If confidence is an ingredient in short supply in your kitchen, then I would make a date in Margaret Anderson's - she's got bags of the stuff in hers.

Margaret is on a mission to inspire the likes of us who balk at the mere mention of making our own bread; who sink at the suggestion of a souffl; or who have a panic attack on the subject of pastry.

People can and do have success in all these dishes when they've spent a bit of time around Margaret's Kirkby Lonsdale kitchen table.

Her Hop House home-from-home cookery classes have had such success over the past couple of years, that Margaret is introducing further culinary get-togethers for those who want to extend their skill base as well as those desperate just to learn the basics.

You couldn't have a better teacher than Margaret who has, in fact, been teaching food all her working life.

It wasn' t quite the career she had in mind - catering was her first option.

But when her boarding school headmistress told Margaret's parents their daughter would make a wonderful teacher, her fate was sealed.

At least she got to choose her own specialist subject.

Margaret qualified in home economics at Sheffield and has taught around the country.

For the last 14 years, however, she's been guiding pupils at Bentham Grammar School on the finer points of food technology, as domestic science is now known.

Bentham pupils are lucky because the curriculum has a generous helping of time dedicated to food technology.

And they don't just learn how to read a packet.

Margaret is passionate about encouraging the children to learn basic cooking skills.

This, in itself, touches on other areas of learning - weights and measures is a wonderful example of practical numeracy.

Margaret's own children, Emma, now 22, and Tom, 20, were both pupils at Bentham, so they had a double dose of Mrs Anderson.

Fortunately, they passed their GCSEs in home economics with flying colours and, thanks to extra curricular activity back at Hop House, they are both now confident cooks.

"On a rainy day, rather than switching the TV on, we would probably cook together, making pasta, or pizza," recalled Margaret, a Delia Smith devotee.

The doyenne of celebrity chefs may have come in for a lot of stick over her recent 'how to cook' initiative but, says Margaret: "People needed help with basic skills."

Which is why, despite a galaxy of culinary stars and the cookbooks which ubiquitously go with them, you can't beat hands-on with a teacher by your shoulder.

The two-hour morning sessions, for which you supply your own food, cost from £5, which includes recipe sheets.

Margaret even caters for people who perhaps don't want to do the full course but would just like to attend one class to learn a specific skill.

The 'dinner party' sessions usually start around 10.30 in the morning with a cup of coffee; then it's all hands on deck cooking a three-course meal which is usually enjoyed by the ' students' around 2.30pm.

This course costs from £20 but Margaret provides all the food.

There's usually a fight to be first to book - the 'winner' gets to choose the menu.

Recent ' dinner parties' have included:

Thai prawns in coconut milk - spinach & mushroom roulade - apple strudel.

Broccoli & Stilton soup - baked stuffed trout on a bed of fennel & cherry tomatoes - key lime pie.

Marinated mushrooms - twice-baked Roquefort souffls - raspberry & peach compote.

All the classes are 'friendly and informal', which should delight the Japanese students Margaret may soon be welcoming to Hop House.

She has joined forces with Sue Wood, of the Lavender Blue Workshop at Wray, to offer Japanese people living in this country a double delight - Margaret will share the finer points of English cookery, while Sue will pass on some of her floristry expertise.

In fact, Sue's got a head start on Margaret because she already runs a day course on 'East meets West' which explains how to work with the minimum amount of plant material to give a flavour of the Orient.

"All the details of the courses for the Japanese have to be sorted out yet but I think it will be quite exciting for both Sue and I," said Margaret.

For details of her forthcoming cookery classes call Hop House on 015242-71975.

For Lavender Blue Workshop course details call Sue Wood on 015242-21170.