- Writes all her recipes and cookbook data the old-fashioned way - longhand. Husband, Michael, then simply transfers the information to the home computer.
- Is the United Kingdom's favourite cookery writer having sold (as of 2002) in excess of 14 million books.
- She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1995 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to cookery.
- Announced her retirement from television cooking, although she would continue to produce recipe books. (January 2003)
- Her first real brush with fame came when she was assigned to bake the cake that appeared on the sleeve of The Rolling Stones' chart-topping album, "Let It Bleed" (1969).
- When her portrait appeared on the cover of the Observer Food Monthly supplement (UK Feb. 2008), it was a virtual replica of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's "Milkmaid" with the features altered to resemble Smith's all-too-familiar face.
- Curiously enough, for one whose whole life has been food, she and her husband never throw dinner parties or even attend them.
- Fanatical churchgoer that she is (attends mass seven days a week), when she and husband Michael plan a trip abroad, it becomes incumbent on him to check out church and timetable schedules in advance of the vacation.
- The release of her cookbook "How to Cheat at Cooking" (2008) (a loose update of her first book) became an instant best-seller in the United Kingdom.
- She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to the Food Industry.
- Is a director of Norwich City Football Club.
- Her parents were Harold Bartlett Smith (1920-1999), an RAF wireless operator, and Etty Jones Lewis (1919-2020). They were married in Maidenhead, Berkshire in 1940.
- She was awarded the CH (Member of the Order of the Companion of Honour) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Cookery. She is a cook and writer in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
- She received an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham, a Fellowship from St. Mary's University College, and a Fellowship from the Royal Television Society (1996). She received an honorary degree from the University of East Anglia (1999), and a Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University (2000).
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content