Jane has always enjoyed cooking and food preparation. She holds the view that cooking should be fun, and need not be frightening or a chore. A good philosophy when one considers we all need to eat three times a day!

Having trained at The Cordon Bleu in London, Jane went on to work for Leith's Good Food in the City of London providing catering for financial institutions, government departments, Livery companies, The Orient Express and many more.

In 1980 she moved on to teach at Leith's School of Food and Wine. Jane then started her own business in London, specialising in catering for large parties and press launches for a number of well known companies, as well as many high profile private clients

During this time, Jane also worked as a consultant Home Economist, testing recipes and preparing food for cookery books, magazines and television programmes.

Marriage, a move to Northumberland and the birth of three children then followed. When the pressures of family life eased somewhat, Jane was able to return to the cookery that she loves.

Hence the beginning of the Cookery Demonstrations. Through these demonstrations Jane passes on some of her enthusiasm, tips and valued knowledge to those looking not only to learn how to cook delicious food but also the many other skills that come with it. These have grown in popularity and reputation to become unmissable events for those "in the know" - from total novices to food professionals.

What makes these demonstrations so special and unique is the small class size - something Jane believes is fundamentally vital when holding a class of this nature. The emphasis is on fresh seasonal, local food which both tastes and looks delicious but is simple to prepare. Jane is also a keen gardener with a large productive garden which plays an intregal role in the demonstrations and recipes. Both a conventional cooker and Aga are used during the Hetton House demonstrations.

Jane also demonstrates at other venues around the country, offers a Food Consultancy service, including menu planning & staff training, her skills as a Home Economist testing recipes and preparing food for photography and teaches cooking to small groups or on a one-to-one basis.

The practical philosophy behind the demonstrations extends throughout the Kitchen Essentials part of the website - your source of essential items to make life easier in the kitchen - absolutely no useless gadgets!