I have always been a firm believer in two things.

1. Let there be love!
2. Let there be food!

The second one, more so, which is why last weekend I dragged my team to the house of the two witches whom I met a few days back. Remember the Cauldron Sisters Ratika Bhargava and Richa Khetan… the sister-duo that casts mysterious magic in its kitchen on all things edible?

No wonder all of us were super-refreshed after this rendezvous with them. And well, our refreshment is a pretty probable consequence of a laughter-filled session of learning and sipping mocktails! *Feeling smug*

Oh, and by the way, if you’re wondering why we’re learning mocktails out of the blue in this icy cold weather, refer to point (b) above.

The session began with Lavanya, Ayushi, Pallav, and me, chit-chatting with Ratika and Richa. Like any kind hosts would have done, they asked us to be comfortable and feel at home.

Ayushi and I took this statement of theirs a bit too seriously. You’ll find out why, soon.

The Cauldron sisters had set their table well. There were straws to sip from, chips to munch on, fruits juices to create from, and sliced and chopped garnishings to decorate with. We were excited to learn, and our teachers of the hour called upon the first candidate for the hands-on task.

We looked at each other, and everywhere but each other. Finally, Lavanya volunteered and went up to the other end of the table.

Meanwhile, Ayushi and I hogged on chips. *Crunch crunch* The sound of our munching resonated.

Lavanya: So, which mocktail are we beginning with?

Ratika: This one’s called Seriously Pomegranate.

Ayushi and I: *To each other* Let’s get serious now. *And we hogged some more*

Richa: For Seriously Pomegranate, we need: 30 ml pomegranate juice, 10 ml orange squash/crush, 80 ml pineapple juice, 20 ml soda, and a dash of lime juice.

Ratika: We’ll begin with taking a tall glass filled with crushed ice. Add pomegranate juice, followed by all the other ingredients one by one.

Lavanya: Okay. That sounds easy-peasy. But, I just can’t open the lid of this bottle! Ughhh!

Ayushi: *Still hogging on chips, speaks between mouthfuls* Give, let me try!

Priya: Not your cup of tea, bro! Give it to me! *Tries and fails* Okay, not my cup of tea either. Nahi khul raha!

Ratika: This is why we need men in the house – to shoo away lizards and to open stubborn bottle-lids.

All the heads turned towards Pallav in what seemed perfect coordination. I don’t know if he was frightened or just surprised, but he did open that lid.

Lavanya: Tada! It’s ready!

Ayushi and I: Snaaapchat time!

Pallav: *Handing over his phone to me* Here, post it on my Snapchat too!

Trust me when I say, we really had to bring together all of our patience to resist tasting the drink.

Richa:  Black is Back, is next!

Ratika: We’ll need: 15 ml Black currant syrup, 100 ml pineapple juice, 2 scoop vanilla ice-cream.

Richa: This is the easiest of all. You just need to blend all the ingredients and serve.

Ratika: But because we don’t have black currant syrup, we are using black currant ice-cream. You can always modify the recipe as per your convenience. This is what makes mocktails fun!

Ratika: Aaand this is ready!

Lavanya: This looks so tempting! Can’t wait to taste it! *Turning towards Ayushi and me* What do you girls think?

What went on in my mind: Drop that chip Ayushi! Just drop it!

Ayushi and I:*Absent-mindedly* Yes, yes, the same! We can’t wait to taste it.

Lavanya: *Scolds* Stop with the munching you two!

Me: *Scared* Okay, okay! Ladies, I’m your next student! What are you teaching me?

Richa: Let’s make a Fruit Punch Colada with you. Here’s what we need: 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/2 cup guava juice, 1/2 cup coconut cream, 1/2 cup white rum (if you want to spike it up, that is), 2 cups ice cubes, mint leaves.

Me: Hmmm… Interesting! I’ve heard Pina Colada before. Are these two drinks relatives?

Ratika: If you make this drink with just pineapple juice, it becomes Pina Colada. Simple!

Me: Here it is! Guys have a look at my creation! *Grins*

Psst! We did spike this up. Just a teeny bit though, I swear!

Psst psst! By the way, did I tell you that Ratika has done a professional course in bartending in the past? Isn’t she uber cool?

Ayushi: Take me next! Please?

You’d be surprised to know, that by the end of the session, Ayushi told Ratika, “Adopt me, please?”

Ratika: Want to make a Grapitchee? Here’s what you’ll need: 1 cup Litchi juice, 1/2 cup grapes, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp lemon juice, pinch of salt, and some ice. For garnishing we’ll need falooda seeds.

And it seemed that our otherwise ‘nerdy work patriot’ Ayushi wasn’t in her usual avatar. Which is why she was making the teacher do all her work.

Hmmm. Maybe she was high on the excess intake of chips. Oh, I better not say! I was as guilty of emptying the chips-jar as she was. We’re sisters, Ayushi!

Ayushi: My drink is ready too! Yayy!

Here’s how all the drinks up till now looked.

Let’s just ignore that Bacardi bottle behind, okay?

There was one certain mocktail that was presented in a Mason Jar. It took us seconds, forget minutes, to empty that jar! Thankfully, Pallav rescued the drink before we could attack on it and captured it in his camera lens for you all.

As may be very obvious and expected, we girls were twiddling with the glasses and snatching them from each other…

…laughing hopelessly and helplessly, all the while.

The chase went on to a whole new level. So much so, that this happened…

… and then this,

and finally, this. Even though I look like a complete retard in this picture, I will not refrain from posting it, because well, this is the true and raw form of the JWB Weekends and all our backstage mischiefs.

Amidst all this, Ratika and Richa served us a Thai delicacy wrapped in lettuce. Lavanya was on the seventh cloud after eating it…

whereas I… well, I choked on it. *Facepalm*

Embarrassment redefined. A day that I’ll remember for a long time.

And the process of making, sipping, and slurping mocktails went on and on. We ended up with 9 of them on the table…

… and these expressions on our faces. Yes, you may rack your brains to guess the joke. Meanwhile, I’ll go and laugh a bit more.

Picture Courtesy: Pallav Bhargava