Lucky us: Yesterday InStyle was invited to sit around the table with actress and entrepreneur Drew Barrymore at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. She was in town to talk about her new Barrymore Wine collaboration with Jackson Family Vineyards, and like any good chat over an excellent glass of crisp Pinot Grigio, the conversation led to all sorts of farflung topics, from the challenges of Mom Brain to why hacking the traditional concept of a wedding registry is flat-out brilliant.
Wine is like a good book: I think I’m very nervous, and want everyone to know that I have no intention of becoming a lifestyle expert, because I am not! Whether you’re a working woman, or a working mom, we all like to have a glass of wine at the end of the day. Wine reminds me of literature—I’ll never be able to read every book before I die, and I will never get to drink every wine. But when you drink or when you read, you're transported. It is a worldly experience and it opens your mind. It is pleasure without pretension.
Rethinking the wedding registry: When I got married, I did half my registry at a wine place. People could get a bottle of wine that they chose, whatever price, whatever varietal. And then the store put a tag on the neck that said, “This is from the Goldbergs.” And when you bring it out, you say, “We’re going to dine with the Goldbergs tonight!” It’s so wonderful. It was sort of a weird unorthodox choice and I think my husband was a little hesitant, thinking we should also go the traditional route. But at the end of the day, he was so happy every time we’d pull out a bottle of wine and bring that person into our life and evening.
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A strategy for cooking mastery: I really learned to cook with my kids. When I found out I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was the woman who couldn’t boil water, and I would cry trying to do so. I started with one-pot meals. I got an amazing book on crock pot cooking and made the best three-day-long braised pork short rib tacos. I worked on one thing at a time: How to make a good piece of salmon; How to grill a steak; I got into it. But make no mistake—I don’t want to pose and say: “I only shop organic and I cook everything and I’m brilliant!” Some days I get home and it’s fish sticks and frozen peas. It’s a balance and nobody’s perfect.
Motherhood and brain freeze: Does anyone have kids? You are just stupid permanently. I’m a sharp bird. And yet, there are days when someone asks me how I am, and I’m like, "I think I’m okay, but I don’t know!" It’s unreal. The baby comes out and your mind does with it. Gone. And then you have bursts.You’re like, “Aahh, I’m smart again! This is awesome.” Then cut to an hour later—dumb again. Ugh!
Baby wipes and restaurant success: When we bring the kids to go to a restaurant it is just for breakfast or brunch. And I’m the one under the table wiping everything up. I have a special system: I make a teepee of wipes and I do it just so. I find it to be an incredibly stressful experience, but I do it because food is a part of my life, and I don’t want them to be like, “What’s this mom, a restaurant?”, when they are seven-years-old just because I didn’t have the courage to do it. There are moments when everyone is sitting around eating and I feel like, this is awesome and I am so glad we faced this!