Not Berry fussed by a sell-by date
Hands-free calls ‘as bad as drink-driving’
MARY Berry has confessed to ignoring sell-by dates on food and relying on her nose instead.
The former Great British Bake Off judge said while growing up in the war years, her mother gave her plenty of tips about cooking and running a home, including “to use my nose”.
Promoting her new book, which features many of those tips, at Cheltenham Literature Festival, she said: “I don’t do sell-by dates. I have to confess, if there is a pot of cream I just lift the lid and smell it. If it’s all right, I have it.
“You do have to be careful if it is meat and keep within the dates.”
She also admitted she does not always cook for herself and is partial to picking up the £10 dinners with wine from Marks and Spencer.
Mary, who left Bake Off after it switched from BBC1 to Channel 4, also revealed she has been filming a new show for BBC, which will be broadcast next year.
She said: “It is in a proper kitchen, with all my own things around me and everything works.
“It is called Classic and we do a lot of outside broadcasts for it. It was great fun.”
Mary said she has no plans to retire, adding: “I’m having an absolute ball and the BBC are being so generous to me.” MOTORISTS using handsfree phones can be as dangerous as drink-drivers, experts claim.
An Open University study found drivers speaking on hands-free phones react to less than half as many hazards as undistracted motorists – and are four times more likely to crash.
Researcher Dr Gemma Briggs said: “Distracted drivers often make the same kind of significant errors as drink drivers.” Storm Nate brought flooding and power cuts affecting 100,000 residents to the US Gulf Coast yesterday after making landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi. But no deaths or injuries were reported.