GUD FEATURE ARTICLE

GUDetroit picnic 2011

It was an event we’d been anxiously awaiting for several weeks (although some may have feigned otherwise- you know who you are): the second annual GUDetroit picnic on Belle Isle. You may remember my post about last year’s picnic, a 9-hour marathon of food, drink and camaraderie that began shortly after noon and ended only when the last rays of sunlight were extinguished and the city lights began to twinkle across the river in their place. This year was no different in that respect, and once again I was among those packing up at the end of the night after most everyone except Todd and Evan had gone home.

Marvin and I didn’t make it to the picnic until almost 4pm so I missed a few folks who had already come and gone, but for the most part, people were there for the duration (and we weren’t the last to show up by a long shot). There were many familiar faces but just as many new ones, with overall turnout a bit higher than last year- we’re an ever-expanding group! As is often the case with social gatherings whose genesis is online, I wasn’t quite sure whether to just randomly introduce myself to unfamiliar people, even knowing that we’ve likely corresponded in some shape or form already. Some were forthcoming with introductions and others preferred to remain anonymous. Maybe we’ll have to do a name tag thing next time. As long as everyone promises not to write their Twitter handle on it.

One person I was definitely looking forward to meeting was Warda, a fellow blogging friend I recently wrote about whom I’d never met in person. She came with her husband and two darling little girls and brought karantika (photo at left), a savory flan made with chickpea flour that is a popular street food in Algeria. Although they have lived in the Detroit area for years, it was their first visit to Belle Isle, and I was pleased to have a hand in that.

As the evening wore on, things got loopier, with manly naps and snuggles on picnic blankets, tree-climbing, raucous games of cornhole for all ages, mint-spanking, swinging from willow branches, and even some half-baked attempts at hula-hooping. We finally packed it up well after dark, with a few hardy souls carrying on the festivities back in Ferndale.

Now that you’ve read this far, I’m sure you’re saying to yourself “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD?!” I hope no one throws rotten tomatoes at me if I say that I thought the spread was slightly more impressive last year. But maybe that’s just the rose-tinted spectacles of hindsight… the “first time” of anything often holds a special place in one’s memory, and last year’s picnic was pretty darn magical. There were some definite highlights this year though, like grilled feta with honey, anise and other herbs, homemade sausage, pork tenderloin, elote, and Warda’s karantika. The mini pavlovas looked enticing but were gone before I could try one. And judging from the speed at which the 5 pounds of kefta and kebabs I brought were devoured, I’d say those went over pretty well too.

For even more photos of the picnic as well as the kefta and kebab recipes, you can hop over to my blog. And anyone who’s posted photos on flickr or elsewhere, please share links (unless of course they happen to contain photos of a certain, ahem, over-aged hula hooper).