“I love Michel Roux, Jr., and James Martin - the chefs who are experts ...” — Mary Berry Quote

“I love Michel Roux, Jr., and James Martin - the chefs who are experts in their own right, like Rick Stein on fish. But I don't watch them very much because I don't think it's fair for my husband to be in a total food environment all the time! So we watch programmes about gardening more.”

“Having children is the greatest thing that can happen to you as a husband and wife. They are infuriating at times when they're little, but on the whole, they're such a joy. I don't think I was the most brilliant mother when they were young. I had quite a bit of help because I was working and I enjoyed my work.”

“I think baking is very rewarding, and if you follow a good recipe, you will get success.”

“When I was paralysed by polio at 13, I went into an isolation hospital and couldn't sit up, so I only took liquid food from spouted cups which the masked nurses would bring in and feed to me. I saw my parents only through glass; we couldn't touch.”

“My bread and croissants wouldn't win a prize! I'm not an expert in yeast cookery.”

“My life is gardening, cleaning around the house and power washing.”

“I still love farming and gardening and things like that in the summertime.”

“A brier rose whose buds yield fragrant harvest for the honey bee.”

“One of the things we say... is, 'Do what you know helps you.' And so for me, that might be painting. For other people, it might be gardening. It might be baking or cooking. It might be reading.”

“I could happily lean on a gate all the livelong day, chatting to passers-by about the wind and the rain. I do a lot of gate-leaning while I am supposed to be gardening; instead of hoeing, I lean on the gate, stare at the vegetable beds and ponder.”

“Cooking, decorating, diet/self-help and gardening books are guilty pleasures and useful time fillers.”