The weather being so nice out lately, my roommate and I began to think of having a picnic one of these days. So we gathered some of our friends in the alley and planned a potluck for a Sunday lunch right before finals week, as an energy booster and a last hurrah before graduation (though I was the only senior).

We got up in the morning to prepare food together in the House kitchens. Here is Starry cooking some chicken legs:

Rona making frosting:

Sandra preparing her frittatas to carry over to the park:

I was making matcha checkerboard cookies. Part of the process involves kneading the matcha into part of the dough and shaping it into a 7-by-7 inch square to cut into strips.

The strips have to be layered together in alternating colors and mortared with egg white (also to prevent the colors from blending) before the loaf of dough has to be frozen for 15 minutes prior to baking. Here are the cookies fresh from the oven!

We trekked over to the park and spread the table. Dishes featured were:

Cucumber cream cheese and chicken salad (with homemade curry powder) by Sandra;

Corn, egg, tater tot and pea frittatas by Sandra;

Hashed brown patties by Anna;

Yam, apple and corn salad by Gyu Bin;

Coca cola chicken by Starry;

Guacamole and chips by Melissa;

Matcha checkerboard cookies by myself;

Lemon glaze cookies by Meera;

And unicorn bars by Rona.

While we were waiting for Melissa to arrive, Gyu Bin and I tried taking some Instagram-worthy food shots and put them in a collage:

My plate looked like this…

Group photo!

The playground was too tempting to resist, so after lunch we went off to join the children and burn some calories…

My favorite thing about potlucks is how everything is always so delicious because everyone is trying to show off their best dish 🙂 I will miss being able to go outside whenever I want to eat in the sun when I am in Chicago next year.

Till next time!
Anita