Chuk, I may have written a lot about making pastry, but it only takes a short while to actually make it.

Your great aunt in law and your mum are both right.

I have to make my own pastry as I'm allergic to margarine ...

I have this theory, that there are some things that otherwise good cooks JUST CAN'T DO. I'm not very good with cakes ... but, again, I have to make my own. In the "good old days" when my son was younger, I used to make three for his birthday parties ... one was a spare, LOL.