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his holiday season Mary will open her kitchen to four eager, if somewhat nervous celebrities; BBC One’s formidable “I never cook” news-guru Huw Edwards; Britain’s fastest-ever female athlete, but a little-less-speedy in the kitchen Dina Asher-Smith; enchanting actress Eleanor Tomlinson of Poldark fame, who arrives armed with a desire to impress and her own killer stuffing recipe; and comedian and all-roundgood-guy Joe Lycett who may be the most experienced cook of the bunch, but possibly not in front of Mary and the cameras.
Gemma Dunn found out more from Mary. . . sports to take part because they had no idea what we were going to be up to and I thought they were great. They were all wonderful and they were all keen to do well - it was lovely. They weren’t very experienced cooks really, but they all had a go which is what is important. Eleanor chose stuffing which was a really unusual thing to choose and it was really delicious. We usually stuff the front end of a turkey but she did it differently and made it all crispy and it was really delicious. Joe did his grandma’s date walnut loaf - he had a little practice with it and I was very impressed. doing some of the heavy shopping now, getting the tinned goods in and thinking about what you want. If you want smoked salmon, do some ordering ahead or put your orders in with local shops. I like to make a plan and think about what am I going to give everybody over the Christmas period - which recipes do they like most of mine and whether I cook that or try something new. It’s all about it getting organised.