I`m a bit of an addict when it comes to cookery programmes on the tv. I`ll happily watch Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall when they are on the box. Inspired by these celebrity chefs I`ve now become more adventurous in the kitchen. There are now shelves packed with interesting cookery books that at one time stood completely bare. More and more people are expanding their cookery skills and why not when cooking can be so much fun? In actual fact a number of Cookery Events are running throughout the UK and they are ideal for team building exercises. Colleagues can be enrolled on the events and together they`ll have to work together to achieve a common goal. It could be a canapé challenge or a tasty chocolate test that teams will have to pass. Ideal for a spot of team building the Cookery Events are proving to be extremely popular at the moment. Companies can book groups of their workers on one of the Cookery Events and they`ll come back to work wiser as a result. Only by working as a team for the good of a general cause will they prove to be successful at the challenges that they are set.

For more information about Cookery Events, this article or the author visit http://www.hartleysevents.co.uk

20 youthful people embarked on a week long outward bound course unaware of what they were about to experience. During the week they took part in many outdoor challenges and enjoyed rock climbing, abseiling and taking to the river in a series of canoes. Some were scared when they first took to the water in the canoes but others took to it like ducks to water. I was one of the lucky people who took part in that week long course and I still look back and think of the adventures I took part in with great fondness. I`d never rock climbed, abseiled or travelled in a canoe before so it was a real culture shock to find myself taking part in these activities. As well as the standard types of canoes that you often see on the river the centre that ran the outward bound course also had models that were suitable for tandem paddling. This was my favourite type of canoe if I were to be honest as two of you could take to the water and it didn`t seem quite as daunting. Of course, experienced canoeists love to tackle the wildest of rivers and the challenge is to remain afloat as they take on tricky torrents. My fellow outward bounders didn`t take on mighty rapids, they were happy just to paddle on a placid stretch of water.