The First Potluck Party: A Family Feast of Dumpling

Potluck is a very popular form of dinner party in America, which can be traced back to 16th century’s England, deriving from the phrase “Luck of the Pot”. Invited guests would bring a plate of food made by themselves to the party. By involving every guest through meal preparation, not only will the table be enriched with as many delicacies as possible, it would also save time and expenditure for the host.

As the first Potluck Party has been held by Diligentia College on Saturday this 5th November, Mrs. He, the warden of Building B had sent out invitations at a very early time to our students, encouraging them to bring home-made food to share with others. On this very day, our little chefs gave out their best and made constant surprises with their superb cooking skills, ranging from fried steak, baked shrimp, wings in cola, and sweet desert, etc. As for those who came to the party empty-handed, they contributed their share by rinsing vegetables, cutting foods, making meat stuffing and dumplings. What a lively scene!

Comments

Ruonan Deng (Sophomore SME)
There was already a bunch of people gathering around the round table and making dumplings when I arrived. The look of dumplings were relatively conventional at first, but they soon disfigured into a varieties of strange shapes, resembling like wonton or small steamed buns. The most creative of them all are dumplings with Latiao or raisin stuffing. As each dumpling came into being, it was then boiled and served. We all enjoyed a desert made with red bean and May flower paste , and a dish of steak with shredded squid on top, which were perfect in presentation, aroma and taste. I have to stop here to pay compliments to the broccoli salad and sparerib soup with papaya, they were such delicacies of the world. Nowadays, it is really rare for us to simply enjoy cooking and eating. I bet everyone who tasted the food would feel the thoughts put into them by their makers, because every dish was exquisitely prepared. It is such a delight to dine and chat together on a sunny noon. I hope Diligentia College could host this kind of activities on a regular basis so that it may one day develop into a tradition that brings everybody closer. By the way, home-made sushi and hot pot were also excellent.

Simon Xiao（Junior SME）
What a fantastic thing to run into this all-eating event right after exams! Couldn’t be any cooler！All the frustration and anxiety generated during exam period suddenly disappeared with all these merry bands of eating. Unless you came here you would never know there are so many hidden wonderful chefs in our college. The dishes prepared by our fellow students were perfect in presentation, aroma and taste. There were steaks that were instantly eaten up in 10 seconds, May flower stuffed Tang-yuan that triggered a live shooting contest, Warden’s secret recipe soup and an amazing array of dumplings made on site. So my advice to you, my dear amigos, is to not miss such an event.

Xingruo Zhang (Freshman SME)

After getting tired of cafeteria’s monotonous food, I finally understood why we would say it is belly and bowels’ desire when we want something so badly. Because one’s homesickness often starts from one’s stomach. The party had just provided this family-like care, soothing our soul that had been long tormented by mid-term exams. Student chefs brought their exquisite cuisine and, as for us amatures, we rallied around to make dumplings under warden’s guidance. With dumplings came in all sorts of unthinkable shapes and stuffing, we soon broke ice and got on well with each other. Thank our warden and tutors for their careful preparation of this party, and I hope that more students would join this activity.

Alshia Lin（Sophomore SME）

I witnessed as an assistant the efforts and hearts that had been put into this party by our warden and tutors in the backstage. Because Mrs. He, the warden got worried about the possible insufficiency of dumpling skins the night before the party, she got up very early in the morning and went to the market for them. Our tutors took the rest by washing vegetables and chopping up meat to make dumpling stuffing. I was so moved by them. Not to mention the soup brought by our warden was so nice that it had a touch of home taste. The whole thing was delightful in the heat of mid-term exams. I was impressed by what warden said to me:“ I am not afraid of any trouble but of the possible waste if few people would come”. Upon seeing so many wonderful food prepared by our chef-like students, I made a secret promise to myself that I would ask my mom to teach me to make a decent meal when I go home. I hope more students would attend our party next time.

Renjie Qin (Freshman HSS)

How rich and colorful life is in Diligentia! Although I had never made a single dumpling before, I did feel that our cooking skills were gradually cultivated through this activity. To be frank, my best friend’s dumplings took all sorts of strange shapes. Anyway, we felt as a big warm family. Many compliments for those delicious food. Looking forward to it next time.

Jiaqi Ye (Freshman SME)

As a coarse native of the North, my first two months in the South made me miss extremely the warm scene where our whole family gathered around to enjoy a plate of simmering dumplings. This dinner party with friends and tutors, however, made me relive such scene on this foreign land. Although students standing beside me came from all places in china, they all put their hearts into this activity, making all sorts of strange dumplings with the tastes that, if you had the pleasure of eating them, would forever remain in your memory. We also tried some deserts prepared by graduate students, which filled me with great satisfaction. I decided that I would be serious about studying cooking. I heard that a hot-pot themed party is due to be held at the beginning of December. Please do take me, the foodie, there. ：）

Potluck Party will be held on a regular basis, and we look forward to your active participation.