I hold a shameless devotion towards cocktail parties. It would have to be my favourite form of entertaining because it just…works.

Limited set up – designing one cocktail, providing basic ingredients and finger food and creating some atmosphere; a gradual build up of anticipation before the event – as guests mull over which special recipe to create and share and toss ideas back and forth, and the actual party itself – incredible!

The buzz of conversation builds and pulses, drinks clink together and ice sparkles in a generous bowl. Finger food sprawls over the counter top – salamis, oozing cheeses, grapes, wafers and shiny slivers of ham. Rough hunks of dark chocolate lie in wait to entrap unsuspecting passers by.

The process of making a cocktail is so rewarding – limes release their intoxicating aroma when muddled and pounded in the bowl, I feel like a mad scientist as I mix, craft, create and prepare a concoction for the reward of enthusiastic sips.

Children stay up way past bedtime to dress up as waiters and catch snippets of enlivened conversation. Their wondrous eyes swell as they glimpse a sight of adulthood previously shrouded. For a moment, everything is in harmony, mixing and muddling together in pure elation. It is my little slice of paradise.

I’m trying something new this month – #Write31Days with a talented community of other writers. We free write for five minutes (or more) each day guided by a prompt. Today’s prompt is ‘muddle’. 

For more information on 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, check out Christina Hubbard’s site!