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Ina Garten celebrates 50th wedding anniversary with adorable throwback photo

The Food Network star and her beloved husband tied the knot in 1968.
/ Source: TODAY

Fans of Food Network star Ina Garten know that she and her beloved husband Jeffrey have cooked up a great recipe for true love.

Often, during Ina's popular cooking show, "The Barefoot Contessa," Jeffrey will pop in to share a sumptuous meal with his wife. The couple's affection for one another is truly sweeter than one of Ina's famous chocolate desserts!

Ahead of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary (which is Dec. 22), Ina got an early start celebrating when she took to Instagram on Monday to share an adorable throwback photo of the pair as young lovers.

The black-and-white pic finds the couple decked out in 1960s-style fashions and grinning wildly as they stroll together arm-in-arm.

"Instead of celebrating our 50th Anniversary (yikes!) just on the day (this coming Saturday), Jeffrey and I decided to celebrate it all week long! So I’m starting with a photograph of Jeffrey and me leaving our wedding for our honeymoon, tennis racquets in hand. It’s been an amazing 50 years!!!" Ina, 70, wrote.

She added the sweet hashtag #loveofmylife.

Jeffrey and Ina tied the knot on Dec. 22, 1968.

The couple's love story officially began when Ina met Jeffrey while visiting her older brother at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire. The future culinary superstar felt sparks right away, as she revealed to TODAY Food earlier this year.

"I met Jeffrey when I was 15, and I have to say, I just knew he was the one," Ina shared. "He's kind, he's smart, he's funny, and he takes very good care of me. It's wonderful."

Several years after the pair tied the knot, it was Jeffrey who encouraged Ina to leave her job as a White House policy advisor to explore her passion for the culinary arts. When a quaint specialty foods store in the Hamptons (which was called The Barefoot Contessa) was put up for sale in the 1970s, Jeffrey suggested that his wife buy it.

Twenty years later, Ina sold the successful shop to devote her full attention to writing cookbooks. Before long, she was hosting her own Food Network program — and was well on her way to becoming one of the network's most beloved personalities.

Though their busy lives force the couple to live apart — Ina lives in East Hampton, New York, while Jeffrey, a dean at Yale University's School of Management, lives in New Haven, Connecticut during the week — the pair make a point to "always connect with each other during the day," Ina told TODAY.

"And the thing is, even though he's away, he's like this anchor in the middle of my life," she gushed.

"Instead of making me feel kind of lost at sea," Ina added, "it's this big anchor in the middle of my life and it gives me enormous freedom, which is wonderful."

Happy Anniversary, Ina and Jeffrey!