Martha Stewart Subtly Takes Ina Garten To Task For Her Pandemic Advice

January is the month many of us lay out our healthy goals for the year with the best of intentions, often knowing we'll break them the first week of February. Reese Witherspoon might be a superior human being and actually stick to her New Year's resolutions, but Ina Garten was more realistic in her approach to 2022. Inspired by a book she got from a friend, titled "Atomic Habits" by James Clear, Witherspoon took to Instagram on January 10 to share the habits she has been working on adding to her routine, including drinking a "large glass of water" first thing in the morning, spending 10 minutes in the morning light, reading a book for at least a half-hour every day, and going to bed by 10 p.m. sans screens.

In the post, the "Big Little Lies" star asked followers to share the habits they wish to implement. Garten promptly responded: "That sounds great but I'm probably not doing any of those things! LOL!!" the "Barefoot Contessa" commented, adding a list of habits she believes is "easier to follow." Hers included drinking more "large cosmos," binge-watching "addictive shows" into the wee hours of the night, staying in bed in the morning playing Sudoku, and spending quality time "safely" with loved ones. "In a pandemic, I do what I can!!!" Garten added.

While many fans related to the chef's candid take, others felt her response unhelpful — including Martha Stewart, who took particular issue with one of Garten's suggestions. 

Martha Stewart prefers a different approach to dealing with the stresses of the past few years than the one Ina Garten offered. "I do not agree about taking to drink to cope with things like the pandemic," Stewart told People on January 26. "To me that's not charming." Stewart, who is "not a big drinker" and "never [has] been," has other methods for staying sane and healthy. "To me it's continuing to work really hard, to be as productive as I possibly can be, to enjoy my grandchildren," she told the outlet. Because Stewart lives out in the country, her routine necessarily involves waking up early. "I live on a farm, so the farm life starts early. At 7 a.m. we're all at work — snow, rain, sunshine, we're here. Animals don't wait," she added.

In April 2020, Garten drew plenty of attention when she showed her Instagram fans how to make the perfect (aka giant) cosmopolitan for "cocktail hour" — one of her favorite traditions. "It's always cocktail hour in a crisis!" she captioned the post. But despite her teasing on social media, Garten has more in common with Stewart than she lets on. "I think I spend more time talking about cocktails than I do actually drinking them," she told Page Six after going viral for her massive drink. "I have a little glass of wine and that's basically all I need, and a cocktail once in a while."