My mother had always told me that I couldn't cook. As a young woman it's the sort of thing that you believe and it wasn't until I found a Delia Smith recipe in The Radio Times - for Gratin Dauphinois, a delicious concoction of potatoes, cream and garlic - that I realized that she might, just possibly have been wrong. I bought Delia's 'Complete Cookery Course' and discovered that I could prepare perfectly good meals. I bought the ingredients, followed the recipes and we ate tasty nutritious meals. There was only one snag. I still couldn't cook.