Spring Party

The weather in Chicago has been unusual this year. The temperatures hit 70s in 3rd week of March. So, my friends and I decided to have a party to welcome spring. We picked the first Saturday of April to party. We called it a ‘Spring Party’. We asked everybody to be in their spring attire.

India has a vast cultural and culinary diversity. Friends in my circle are from different areas in India. Even my home state has wide varieties of dishes incorporating grains, meat and vegetables. We decided to have a potluck so that we can taste the ethnic dishes from each person’s kitchen.

Finally when we the day arrived the weather was so cold. It was in lower 30s and everybody was in their winter clothes again! The party was hosted by my friend BC. I made pav Bhaji a north Indian appetizer/snack. PD made pooris and vegetable sabji. BC made spicy chicken curry and chicken fry was by BR. VN made a Chicken biriyani in a huge container and I was amazed at her energy. She also made green rice for vegetarians like me. AJ made egg fry which was eggcellent. SP made chole to go with pooris. BF couldn’t make it to the party but was very kind to send us a dessertApricot sweet.

The food was delicious. My tongue wanted more but my stomach said no, as it was full. SA, AJ and KP’s birthdays fell on that week, so we brought cakes to celebrate their birthdays. The cakes were also yummy.

Then everybody kind off relaxed and chatted for a while and the guys were ready to have tea. AJ made masala vadas and BC made tea. Moms gave evening snack for their kids and kids got more energy to play and jump around. BC was very kind to ask people to stay back for dinner. After dinner we all helped BC clean up and put away. Everyone sat down to chat for a while before leaving. After heating our cars we came back home tired from the party, thinking about all the fun we had.