I was invited to attend a John Lewis event held at Waitrose Cookery School as a guest of my good friend Nova who writes at Cherished by Me.  It’s always good to have a food blogger chum you can meet up with and bounce ideas off.  I hope I do likewise. 

We were greeted with cocktails and twinkly lights which is always a promising sign of a good evening for me.  Then we got on with the cooking bit which was making festive canapés; all easy to make and all delicious.  Halfway through we were shown how to make some of the delicious cocktails we had tried earlier which totally did it for me.  Christmas officially started right then and there.

We were shown how to make some canapés  by Chefs Gerry and Shauna then it was our turn to have a go which we did with lots of giggles and way too much tasting!  Lastly, I couldn’t go without sharing the recipes for the seasonal cocktails we enjoyed effortlessly prepared by Bartender, Matt.

Christmas, I’m coming at you.

Also if you are looking at giving someone you love a different type of gift this Christmas Waitrose Cookery School courses make lovely gifts – Santa I’ve been good, well good enough surely?

All recipes by Waitrose Cookery School.

Mulled Pomegranate Caipirinha (serves 1)
1 lime, halved
1 heaped teaspoon Demerara sugar
50ml Cachaça
25ml mulled pomegranate juice (mixture of mulled fruit juice and pomegranate juice)

Mulled the lime with the sugar in a glass.  Add Cachaça and mix well.  Top glass with some ice cubes and crushed ice and pour over the mulled pomegranate juice.

Apple Pie Vodka Cocktail (serves 1)
50ml vodka
25ml whiskey
25ml lemon juice
50ml apple/pear juice (this can be spiced with ground cinnamon and ginger gently warmed together in a pan, 1 teaspoon of each to 1 litre of juice)

Shake all ingredients together over ice and double strain into a martini glass, finish with burnt cinnamon. 

As I loved the Apple Pie Vodka Cocktail so much I recreated this at home with my homemade Apple Strudel Vodka.  Worked a treat.