Greetings from Bonnie Scotland and welcome to Mary’s Kitchen.
My name is Mary Calder and although I live in Edinburgh, Scotland – I’m originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I enjoy long walks with my adorable dogs, Honey, Cuki and Biscuit – I call them my three muskateers. I am an enthusiastic skier, golfer, cyclist, swimmer, keep fit fanatic and enjoy cooking and teaching others how to cook in my spare time. The odd glass of fine wine has been known to also grace my lips from time to time.
I started my career in Edinburgh working for the Scotsman Newspaper Group in advertising sales and then went on to represent the Public Relations and Event Management for one of Scotland’s largest motor groups carrying prestigious marques like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, and Volvo.
After a successful stint in representing this motor group, I began to work freelance and took on the sales and promotion of a well-known Scottish cashmere fashion house. I represented their product in sales and had an extensive education learning about cashmere, from its origins to the preparation of the wool, then onto production of one of Scotland’s most famed products (besides Whisky) – luxurious cashmere garments. This fabulous experience led me to visit London, Paris and New York fashion weeks regularly promoting one of Scotland’s most sought after products. This was an exciting time and the learning curve was second to none.
I then went on to do something even more exciting and owned and operated the Heron Gallery and Bistro in Fife’s Art Centre – Pittenweem Village, for many years. This thriving business dedicated itself to good wholesome fresh food using the best local ingredients and displaying the works of several of the UK’s finest contemporary artists. By popular demand from my customers, I produced a cookbook displaying the recipes we used in the Bistro, and to this day, fifteen short years later, I am still getting requests for a copy of this book. In November 2019 I republished MARY’S KITCHEN COOKBOOK with all my original Bistro recipes along with vibrant photographs and included many more exciting new ones. I love preparing food from scratch and endeavour to encourage others to do so as well.
Now I can hear you saying to yourself, my she has covered a great deal of territory in her working career. Well, I will let you into a little secret, I have an enormous joie de vivre, and I have never stopped learning. Even creating a YouTube Channel and my own food Blog has been an enormous technical challenge but I refuse to let my lack of knowledge stop me in my tracks.
Along with busying myself with two active Velcro Vizslas and one Saluki, my YouTube Channel (Mary PremierCru), my food blog (www.marypremiercru.com) and Facebook kitchen page (www.facebook.com/marypremiercru), I own a prestigious guest home in Edinburgh’s Georgian West End called 22 Chester Street. If you find yourself in Scotland, please come and stay with us.
Should you ever have any cooking questions, please feel free to contact me.
Have a truly wonderful day and if you see some without a smile, then give them yours.
Happy Cooking
Mary
