Jennifer Garner Makes Homemade Biscotti for Her Pretend Cooking Show: 'Pardon My Quarantine Brain'
Like many social distancing across the nation, Jennifer Garner has turned to baking amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, the actress, 48, gave followers a glimpse into her life at home in the new installment of her “Pretend Cooking Show” series, sharing a recipe for Orange-Almond Biscotti from Cook's Illustrated. Though Garner has been starring in cooking tutorials on her social media accounts since 2017, she admittedly felt a little "flummoxed" while filming the latest segment due to her "quarantine brain."
"I must ask you to pardon my quarantine brain and weird space buns," she wrote on Instagram, referring to parts of the video in which she accidentally messes up a few steps.
The clip first begins with Garner greeting viewers from her home kitchen. "It's time to try to get back to a little bit of a normal life. Let's start with biscotti. This is one of my favorite recipes. I've made it for years," she says.
However, upon mixing flour, baking powder and salt together, Garner realizes that she's her made her first error.
"Oh, I did that wrong!" she admits. "I'm all flummoxed."
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After correcting her flub, the Peppermint star then remembers that she's forgotten to turn on her oven.
"The first thing you want to do is toast your almonds. It's very easy to gorget about your almonds," Garner says, pacing around her kitchen.
During the baking instructional, Garner also jokingly has conversations with the various appliances around her kitchen. At one point, she reassures her stand mixer "doing great" despite her mistakes.
"We're getting married at the end of quarantine," she quips about the kitchen gadget. "We're in love!"
At the end of the video, Garner shows off the final results by dunking her biscotti in a glass of red wine.
"It's evening now. It's not like it's 11 .a.m. FYI," she says, holding the sweet treat in her hand. "But this is how these biscotti are best served."
Jennifer garner/instagram Jennifer Garner
In addition to providing the internet with some comedic relief with her cooking, Garner has been doing her part to help others during the coronavirus crisis.
She is co-launching the #savewithstories initiative to support Save the Children and No Kid Hungry, and has been showcasing videos of her Instagram followers’ talents. Amid the crisis, she has been impressed with “how quickly we all adjusted in a way,” Garner told PEOPLE last month.
But the Alias alum still looks forward to “seeing my kids hug their friends,” she says of son Samuel, 8, plus daughters Seraphina, 11, and Violet, 14: “I have a deep need to see my girlfriends, but I can’t wait to see my kids have a big, old germy sleepover and just be kids.”
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images Jennifer Garner and kids
She’s also using their time at home to teach her children the basics when it comes to cleaning. “When I was coming up through the ranks, I scrubbed bathrooms in theaters from one side of this country to the other,” Garner recalls. “I always somehow ended up on bathroom-scrubbing duty.”
“So it’s nice to see my kids learn these things,” she adds. “I’m so proud of kids everywhere and how flexible they’re all having to be and how they’re all rising to the challenge.”
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