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[which gives visitors access to private gardens in England and Wales, and raises money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake]. I think everyone who goes to open gardens,


once you’ve been there, gosh you feel good. A bit of fresh air does you good. I think if a few more surgeries and doctors told people to get out and do a bit of walking, it does us the world of good. You don’t feel like going out when it’s pouring with rain, but dress for it!]


.…on being organised I live by lists and try to think ahead. And when I’m cooking, nothing gives me more pleasure than cooking something for tonight and then thinking: “I’m going to turn that into a curry tomorrow.” I love ‘double cooking’ and cooking for the freezer. I don’t like spending ages in the kitchen every evening because I feel I should be doing something else.


…on dinner party menus When I go out to friends, I don’t mind what they give me to eat. I said the same on ‘Desert Island Discs’ when I was asked ‘what would your last meal be?’ My answer is: I don’t mind what it is; it’s the company that matters. Most people say, “Oh, I don’t have people round [to eat]…” Well, you can give them cottage pie! They’d love it. You don’t have to necessarily push the boat out with smoked salmon and fillet of beef. It’s getting everybody together and enjoying it. And laying the table properly with all this beautiful china!


…on favourite dishes My favourite dish would be savoury from choice now. I think I’m full of cake. I like a good home- baked chicken and ham pie. I love lots of pasta dishes. I’m not fussy but there are certain things I don’t like, such as coconut or seedcake. But on the whole I like everything. I’m a wartime baby you see! But I don’t like soggy bottoms. Whenever I go


to a charity fundraising event, everybody makes quiches and you can imagine that the person who made the quiche that I’m just about to eat is thinking ‘what does she think of my quiche? Is it alright?’ Then I find that the pastry at the


…on short-cut cooking tips I always cook from scratch because that’s what I do, but there are certain short-cuts. For example, I’m particularly partial to mangoes and find it very difficult with this so called ‘ripe and ready to eat’ or ‘ripen at home’. I find the skin goes a little bit crinkly and you can’t peel it. So I do buy it already cut up, because otherwise I end up getting a whole one and that’s a bit wasteful. But on the whole, I like to do it myself.


…on takeaways I’ve had such stick recently about never having a takeaway. It’s been all over the papers. But we had fish and chips when the children were little.


bottom is not crisp… but I can’t roll it up and put it under a lettuce leaf because they’ll know, so I have to eat it!


…on comfort food Comfort food doesn’t have to be ostentatious. My family love a good rice pudding with a nice dollop of jam on top. And who doesn’t weaken for lemon drizzle cake? It doesn’t take time to make, especially if you do it in a traybake tin. There’s always a tin of shortbread at my house too; you need a bit of a back-up, don’t you? I think my husband would like chocolate biscuits but he’s not having them. I hide them and he still finds them.


Captivate Brands’ Signature Collection by Mary Berry


My husband would drive down [to buy them] and I would stay at home and put the oven on because I like my chips crispy, and I would have the plates hot. I’d put the chips in the moment they arrived. But I’ve never had a takeaway. Why should I? I quite like going to my children if they’re having one. But it doesn’t appeal to me.


…on being starstruck Have I ever been starstruck? I might have been but I wouldn’t have said so! I think meeting Rick Astley [the ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ singer]. I had to do a thing for my programme [‘Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking’] at Camp Bestival and my producer said: “I want you to show Rick Astley how to make some muffins.” I did, and he made them beautifully. Then he said: “I want you to do something for me. I want you to come and play the drums.” I said: “You’ve got the wrong person: I don’t play drums, I’m not musical and I don’t know anything about it.” He said: “Well, I’ll show you.” Eventually I had a practice and he said “Oh,


you’re a natural!” (which is rubbish). Anyway, I did it - to an audience of 30,000 people that stretched from here to tomorrow - and when I came off stage I walked down the steps where my daughter-in-law was at the bottom, and I had a half print of white wine all in one go.


… on retiring What do I think of people retiring at the age of 65? That’s a child! I like to be busy all the time but I like to find time for my grandchildren and my garden. We squeeze it all in. I’m just very lucky with what I do. And also, I have energy. My mother died at the age of 105, so you’ve got me for a bit! I’m lucky to be well. I have many friends,


particularly of my age, who are not well. I feel very fortunate that can I do it and I love it – and I’m also very grateful for all the things that I get asked to do, whether it’s country houses [‘Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets’], Best Home Cook, my own cooking show or ‘RHS Chelsea Flower Show’. I’m just so lucky to be offered these [opportunities] and every time the challenge comes, I try to do it pretty well - and I’m encouraged by all of you who say nice things.


20 years ago this month in Housewares Magazine…


• Celebrity chef Paul Rankin endorsed a range of Co-op own- brand cookware supplied to the chain by Swift Cookware.


• Lakeland was set to unveil a new concept with the launch of its 21st store, on Cambridge’s Sidney Street, in May. The branch was being used to test a more colourful look with more clearly defined sections for merchandise. The approach aimed to be ‘slightly more lifestyle, featuring certain products in certain areas’.


• Tefal announced a £3.5 million investment to support its steam generators, steamers and cookware, kicking off with a £1 million national TV campaign for Thermospot pans in May.


• Homeware and fashion chain Matalan launched its 100th store, at St Helens in Merseyside. The 30,000sq ft single-storey outlet, which included a 6,000sq ft housewares department, marked the group’s move to a larger store format.


• Richardson Sheffield’s Cuisine five-piece knife block sets, Millennium’s 18/10 stainless steel five-piece cookware sets, The Little Red Hen Trading Co’s Sapphire Alaska white porcelain and Horwood’s Stellar 1000 three-piece pan sets with steamers, were the best-selling housewares products at Atkinson Group in Sheffield, Morleys Store Group (Ilford), Arcobaleno (Crouch End) and Gordon Smith (Malvern) respectively.


• Ikea was voted retailer of the year - and winner of the wooden spoon - in the April issue of ‘Your Home’. The chain earned praise for its range, prices and designs in the consumer magazine’s Awards 2000 but was criticised for ‘huge queues, too few assistants and irritations such as lighting that only works with Ikea bulbs’. Runner-up was B&Q and highly commended were Homebase, John Lewis and Debenhams.


Source: Housewares Magazine April 2000


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