ALL SMILES

“It’s like a kid when you are hoping for some amazing present and you get something else,” she says. “If your expectations are sky high then you will be more annoyed with a relative who behaves like a jerk.

“People build it up and want it to be the perfect meal, so they err on the side of overcomplication.

“More dishes that take more time and you think that will add up to more happiness but it adds up to more stress. And more personal resentment when your plans get thrown out by the arrival of some relative with a crazy salad or an inappropriate dessert that overshadows yours.

“If you keep expectations moderate, you will be pleased when it works out better than planned.” It’s a rule that Annabel tries to keep in mind at home, where she juggles caring for a young family with her media and other roles. It is also the theme of her new book with old friend Wendy Sharp, Special Guest: Recipes for the Happily Imperfect Host. “People watch cooking shows and feel they have to put together something with a high degree of difficulty,” says Annabel, whose twin passions for politics and cooking came together in the popular television series Kitchen Cabinet.

“But really the essence of hospitality is to delight the people you love that you have invited around to your house. That could be a complicated meal but it could just as easily be something simple, that lets the ingredients do the work for you, and that maximises the time you spend with your guests with a smile on your face.

“Everyone has been to dinner parties where they ring the doorbell and the horrified host appears with a face of thunder and they have just had a fight with their other half … about who forgot to get ice or turn the oven off. They are awkward because as a guest you feel you are causing trouble by being there.”