Interview with the guys at MCC.

What inspired you to become a chef?

I simply followed my childhood hobby - I always loved to cook. I was always surrounded by good food. Everyone came to our house to make jam - I remember hundreds of jam pots being washed and filled around our kitchen table in July.

What is your driving force?

I have always believed that whatever I did was to be followed with enthusiasm and always completed. As a child I was always disciplined to follow anything that I started through to completion. I still believe that hard work is good therapy.

Home and work has always worked rather well together for me - in a unique sort of way. The fact that I work from home saves lots of energy in traveling. Combining work and home has become much easier now that my children have all grown and working away from home. And, guess what? Even the phone bill is more respectable now!

The garden is equally important. I love it and find great therapy and relaxation in cutting the grass. I guess it's a sort of bonus - the fact that I sit on a ride-on lawn mower!  Never mind the weeding.

Do you have any favourite TV programmes or books?

I love escapism, be it 'Desperate Housewives', 'Bad Girls' and not so much of the 'soaps' - they always appear 'depressed'. I reckon it's just a little like music - I like to be cheered up and left in 'good humour'. I'm always fascinated by documentaries and believe it or not, I like to watch the weather. Maybe it's because I love the sunshine. I have a little card, which sits up above my cooker, that says, "keep in the sunlight". That's what I try to do.

What cheers you up if you are feeling down?

Has to be food - I have always found it relaxing to cook and bake. I know many of you may find this weird but I don't have any particular favourites - I just love my food.  Again, that depends on the mood I'm in. I would be a great believer in 'mood food'. Days we just need chocolate, or maybe it's oranges but generally I like light food, not a great fan of 'fish & chips'. And yes, I do love baked beans with soft melting Brie cheese on top and a dash of paprika pepper.

Do you have a favourite colour?

I love red but it just isn't really 'my' colour anymore in large amounts, so I think that it has to be brown in any and all shades. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I am a 'Capricorn'.

What are your likes?

I like anything that makes me happy - family, music, good food, smiling faces, sunshine, warm fleecy blankets, smell of trees, cinnamon and, best of all, snow. I love America and all its enthusiasm, as well as the sunshine.

Do you have any dislikes?

Loud and vexatious people, frogs, going to bed late, unloading the dishwasher, putting away the shopping and having to check the car for oil.

What are your favourite animals?

We have had such a variety of pets, cats, dogs, horses, Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, lambs, Muscovet ducks, hamsters, goldfish, turtles, brown hens. Barney, the little cross-bred dog who lies on the window ledge when we are filming, has a special place in my heart. I even had someone Email me to say that Barney was his dog that he lost!

What is filming your TV show like?

Hard work but great fun. The crew have almost become as family. I feel we are a little like a 'kibbutz', closed in the barn recording for 12 weeks to make a series. Such a team and, of course, the energy eating all the food we make. Not really a dieter's paradise! Filming Schedule is a 5 day week Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm.