WFI explores the star's London kitchen and finds hand-thrown vases and royal mugs.
Tell us about your kitchen.
"It's at the heart of our Georgian house, which is close to Hampstead Heath. My late
husband Desmond and I fell in love with the property the instant we saw it and moved in more than 14 years ago, but at the time we couldn't really afford it. The kitchen has high ceilings and its original fireplace, like the rest of the house. It also has a quarry-tiled floor and leads out to the
garden. We eat most of our meals round the big farmhouse table, as well as catching up for a coffee and a chat."
What do you enjoy eating?
"I'm not much of a cook but I do like making scrambled eggs, which I cook to perfection. I keep my special method a secret. There is always a big bowl of fruit on the table because it is my favourite snack. We hang the bananas separately from a big iron hook on the ceiling. It looks like it's been in the house for years, and may have originally have been used for hanging meat."
Have you ever enlisted expert help to improve your cooking?
"I once went on Ready Steady Cook and made some sort of sausage patty. My team lost,
but I wasn't surprised - the other side's dish looked far more appetising than ours. It was lots of fun and I hang my souvenir apron in the corner with pride."
What's your biggest kitchen indulgence?
"Flowers. I like to have them everywhere. Lilies of the valley are my favourite, they have a wonderful scent and begin in May, which is my favourite month. I do try to grow them in the garden of my country home in Hampshire, but they either spread everywhere like wildfire or stubbornly refuse to grow."
How do you unwind?
"I really enjoy making pottery at the Clay Café in London. Last time I made and decorated a jug which I designed to be used as both a jug and a vase - one side is painted pink with fruit and the other, blue with water lilies. Making it was very therapeutic."
Does your kitchen betray any family secrets?
"As you can probably tell from my son Joshua's assortment of coronation mugs we are a family of collectors. I have accumulated a pretty impressive amount of house plants. Desmond also loved plants and used to joke that he had green fingers, but that mine were brown. At the moment all the plants are flourishing, so I think I've proved him wrong."
What's your favourite item?
"The walls are hung with
my marriage certificate and
the honorary doctorates of
literature that were awarded to Desmond and I. They have pride of place in here because I love this room so much."
What couldn't you live without?
"Our big American fridge, which was Desmond's favourite. It has a handy ice-maker on the front and also doubles as a household message board for jokes and reminders. I keep nice little notes on it, such as the get-well-soon message I once received from John Birt."
What's round Esther's table:
Jug from Clay Café, 8-10 Monkville Parade, Finchley Road, London NW11.
Tel 020 8905 5353.
Fresh flowers are available from Waitrose. Tel 0800 592761.
For information about Amana fridges, call 01275 343000.
Esther: the Autobiography is published by BBC Books and priced
at £17.99
(WFI Bookshop price, £15.99; call 020 8324 5678).