And no one does home-cooked comfort like Ina Garten. Put the two together ... Ina's Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp proves that some recipes rise above the rest. So what makes her dish different?

I decided to sharpen my skills using three approachable and delicious-sounding recipes from Ina Garten. Here's how my day of baking went as I attempted to make Garten's pecan, pumpkin, and apple pies.

Prep the Apples: The most time-consuming part of making Ina's recipe is layering the apple slices onto the tart pastry. Make ...

Impact Link When I first became interested in food and cooking, I spent a lot of time watching Ina Garten on Food Network and pouring over her cookbooks and recipes ... out the apple pie first.

I followed Ina Garten's recipes for pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie to see which I liked best. The pecan pie tasted like a cocktail, and the apple pie was shockingly simple to throw together.