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For 40 years, Delia Smith seemed indestructible. She was the cook supreme, the sovereign of the spatula, the queen of hearts who made lots and lots of tarts. Through her myriad television series and her best-selling cookery books, an entire nation learned how to crimp pastry, how to blend until thick and smooth, how to brown in batches and how to roast a turkey to bronzed perfection. From pancakes to cottage pie, from mayonnaise to meringues, Saint Delia was always the calm voice in our heads, urging a steady hand with the powdered mustard, suggesting a level tablespoon of common sense, reminding us to stir our puddings once more for luck. Off the boil: Earlier this year Delia Smith cook announced that she would make no more programmes In times of crisis and of Christmas, she smoothed our lumpy sauces and sieved away our anxieties about poaching haddock or cooking rice. She was always, always there — and then, all of a sudden, she was not. More... Even Superwoman loves sewing! S

Mary Ethel Bragg 1917-2012: I thought the world of her. There was only once in my life that I remember telling her that I loved her. It was a word she never used to me. It was not the way we talked then, there, after the war, in a small stoic northern town wounded by a world conflict, exhausted but undefeated. Now that she is dead, I sometimes feel I am drowning in affection and admiration for her. Lord Bragg has told how he loved his mother, but could only tell her so when she was on her deathbed It is still so difficult to use the word ‘love’. Why? Maybe what was unspoken was more powerful to both of us, too valuable to squander in speech, too deep for words. I got to know her best when she lay dying. More... If only every granny had a granddaughter as loving and unselfish as Sophie: A story of devotion that will restore your faith in young people The moment Elizabeth Taylor ordered 200 pairs of mink earmuffs and John Lennon's $400,000 spending spree: Tales from the shop f

One winter day, when she was six or seven, my daughter Alice asked if I would take her to the beach to build sandcastles. I was busy writing a book, as usual, and felt I could not afford the time, but Alice was so insistent that in the end I relented. At the beach, despite the cold, we discarded our shoes and socks and near the water’s edge raised our fort, complete with turrets, gate and moat. Alice was delighted. ‘Oh, this is great!’ she said, and heaved a happy sigh. ‘It’s just like having a real Dad.’ Out of the mouths of babes . . . Shortly afterwards, I was invited to contribute to an anthology of six-word stories. Ernest Hemingway was the inspiration for the venture, with his famous and heart-breaking mini-tale: ‘For sale — baby shoes, never worn.’ I did not have to meditate for long before coming up with my own little vignette. Booker prize winning author John Banville writes that he was too selfish to be a good father to his four children Glancing back over a lifetime of s

With less than three months to go before the birth of her first baby, the Duchess of Cambridge is clearly in the mood for a little nesting. And who better to take on a shopping trip to furnish her future prince or princess’s new nursery at Kensington Palace than her mother, Carole Middleton. The pair were spotted in upmarket South Kensington together, browsing some of the capital’s most exclusive baby stores after enjoying a spot of lunch together at the Zefi Mediterranean restaurant where they were seen by fellow diners sipping healthy fruit juices. Scroll down for video The Duchess of Cambridge was spotted with her mother Carole Middleton during a shopping trip in South Kensington, where they bought a large white wicker Moses basket for the imminent arrival of the royal baby Kate wore a loose blue maternity top with a pretty lace collar for the outing The Duchess and her mother were seen dining in a nearby Mediterranean restaurant before their visit to a children's cl

Are you still plagued with thunder thighs or a jelly belly that makes you dread bikini season, no matter how hard you work out? The reason could lie in your DNA. Research has emerged which suggests that genetics could have a far greater effect on our fitness levels than previously thought - basically, we may all be pre-programmed from birth not to respond to certain activities. Still, all hope is not lost. For while it's impossible to outwit our genes completely, there are cunning ways to overcome their influence so that your workouts succeed. Running and cycling never get easier: If you plod away on the treadmill with no discernible progress, it could be that you are genetically programmed not to respond to the effects of aerobic exercise. A study put nearly 500 sedentary subjects through a 20-week exercise programme which involved pedalling on indoor bikes three times a week. Professor Jamie Timmons, an exercise scientist at Loughborough University, found that while the majori

f you thought blinged-up bags had reached the height of vulgarity - not to mention expense - then brace yourself for a Chanel number which might make the battiest statement yet. Resembling a full-sized hula hoop with one of the label's classic 2.55 bags stitched awkwardly across the bottom of it, the bags first appeared slung over models' shoulders on the spring/summer 2013 catwalk during fashion week. They were instantly dismissed by fashion editors as a stunt by the publicity-hungry house (famous for freezing a giant iceberg in the middle of the catwalk and staging a threesome between models in previous years) which would never go into production. Kim Kardashian's mother Kris Jenner trying on the enormous Chanel hula hoop bag for size in London's Selfridge's That was until the bags resurfaced this week on sale at London's Selfridge's - where they were being eyed up by reality star and mother of the infamous Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner. They've als

It is one of the most famous opening lines in British literature: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ But, as Jane Austen made clear in Pride And Prejudice, snaring such a beau took much more than a chance meeting by the duck pond. The gentlewomen of the Regency period set upon the task with the calculating strategy of a general. Suitors meeting at the Regency ball on Pride And Prejudice: Having A Ball. The show explores the dating practices of the period The clothes you wore, whether you laughed and how you danced at society functions such as Austen’s Netherfield Ball, where Elizabeth Bennet first danced with Mr Darcy, could make or break your marriage chances. Now, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pride And Prejudice, the BBC is to explore the era’s courtship rituals and their hidden codes by recreating the Netherfield Ball in its entirety. Here, the film’s advisers reveal how girls of the era