Near the end of her biography A Cook’s Life — one I’ve commented on before — Stephanie Alexander shares an insight into her daily life at the ‘greying’ end of an extraordinary career:

‘Despite these marvellous trips and all the activity associated with being the founder and figurehead of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation there are many mornings I wake up filled with dread. Dread of what? Rarely is there a definite reason — rather a vague sense of unease, of not wanting to face whatever the day will bring, an awareness of solitude, an unspecified feeling of inadequacy. Also I hurt in various parts of my body these days. My doctor friend Duffy says that if you don’t hurt somewhere you’re probably dead. Remembering his remark is enough to make me smile and roll out of bed into the shower. The warm water can be relied upon to chase away the dread for the moment.’