Mary Berry Quotes

Mary Berry

Profession : Chef

Birth : March 24, 1935

The very best hotel I've stayed in is the Intercontinental on Park Lane. We went there for the Chelsea Flower Show a few years ago, and it was sheer luxury. Everybody had a smile on their face. I came home and changed all my pillows because the hotel ones were so beautiful.

Mary Berry

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

Mary Berry

Life is all about sharing. If we are good at something, pass it on. That is the pleasure I get from teaching - whether it is television or books. We should all share.

Mary Berry

I am not great at computers. If I were to try shopping through Google, I'd end up with 33 vests.

Mary Berry

All my grandchildren bake. On a Saturday, Annabel's boys, Louis and Toby, always bake. Louis makes a chocolate cake, Toby makes banana or lemon drizzle. They're 12 and 10, and they can do it totally on their own. My son's twin girls, Abby and Grace, are 14; they make birthday cakes and like to do it on their own with Mum out of the way.

Mary Berry

I don't like showing cleavage because I get cold, and if I had fantastic legs, I might wear short skirts - but I think at 78, one's got to act one's age.

Mary Berry

Dad thought something very fishy was going on when, at 22, I was offered a job for £1,000 a year - more than Dad paid his own staff - for inventing cheese recipes and writing leaflets at the Dutch Dairy Bureau in London.

Mary Berry

As parents are usually working, they haven't time to teach children about cooking, and it's a wilderness. They should be given healthy recipes - some standbys so that when they leave home, they don't live on junk.

Mary Berry

I think to eat cake is very good for us, but it's the size of the slice and how often you have it.

Mary Berry

I have no desire to be a centenarian. I think 90 is a great time. You've had a good innings. You have to deal with the cards that have been dealt, of course, but I don't think very old age, if you haven't got your marbles, can be very nice.

Mary Berry

I grow herbs near the back door, and you can grow a wonderful selection of herbs and window boxes... My idea is that you should grow what you eat. There's no point in growing something like celeriac - which is very difficult to grow - if you hate it.

Mary Berry

My best holidays were in Devon and Cornwall when the children were growing up. We always used to stay on farms because our children were pretty wild, and it was great going to the beach every day. We used to go to Launceston and Salcombe and all over those two counties.

Mary Berry

Without doubt, without hesitation, I choose gardening over the gym. I can't stand going to the gym. It doesn't appeal to me at all. Give me gardening every time.

Mary Berry

I do like going out and finding free food. I've done it since I was a child. Fishing prawns and shrimps from the sea is wonderful, as is picking blackberries, sloes and mushrooms. Having a guide while out looking for mushrooms is really important, though, as picking the wrong type can be quite dangerous.

Mary Berry

I won't cook in deep fat. Years ago, I met a fireman who said most kitchen fires were caused by deep fat, and I don't think that's changed. Oven chips are good enough for my grandchildren, and they're chuffed with that.

Mary Berry

The only time I'll use a microwave is to warm up a cup of coffee I've left too long before drinking.

Mary Berry

I can't bear the thought of retirement, and I haven't prepared myself for it. I don't play bridge, and I don't play golf. I do play tennis, but you can't do that every day of the week.

Mary Berry

I do not like a quiche with wet, undercooked pastry underneath, and that is that.

Mary Berry

To be able to walk out the door when you come home from a job and wander into the garden to do a bit of watering gives you time to be creative in your mind.

Mary Berry

It should be that every child, when they leave school, can do ten meals, because when they leave home, they've got to be able to eat healthily. Blow the science of it and everything else. They've just got to be able to know what's good for them, how to buy it, and how to make a few dishes that they enjoy and don't cost too much.

Mary Berry