cookery school

HEN NIGHTS GET SAUCY

The Sun

A night at the local with L-plate dangling from veil is no longer most girls' idea of a hen night. Now it's usually rampant, alcohol-fuelled weekends away - but Sun Girl Danielle Lawler's two most recent hen parties were different again...

Sarah's bash involved a trip to Ambleside in the Lake District for Italian cuisine lessons at Lucy Cooks' cookery school.

We hired a cottage for the weekend and it had beautiful views and was a healthy staggering distance from the 
local pubs.

I was surprised how diverse the group was. Couples, mothers and daughters, even a son and father-in-law were among the students.

Chef Daniel Cartwright guided us through the menu: smoked haddock carpaccio, mushroom risotto, roast rack of local lamb with parmesan baskets, and pomegranate pannacotta.

We all got a pack with an apron, recipes and ingredients.

Daniel gave the class demonstrations as we made notes and were then sent off like contestants on Ready Steady Cook to re-create his masterpiece. For lunch we ate our freshly cooked mushroom risotto before heading back to class to create our last two exotic courses. I didn't realise cooking could be so tiring - or so rewarding.

There are different menus each day and packages can even be tailored to include off-road driving, wall climbing or sailing.

Lucy Nicholson runs a grocery store, a wine bar (Lucy4) and Lucy's On A Plate restaurant.

The latter is often graced by Coronation Street stars and Renee Zellweger enjoyed her meal here during her visit in the area to film the Beatrix Potter movie Miss Potter.

After a three-course dinner rounded off with a selection of Lucy's award-winning puddings, we needed to dance to work off the calories...