Just like mother-in-law used to make!

FREDERICK Belmont, the Swiss founder of Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms believed everyone should be self-sufficient. "If you want something right, do it yourself," was his abiding tenet.

The original Bettys opened in Harrogate in 1919 and the same wholesome fine food principals which saw it flourish then are still held firm as the company continues to expand today.

As a third generation of the Belmont family, Lesley Wild was furious when as an A-stream schoolgirl in the 1960s she was denied cookery lessons.

For many years the director responsible for the tearoom side of the business, Lesley finally saw her burning ambition realised in 2001 when she opened the company's own cookery school.

Its philosophy is grounded in the company's Swiss-Yorkshire heritage: simple, honest food made with the very best of ingredients.

Bettys' success is legendary, so I have to confess that it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation from the school to attend a one-day practical course in Yorkshire bread making.

I was even more daunted when I entered the frighteningly professional-looking unit in Harrogate, with its 18 workstations and demonstration section.

A cup of tea and a delicious home-made croissant helped calm the nerves, but as I slipped into my crisp white apron, my late mother-in-law's words still rang in my ears. It was just after my wedding when she announced rather haughtily: "I make all my own bread and have never bought any shop-made rubbish since I was married."

Though I love cooking, those words planted a stubborn determination in me never to emulate my mother-in-law. Yet here I was at Bettys Cookery School preparing to spend a day doing nothing else but making bread.

I will admit, however, that I had increasingly begun to hate white shop-bought bread with its contents list of frightening e-numbers and promises of a long shelf life. My concession had been to turn to bought brown bread.

But now I was about to enter the world of my bread-making mother-in-law. Apron on, I took my seat with the other students in front of our tutors for the day, Robin Osburn and Roxy Warrick.

Without appearing to draw breath the laid-back and indecently youthful Robin endorsed our fears of glutinous long-life breads and waxed lyrical about the freshly milled flour he had sourced nearby.

And step by step, with some input from Roxy, the pair deftly prepared the "sponge'' which would combine with the strong organic flour, vegetable fat and yeast into a wonderfully kneaded dough.

I thought I had been paying attention until we were all sent off to our work stations where all the meticulously weighed-out ingredients were waiting for us to begin our Yorkshire miller's cob.

Clearly I hadn't been listening well enough and I seemed to have completely forgotten everything we had just been told. Mercifully, posted next to me was an old hand at Bettys cookery courses, Marion Alexander, who had travelled from Northallerton to attend yet another session. She smiled encouragingly and talked me through the first few steps to help me get my cob on its way.

Also working effortlessly opposite me was Elaine Speak, a home economics teacher, from Harrogate. Keen to muster all the help I could, I asked her what she did. "I'm a retired cookery teacher," she told me.

What hope was there for me, I wondered, as I warily asked the fourth member of our quartet, Linda Brunton-Douglas, what her day job was.

"I'm the newly appointed catering, retail and bakery director of Bettys," she revealed, explaining that she was undergoing her own top-level induction course by trying her hand at the company's many disciplines.

Should I just leave now, I thought. Flanked by Bettys new boss, a cookery teacher and a devotee of the cookery school, what hope did I have of ever producing anything to match their efforts?

And as I resignedly plopped my dough onto the marble top, I watched mesmerised as the three effortlessly kneaded their mixture like consummate professionals. A quick glance behind at the four blokes and another female student made me even more despondent.

It all looked so simple in Robin and Roxy's skilled hands, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. The omnipresent tutors were soon by my side and surprisingly, with a few encouraging words and even more practical tips, I began to get the hang of it.

With our dough safely in the proving cupboard, it was Roxy's turn to show us how to make Ripon spiced bread, one of the favourites at Bettys outlets.

As my confidence grew exponentially alongside my dough our miller's cobs were placed in the ovens, while our spiced bread replaced them in the proving cupboards.

It was time for food and the apprehension which had rendered most of us silent in the morning had now developed into friendly chat as we ate our delicious lunch hosted, prepared and presented by the school's Steve Pugh and Dawn Hagerty.

The smell of baking bread began to fill the air and I proceeded to my oven to find two beautiful cob loaves. Out they came to cool and in went my spiced loaves.

There was no stopping me now and this time Robin's words actually began to penetrate, as he made a spelt and honey loaf before despatching us to our work stations. Kneading was becoming easier, though I'll concede my three compatriots still seemed a mile ahead.

But the appearance of our freshly-baked spiced loaves was even more cheering and as our spelt loaves proved, we began to make a batch of pikelets.

Questions were now flying fast, ladles were dipping deftly into the pikelet mixture and all was well in the wonderful world of bread making. No wonder Marian can't keep away from the place.

As our home-made produce was packed into environmentally friendly brown paper carriers, I scoured the school calendar to see how else I could hone up my culinary skills. The list was endless, from courses on Chocolate for Beginners, Delicious Desserts and Fabulous Fish to Easy Entertaining, Mediterranean Cookery and Real Fast Foods, all headed by expert tutors from the famous company.

For those of us who have been turning out meals for more decades than we care to remember, believe me, there is still a lot to learn. And after just one day at Bettys Cookery School - like Marian - I have really got a taste for learning more.

If my mother-in-law is looking down, I can finally concede: "You were right!'' * Anyone wanting any information on the school should telephone 01423-814016 or log on to www.bettyscookeryschool.co.uk or Email cookery.school@bettysandtaylors.co.uk.