Ruth Watson owned and ran the award-winning Hintlesham Hall and then, in 1990, the Fox and Goose Inn at Fressingfield, one of the first 'Gastropubs'.

Asked by Delia Smith to be a contributing food editor on Sainsbury's Magazine, she went on to win the Glenfiddich Magazine Cookery Writer of the Year award twice.

Her first book, The Really Helpful Cookbook, went into a third reprint within a month of publication. She writes regularly for BBC Good Food magazine, and has also featured in Jamie Oliver's Channel 4 series, Jamies Kitchen.

Fat Girl Slim was the first diet book written by a food lover who managed to lose lots of weight while still enjoying her favourite foods.

Her current project is an 18-room inn, the Crown and Castle at Orford on the Suffolk coast while still finding time to be 'The Hotel Inspector' for Channel 5.

Ruth's latest book, Something for the Weekend, will be published by Quadrille in September.