How NOT to make a gingerbread house // cookery class at L'Atelier des Chefs with NEFF and Currys PCWorld

What is more festive than an evening of mulled wine, gingerbread house construction and Christmas canapés? This is no Christmas cracker joke or riddle.

TELL ME MORE

Earlier this month I was invited to L'Atelier des Chefs in St Pauls for a gingerbread house masterclass with NEFF and Currys PCWorld, choosing to embrace the festive feels with my mistletoe print shirt. And what a welcome. There were Christmas tunes playing in the background. There was a cheese board (always a winner!). We drank bubbly and mulled wine. And then there were the gingerbread houses we created that evening (some more festive than others).

AN INTRODUCTION

We received a warm welcome from the team and an introduction to the NEFF ovens we'd be using. Did you know that NEFF have those fancy ovens with the slide away doors that you see on the Bake Off? The NEFF Slide & Hide® oven is the only oven with a door that slides away underneath, allowing you to get RIGHT IN THERE so you can inspect your food more closely. Further more, NEFF’s patented fan technology. CircoTherm® is designed to heat up food quicker (allegedly no pre-heating required!) and distribute the heat more evenly for a good even bake. The lovely Home Economist lady who spoke to us explained how the NEFF Slide & Hide® can cook things at a lower temperature in the same amount of time as other ovens out there and yet still produce the same good result thanks to its CircoTherm® technology. The NEFF Slide & Hide® also allows you to use all four levels of your oven without fear of the flavours mixing - so you can cook a savory dish AND dessert simultaneously - and reportedly it's easier to keep clean (hooray!).

At the end of the presentation I was left thinking about the bigger question: What does this oven not do?! It was all very interesting insight. Particularly as the door to my current oven no longer closes. Maybe it wishes it was a NEFF Slide & Hide®

TIME TO GET OUR BAKE ON

We were split into teams of three where we were tasked with making and decorating a gingerbread house, as well as making some festive canapés. All with the aid of mulled wine, of course.

When cutting out the walls of our house, we'd already decided that we would be going for the "rustic" look, telling ourselves this to justify our jagged and crumbling walls. In other words, an older and dated "pre-loved" house with years of history. Sure, the walls were in need of a good plastering, but what house isn't?

We were essentially baking flat pack furniture to put together. Miraculously our flat pack house came out of the oven perfectly golden thanks to our wonderful NEFF oven which prides itself in distributing its heat evenly for a good even bake. The trick was to wait for it to cool a little before decorating it as otherwise the icing would slip clean off. But that was easier said than done in a baking hot kitchen with lots of warm bodies! The good news was that a still-warm base meant that the chocolate button roof tiles melted on, eliminating the need for any icing.

Some people ice their gingerbread houses with white icing for the illusion of snowy roof tiles and icicles dripping overhead. Not us. We had neon green and pink icing so you could see our house from space. By the end of the evening I had so much green on my hands, I felt like I'd began my transition into the Hulk.

We gingerly (ha!) constructed the house and although some of the pictures say otherwise, it was in fact standing and a complete entity at one point. Although admittedly the house did look like it was clinically depressed - perhaps a sign of its imminent collapse.

Then the roof cracked. Then the roof caved in. Then the supporting wall buckled under the weight of the roof collapsing. You get the gist.

We came to the conclusion that it was hurricane season and whilst it was unfortunate and a real shame, it's not like we can control the weather. So our gingerbread house sat there rather dejectedly, it's remaining walls supported by a plastic tub, which was in fact the punnet of tomatoes used for the bruschetta. I still maintain we were going for a more Grand Designs look with floor to ceiling glass for a panorama view of the other houses on Gingerbread Lane.

Oddly none of the other houses on Gingerbread Lane were hit by the hurricane and were all still standing.

I think we nailed it with the canapés, but not so much with the gingerbread house. As the majority of our table were vegetarian - or not huge fans of fish - we opted for vegetarian canapés and made bruscettta using the fresh tomatoes and pesto for extra flavour. I like to think they looked pretty decent. It's all in the garnish. Because artistically placed chives can make anything look fancy.

THE RESULTS

Surprisingly we came second place that evening as judging was thankfully based on team work and team spirit rather than baking and decorating aptitude (phew!). It was a right laugh and in the below picture you can see actually see me on the far left wiping the tears from my eyes.

We all received NEFF aprons and oven gloves to take home with us, which I was really chuffed about as the NEFF oven gloves were really thick and a delight to work with, compared to my ones at home which have holes in them and are as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Although our team are unlikely to appear on The Bake Off any time soon, we had an incredible time. Cookery classes like this are for people from all walks of life - not just baking experts! - so if you are a baking numpty like me, fear not! It's still good fun and a great way of meeting new people. L'Atelier des Chefs have cookery classes ranging from 30 minutes long to 3 hour masterclasses where you can learn skills such as pasta making, pastry, sushi making and specific types of cuisine such as Scandinavian, Brazilian, French, Thai and so on. Cookery classes start from just £15 and a full list of courses and prices can be found here. Alternatively why not treat someone? Vouchers are available here and make for a unique and unforgettable gift.

If this piece has inspired you to make your own gingerbread house (trust me, it's not physically possible for you to produce something worse than ours!), please find the link to the recipe and template here along with the full nitty gritty on the event.

A huge thank you to NEFF, Currys PCWorld and L'Atelier des Chefs for a fabulously festive evening. As for me? I'll be leaving gingerbread house making to the professionals!

#NEFFchristmas

My experience of We Heart Mondays and things to be mindful of with blogger events

I'll be honest, this is something I never expected to write about. Well, not in this way at least. But due to the lack of transparency and also the lack of information available, I felt compelled to spread awareness. As a blogger, you know the deal. Some days your inbox is fairly quiet (*cue the tumbleweed*), but on other days you may get an exciting opportunity or three. And this is how this story begins.

THE CONCEPT

We Heart Mondays had been on my radar for a little while. The concept of We Heart Monday? Celebrating women. Specifically providing work spaces and networking events for meeting entrepreneurial women with workshops designed to empower women. We Heart Mondays founder Layla Rivelino was quoted saying this in an interview*

* article no longer available for reference but was originally found via Lady Like You 

"Our aim is to create work spaces and services that equip female entrepreneurs with everything they need to approach Mondays with confidence. I listen to a lot of podcasts by female entrepreneurs which inspired me to create an environment where like-minded business women could come together, be themselves, be productive, network, and make new friends"

Sounds good, right?

I was some how signed up to their mailing list (a mystery still to this day) and would get emails about events at their venue in Hackney Wick (supposedly a really, really beautiful venue)

THE EVENT

Then early April this year they announced their next event. The email came through with the subject line "Midsummers Night Dream Dinner Party Invitation" and I was initially excited because I thought it may have been with a brand (I have been invited to blogger breakfasts with brands before). When I clicked into the email and saw it was with We Heart Mondays, it was that initial uncertainty of a company I hadn't had dealings with before, nor did I know anyone who had attended one of their events before. But clicking into that email with pictures like the below...  it grabbed your attention instantly.

I would photo credit all the images used in this post, but honestly have no idea where We Heart Mondays found these...

Please contact me if you are the owner of these images and I'll be more than happy to co-operate and credit your work!

No word of a lie, but being a massive foodie, it felt like the event was made for me. An evening of unlimited drinks, massages, manicures, a three course meal and to top it all off, a goody bag at the end of it (on reflection, it now all sounds too good to be true..). The email detailed the food as being from The Meringue Girls' savory menu, followed by a picture perfect dessert and these are the types of pictures they used in their email.

Good so far, right? This is when things start to get gnarly.

We Heart Mondays was asking for £50 for this event. I did initially question this as I have been blogging for over 8 years now and usually events are complimentary in exchange for coverage in the form of a written review. There is sadly this generalisation that bloggers and influencers are freeloaders and want everything handed on a plate to them for free (not true for all of us!). I went in with good intentions. Always wanting to see the good in people, I figured that renting an office space in London must be expensive, and that maybe the cost was to go towards the decor for the event, as well as the food and wages for those working that night. I saw it as a supper club type event (and supper clubs are never free!) and for everything it included, I didn't think that £50 was a horrendously outrageous ask.

But before I parted with my money I did do a bit of research first. Their email worked (I had actual human contact and spoke to a lady called Erica from We Heart Mondays via email), their website was professional looking enough, and I found blog posts about people who had gone to their events before. I established that trust, so I clicked through and paid via PayPal, knowing PayPal has a degree of buyer protection through my dealings with eBay.

RED FLAG

The first red flag was that I never received a confirmation email, receipt, or proof of purchase. Fortunately because I paid through PayPal, I had something I could refer to. On the lead up to the event, I didn't receive any emails from We Heart Mondays confirming the time, place or date. On the morning of the event I emailed the team. And the email bounced. As in, the email account could not be found. I went onto the We Heart Mondays website... also gone. And likewise both their Instagram and Twitter accounts had been deleted. On Google they were listed as "permanently closed", and I went onto PayPal and noticed that my payment to "We Heart Mondays" was now a payment to "CLOSED".  I contacted the supplier who was meant to be supplying the food at said event that day, but they had no knowledge of this and in fact believed to be working with them on an entirely different date later that month.

After some digging on Twitter and Instagram, I managed to track down other individuals and small businesses who had also been affected (because don't forget, when it comes to events, suppliers also feel the impact!). Many of these complaining about having tickets to an event the previous weekend, paying for the privilege, and turning up to find NOTHING in said venue and then upon emailing We Heart Mondays, having emails bounce back like mine was. Some of the small businesses had lost out on £600 which is horrible for any brand or business, but especially despicable for smaller businesses and new businesses where every penny counts. As annoyed as I am to have lost money, I can't help but feel even more angry on behalf of all the small businesses that were targeted and taken advantage of.

STRIVING FOR BALANCE

Whilst really frustrated, I don't know the whole story - it's merely speculation at this stage -  and I always try and write in a balanced way and present both sides.

Maybe they have re-branded with a new website, new email, new social media account and new premises. But how are people paid up to their events to know that? The most frustrating part of this all has been the lack of communication. I can't say for sure that We Heart Mondays are a scam business. Maybe they were a legit business and went bust. Or maybe they played the long game, built up a reputation for themselves, starting charging for events and that's when it all begun. I honestly don't know. But if I have paid for a product or service, I expect an order confirmation or receipt, and if there is anything potentially in the way of getting said product or service I have paid for e.g  bankruptcy I expect to be kept informed.

So with their mission statement of entrepreneurial women and trying to empower women, I guess they have both failed and succeeded here. If this was all indeed one big con, designed by one women (there is talk of "Layla Rivelino" being a fake name) to get people's money, it's entrepreneurial of sorts, I'll give them that. However if a woman is taking advantage of lots of young women and women in business... it's not at all empowering and embracing of the sisterhood. It's easy to be angry at someone and play the blame game, but ultimately I'm angry at myself. For falling for it. For not questioning things more. The real shame is that this whole experience has shaken my confidence in blogger events. There is an event in November which is asking for tickets to be purchased in advance, and now I'm shaken to get involved with any events that involve payment. Can you blame me? The whole experience has been a lesson learnt and I will be more careful in the future.

NEXT STEPS

What's next? In an ideal world, I hope that the people behind We Heart Mondays do the right thing and come forward and try at the very least to explain their side of their story rather than leaving us left to fill in the gaps and naturally thinking the worst. I am hoping I have a degree of buyer protection through paying through PayPal, and fingers crossed I do get my money back. I am signed up to a wonderful support group with everyone that was affected and together we are fighting to find out more, get the answers we deserve, and get everyone's money back. If you have experienced something similar, do reach out to me and I''ll pass on the details for the support group.

In summary, it has been a learning curve. Not only did it fool me and small businesses, but imagine new bloggers to the industry who don't know any better. I want to ensure that something like this never happens again, and here's how we can achieve this:

RESEARCH THE COMPANY

Yes, I did my fair share of research on the company but looking up social media accounts and previous blog posts are not enough. We live in an age where things can be glossed over and dressed up on social media. It's so easy to deceive others.

Do the social media accounts have a good amount of followers that inspire confidence? Even if it did, the followers on the account could be bought or mostly bots. If any money is involved, Google the company and try and find out about their financial history etc etc.

Some of the blog posts may have been written by We Heart Mondays' people, or even commissioned by them. A lot of these blog posts are still live and if they are genuine blog posts and if the person in question really did attend and have no complaints about the company or how they were treated, that's only fair. However what baffles me is that knowing what I know now, and with the widespread knowledge that the company may have screwed lots of people over, if I had written one of these blog posts, I wouldn't want to associate myself and my blog's branding against a potentially corrupt organisation and would delete the post instantly. But that's just me.

CONTACT THE SUPPLIERS

The email I received told me who'd be supplying the food that evening so in future, I'd contact some of the suppliers and double check that a) they have indeed been booked and b) that the dates line up. Because if not, that's a red flag. I learnt this far too late.

CONTACT OTHER BLOGGERS

I shouldn't have been complacent with seeing the blog posts and taking these as proof as trustworthiness. In future I know to reach out to the bloggers and get their take on it. In this case, it wouldn't have necessarily helped because all the bloggers I contacted about their We Heart Mondays blog posts say they had genuinely good experiences and weren't compensated to write the reviews. But you never know. It's always worth a shot. Alternatively reach out to the blogging community on Twitter and ask around. Through talking to people, I learnt about issues dating back as early as June. Which had I known earlier, I wouldn't hit "book".

USE PAYPAL OR A CREDIT CARD

If you choose to part with your money, try and use PayPal or a credit card as both offer you some coverage / buyer protection. I luckily used PayPal and have submitted a claim already. Because like with an eBay purchase, if a company doesn't provide you with a product or service you paid for, you are entitled to claim and get your money back. Apparently the company has 20 days to dispute or get in touch, and after that, PayPal will escalate the case. We Heart Mondays is now down as "Closed" on my PayPal account so I'm not expecting to get any sort of response or dispute in the next 20 days. So watch this space.

REPORT FOR FRAUD

If you experience any problems, research your options. I'm still figuring out what to do (I'll update this section once I have learnt more about my rights), but there have been talks of getting fraud departments involved and the police and the press.

LET'S TALK

Let's talk to each other. The big problem here was the lack of communication and information available. Both from We Heart Mondays and also the individuals and suppliers who trusted them. Before I started asking around on Twitter, I didn't see anything on Twitter about this, nor any blog posts expressing concerns. Let's get chats going on Twitter and hopefully my blog post is the first of many where we can spread the word, get the answers we deserve, and ensure something like this never happens again.

The autumn soup and bread recipes you KNEAD to have in your life // bread making class at the Jamie Oliver Cookery school

The other weekend I headed to Westfield in London for a bread making class at the 

Jamie Oliver Cookery School. But did I rise to the occasion? Read on to find out!

Before we started we were shown the kitchens we would be working in and noticed that the Jamie Oliver Cookery School kitchens were all fitted with Hotpoint ovens. A rep from Hotpoint spoke to us before our session and said that through customer research they identified that the one thing people find most frustrating with their ovens is a non-even bake. I for one know how annoying it is when a bake is burnt on top but also has a soggy bottom! People tend to blame themselves for a bad bake, however it's more likely the oven. Did you know that ovens' temperatures can vary up to 15 degrees? And this alone makes it all too easy to produce uneven bakes. Hotpoint’s new ovens offer Multi-Flow technology to regulate the temperature and to ensure better heat distribution and a good even bake every time.

Our bread making class was led by chef Gabby who gave us a demonstration of what we kneaded (ha!) to be doing that day. She taught us the signs of a good prove and how to work the dough so you get those perfect spider web like strands.

Fun fact: if you over work your dough or don't get the prove you were after, all is not lost. Bread dough is always salvageable. For example it can make a great pizza base

We were told we would be making bread rolls in different shapes to have with fondue and soup at lunch and also two focaccias. I did wonder how on earth we were going to make all those in the space of a few hours. I make bread at home and I know how long it can take to prove the dough. Luckily for us, the hard work taken out of bread making as Gabby had proved lots of dough in advance. That being said, we also made one dough ourselves which were able to take home with us. Mine proved very well on the Central Line. When I got home, the dough had essentially eaten the box and was making a break for it. I baked mine at home using fresh rosemary from the garden (because you can't beat rosemary focaccia!)

After our bread making 101, we were led away to individual work stations with the ingredients all pre-measured for us, which made things nice and simple regardless of if you were a seasoned pro baker or completely new to it all. It felt very Bake Off. But without the cameras and the pressure.

To make a dough all you knead (sorry!) is flour, water and yeast. At home I use dried yeast, however at the class we used live yeast. I had never seen it before in this form. It came as large blocks and smelt fragrant.

With the initial demonstration, it was a lot to take in at once. I wasn't sure how I was going to remember it all, but Gabby and her lovely sous chef were on hand, advising us when our doughs were done or if they kneaded (ha!) more work. Baking alongside other bloggers, there was a great sense of solidarity as we were all in it together. There were plenty of doh! moments when your mixture stuck to the table top because you hadn't floured it enough, and when you get more flour down you than on the table...

Rollin' with it

For our bread rolls, the dough was well proved and elastic (a good sign!), which made them quite difficult to shape as no sooner had you rolled out a shape, would it retract back. We were advised to use a knife with a little olive oil on the blade while making cuts to the dough (such as the score marks on top of the baguette) to make the dough easier to work with. One of the shapes we were shown was an Epi, but my dough wasn't having it (huge respect to anyone else who managed it!), so instead I made a spiral snail sort of shape. Which for the record, didn't look anything like the Bake Off "snail".  I also made a simple round roll, a baguette and a plaited loaf. The latter of which lost its definition when baked. Mine were egg washed to give them a golden colour and a sheen once baked. But we were advised that you could also use milk instead if you wanted more of a matte effect. If you are lactose intolerant, milk can be switched out for soy milk or other alternatives.

If you want to give these a go yourself, you can find the recipe below:

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Basic bread dough

Ingredients 

• 1kg strong flour, or wholemeal strong flour
• 30g fresh yeast
• Water!

Method

1. Making a well - Put the flour in a bowl and make a large well in the centre. Pour around 310ml of tepid water into the well, then add the yeast, 1 level teaspoon of salt and stir with a fork.
2. Getting it together - Slowly bring in the flour from the inside of the well, being careful not to break the walls of the well. Continue to bring the flour into the centre until you get a stodgy consistency - then add another 310ml of tepid water. Continue to mix until it's stodgy again, then bring in all the flour, making the mix less sticky. With floured hands bring it together into a ball of dough.
3. Kneading - Knead on a flour dusted surface for 4-5 minutes until you have a silky and elastic dough.
4. First prove - Flour the top of the dough and place in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow it to prove for about half an hour until doubled in size in a warm, moist, draught-free place.
5. Second prove, flavouring and shaping - Once the dough has doubled in size, knock the air out for 30 seconds by bashing it and squashing it. Shape it or flavour it as required - folded, filled, tray baked - and leave it to prove a second time for 30 minutes to an hour until it has doubled in size once more.
6. Cooking your bread - Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 410 degrees Fahrenheit / gas 6. Gently place your dough onto a flour-dusted baking tray and into the pre-heated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked and golden brown. You can tell if it's cooked by tapping the base - if it sounds hollow, it's done. If it doesn't then pop it back in for a little longer. Once cooked, place on a rack and allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes. 

Makes a loaf - or in our case 4 rolls!

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We used an assortment of poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for extra crunch. And what better topping to have with autumnal soup than pumpkin seeds?!

Focaccia gonna do?

The focaccia dough was a good work out. It was great to work out the week's stress and it felt very therapeutic.

We crushed the salt with rosemary to create rosemary salt, but also left some sprigs of the rosemary large. I love crunchy rosemary on my bakes. The kitchen smelt amazing during this time. There is no better smell that the smell of freshly baked bread and rosemary.

Focaccia is one of my favorite types of bread - especially when dipped in balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.  For years my go to starter at Jamie's Italian has always been their selection of breads and oils. If you would like to try making your own focaccia, you can find the recipe for this below:

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Rosemary focaccia

Ingredients

• 240g Italian tipo "OO" flour
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 10g fresh yeast
• 1 sprig of rosemary

Method

1. Combine the flour. yeast, 145ml of tepid water, 30ml of extra virgin olive oil, yeast and a good pinch of sea salt in a mixing bowl and knead gently for for 5-10 minutes until smooth.
2. Cover the mixing bowl and leave to rest in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
3. While the dough is rising, prepare a baking tray by lightly oiling the base and sides with vegetable oil.
4. Transfer the dough to the baking tray. Spread out evenly using the palm of your hands and gently expel the air from the dough, then rub 15ml of extra virgin olive oil over the surface of the dough using your finger tips.
5. 'Dimple' the dough ensuring that you don't press all the way through to the base. Rip up your rosemary and poke them gently into the bread.
6. Cover the dough again and leave to rest for a further 20-40 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 410 degrees Fahrenheit / gas 6.
8. Place the baking tray in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Once cooked, carefully remove from the oven and drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm or cold.

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Whilst the focaccia was baking, we settled down for lunch with our bread roll creations. Naturally, the bread had baked perfectly - thanks Hotpoint! Our bread rolls were still warm and paired with fondue, a comforting bowl of soup each and red wine, we felt very toasty and autumnal (and sleepy!).

No doubt about it, I will be re-creating this soup at home. Hand on heart, it was one of the best soups I have ever had. If like me, you would like to try making this soup yourself, please find the recipe to this below:

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Roasted pumpkin soup

Ingredients

• 2kg pumpkin or squash
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 red onions
• 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
• 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 325 degrees Farenheit / gas 3.
2. De-seed the pumpkin or squash, then chop into wedges.
3. Place the wedges on a large baking tray and lightly drizzle with olive oil.
4. Gently squash the garlic cloves in their skins and scatter across the baking tray with the thyme leaves. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
5. Roast for 1 hour, or until caramelised at the edges.
6. Meanwhile, peel and roughly slice the carrots, chop the celery, and peel and roughly chop the onions.
7. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large pan over a medium heat, add all the prepared ingredients, then cook with the lid ajar for 30 minutes, or until softened.
8. Crumble the stock cubes into a jug, cover with 1.5 litres of boiling water, and stir until dissolved.
9. Once cooked, add the pumpkin or squash to the pan and pour over the stock. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and add to the pan.
10. Bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through, then remove from the heat.
11. Using a handheld blender, carefully blend the soup until smooth. Season to taste.
12. Divide between bowls, add a dollop of crème fraîche and extra virgin olive oil to each. You can top with thinly chopped red chilli if you like.  

Serves 4

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We each left with a Currys PC World goody bag filled with items to continue that autumn feeling. You can't get more autumnal than candles and tea. This candle for the record smells out of this world!

In summary, I really enjoyed my first Jamie Oliver Cookery class. The main thing I took away from my experience is that it can be really easy (and satisfying!) to make your own bread and it really doesn’t take that long. The chefs there were so energetic and passionate, and were a pleasure to work with. The Bread Baking: Knead to Know class is priced at £65 per person and they do plenty of other classes too where you can learn to prepare sushi, fish, pasta, curries and so on. You can view their full range of classes here where it details times and the number of slots available on a given date.

Thank you so much to Currys PC World, Hotpoint and The Jamie Oliver Cookery School for putting on a wonderful #AutumnalBakes event. I feel really inspired to get back into baking bread. Because crust me, I'm on a roll.

#AutumnalBakes

I was offered a complimentary cookery class but all opinions my own

Tapas, golf and wine tasting. Not your typical Wednesday night.

When I was first invited for an evening of golf and wine tasting, although I do love a glass (or three) of wine, and I like golf, I couldn't really imagine how the two went hand in hand. But after one of the loveliest nights out I've had in a long time, I can safely say that I was proven wrong! Monarch Airlines kindly invited me for an evening at N1 Golf in Greenwich to spread awareness of the numerous golf holiday destinations they have across Europe. I arrived at North Greenwich (yes, the tube stop right by the o2!) and N1 Golf was a stone's throw away from the station. Google maps seems to suggest it's over a mile from the station and a 30 minute walk, but it's not. We were welcomed with sparkling wine and got the chance to meet everyone there. The sun was setting as we arrived and the floodlights were starting to come on - it was such a beautiful location to be playing golf in. To your left, the city and the River Thames next to you, and to your right, the o2 arena. You'd expect it to be loud and bustling when you play golf in the city, but it was so serene.

After drinks, we moved to the golf bays and received a briefing from the pro golfers, learning the tips and tricks of the trade - very useful as I hadn't played golf in such a long time! Then we had the chance to try for ourselves. I shared a bay with Michaela and Inna who were pros compared to me! We were upstairs on the top level of the driving range and had the most incredible views of London.

During which, there was lots of tasty looking tapas to dig into. We enjoyed prawn carpaccio, Basque style crab, barley, quinoa and pomegranate salad, and a selection of prawn tempura.

As the time to practise drew to a close, the competition of the night began to see who could get the ball the furthest. We finished up our starters and then were escorted downstairs to the restaurant to finish our meal. For the main course there was steak, lamb, tuna steak (the best I've ever tasted!) and sea bream. Most of which came with the most incredible fondant potatoes.

Dessert was a cheese board and chocolate brownies. 

It's officially a good night when there are chocolate brownies involved.

We also partook in some beer and wine tasting. Although it was pretty weird to be drinking beer out of wine glasses(!) I'm not really a beer drinker - although I did really like the first one we drank! - so I was more into the wine. And it was really nice to try some different wines. I would tell you my favourites, but after several different beers and several different wines, my attention span was... slightly lacking to say the least!

Olivia had a good collection of glasses going on....

By 10pm I was feeling pretty good. I had that nice fuzzy feeling inside that you get from a good wine. Or two. Or six. The winners of the competitions that evening were announced. Alex won the driving range one and Olivia won the social media side of things. Monarch flights and vouchers for N1 Golf's restaurant Vinotec Compass were up for grabs - so some really decent prices! Then after that we were all on our (very) merry way.

Thank you so much to Monarch Airlines, N1 golf, Talented Talkers, and Vinotec Compass for a lovely evening, doing something I usually wouldn't do. I've learnt that I'm no Tiger Woods, but it was a really fun experience and it's definitely not PUTT me off playing golf again in the future!