Programs include “Essence of Emeril: Thanksgiving Dishes” at 7 p.m., “30-Minute Meals: Thanksgiving 2002” at 8:30 p.m., and Gale Gand’s show, “Sweet Dreams: Freezer Friendly Thanksgiving,” at 9:30 p.m.