Tana Ramsay
You might find it hard to believe, given the way he can come across on TV, but my husband, Gordon, is really easy to please when it comes to food. And he doesn't expect me to concoct exotic recipes. After a hard day in one of his restaurants, he loves to walk into a house that smells of good, home-cooked food.
I'm quite practical in my approach to cooking. I plan menus each week to ensure my four children (who are all under ten) have a well-balanced diet and that I make practical use of leftovers. It's important not to have to run out of the house each day to buy things.
So if I've cooked spaghetti bolognese for the children, I might spice up the mince a bit and do Gordon a nice chilli con carne, with homemade tacos. If the children have had roast chicken, then I might make us a Caesar salad.
But I don't cook for Gordon every day. We tend not to eat together during the week because of his work, and that's what I'm used to. It would drive me mad if he was back home at 5pm all the time. But it's not as if we're ever out of touch because we call each other about 50 times a day. So I do my own thing Monday to Friday and we'll have a very late dinner when he comes back from work on a Saturday night.
If we have a dinner party (quite rare) then the tasks are divided. I do the prep, Gordon puts it all together, and I do the washing up. That's how I like it. I'm a control-freak – it drives me mad if the kitchen is a mess. Anyway, he makes such a fuss about doing it that I'd rather clean up myself and do it in half the time.
When it comes to going out, we never eat together in one of his restaurants. He's not comfortable doing it and I know that if we were there he'd want to be in the kitchen.
For food shopping, I get most things delivered apart from meat and cheese, which I get from local shops. Not bread, though: Gordon has banned white sliced loaves from our house, so three times a week I use my bread-making machine. I fill it with dough before going to bed, set it to start at 2am, and by 7am we have homemade bread for breakfast.
I think over the years I've learnt how to take the fear out of cooking. My advice is to experiment a bit and don't worry if things go wrong. Armed with the odd secret weapon, like a bread machine, you can still feel like
a domestic goddess (even if you're married to Gordon Ramsay).
'Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen' (HarperCollins; £20) is out now.
Prices correct at time of publication.