{Review} Vitamix Cocktails and Board Games Party

I had every intention of making things ahead of time for my Vitamix #margaritaparty, but my day went a little like this:

7am wake up late. Rush to get Girls ready for school. Remember car is at garage so call friend to take us to school.

7.55am leave house. Remember Tesco delivery on the way to school. Realise phone is where I left it next to my rapidly cooling cup of coffee.

8.35am get back to house post school run to find a note from Tesco’s. Call the number to find that there are no available slots for redelivery today and I should rebook online.

9am leave house to pick up car at garage. Pay £800 for new tyres. Plug destination in satnav. Drive off the lot and 100m down the road when the ‘puncture’ light that is the reason for the tyre change comes on. Go back.

1015am. Finally get to my destination late. Not a good start when you are looking around a prospective school. Get a strong disapproving air from the head. Walk around giant campus in the pouring rain knowing the umbrella you bought is still in your car- left behind in the rush to get to the appointment on time. Once again feel the warm glare of disapproval.

1115am still fifteen minutes late leave the premises with a determination to make up time. Hit every red light, reversing vehicle and tractor en route to house viewing, phone ringing relentlessly in the boot with the umbrella.

12 noon. House viewing done, make a pitstop at garage for petrol and lunch. Arrive at next house viewing needing the loo. Owners are home and it feels awkward so decide against asking to use facilities. Leave a nd head to next house viewing with full bladder.

1pm. Having hit every slow-moving vehicle on the journey to house number three, arrive at destination wishing that I still had the potty bag in the boot, but alas it went to a new home only last week. Use loo. Decide against house on the basis of the facilities but humour estate agent by walking round.

1.30pm leave to make journey back to school on time.

2.45pm pull up outside school, desperate for a) a drink and b) the loo. Reconsider moving when someone asks if I am ‘in the family way’

3.15pm. Screech into Waitrose carpark and play supermarket sweep replenishing things that Tesco were supposed to deliver. Without shopping list. Plus two tired children.

4pm. Get home, bung kids in front of tv with pizza. Get to work.

It will hopefully impress you- it impressed me- if I tell you that by the time my guests arrived four hours later I had made a squillion canapes, sweet and savoury, had both girls bathed and in bed asleep and was the picture of calm.

Here’s what I made:

• Smoked salmon and guacamole blinis- obviously the salmon and blinis came ready to go but the guacamole took seconds to whizz up in the Vitamix.
• Mini sausages with three-tomato salsa. Based on the Vitamix  Californian salsa, this recipe was so easy, tasty and will be published soon!
• Mini tartlets with a) feta and onion chutney and b) Chicken Alfresco. I made a version similar to the Vitamix chicken recipe, again in a post following soon.
• There were also plenty of mini poppadoms to dip in the yummy salsa and guacamole.

For dessert canapes, I made mini Rolo tartlets using sweet pastry, and some raspberry custard tartlets using Fuss Free Helen’s fabulous Vitamix custard recipe.

Not that the food was important since my friends were round for cocktails and board games. As busy parents, we love the idea of going out after a full day ferrying the children round yet don’t have the energy for getting all dressed up and actually going out. So I provided an alternative: cocktails at home, come-as-you-are, laughter and board games. It was relaxed and easy and so very quick with the Vitamix doing all the hard work.

We drank, thanks to the amazing Hoss and his cocktail wizardry: Strawberry Daiquiris, Cookies and Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, King’s Peach, Raspberry Lime Cooler and a whole bunch of other stuff that got made up as we went along. We were all wearing shades on the school run the next morning.

 

And check out how the other #MargaritaMums fared at their parties (although mine was the greatest. Obvs.): Mummy Barrow, More Than Toast, Write Like No-one’s Watching, The  Mummy Blogger. And if you do have a Vitamix, then follow Helen’s Vitamix Pinterest Board

 

*disclosure: I was sent a Vitamix for the purposes of hosting my #margaritaparty. It is a very special piece of kit and there will be more cocktails in my future.