I had a mother who was an Adele Davis fan and had a horror of preservatives and processed carbs. Before the pendulum swung the other way and painted fats as ogres, carbs were considered evil and every woman I knew used saccharin instead of sugar and avoided “white” carbs. Carbs are once again evil, and fats — aside from saturated or hydrogenated — ok.

I was often the only kid in school who had wholemeal brown bread with cheese — and yes, Apples. Mother used to put salt on apple slices. I still like salted apples.

Luckily I also had grandmothers (one Swedish, one French) who cooked. They baked cakes, biscuits (cookies) cheese bread, — all manner of tasty treats. They were also good at smuggling. I survived.