This past weekend, a bunch of friends and I got together for a picnic at Olympic Park, my favorite park in all of Seoul. It's just massive, and there are so many trails, trees, grassy areas, as well as art museums, sculptures, and coffee shops. I plan on spending many a spring and summer day lazing about there. This was also just the first of many picnics I expect to go on this year, and it was brilliant. All the grub was vegetarian, and a heck of a lot was vegan. Our picnic spread was quite a vision.
Trail mix, kiwi, Yunseo's delicious japchae, and Hyun's cute yubu chobab.
Oh man, this was amazing. Ben and Dayva cooked some to-die-for acorn squash, topped with maple syrup-coated walnuts and almonds. I could've eaten the whole thing myself... Seriously, these pictures literally only show a fraction of all the food that came out. There was also black rice, seaweed, a variety of ddeok, fruits, snacks, and drinks. Phew!! I wish I could've gotten pix of everything... Sorry, you'll have to use your imagination.
Here's my plate. I made the quesadillas (partially hidden under the carrots), based on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's super simple No-Queso Quesadillas, which are filled with creamy hummus and chopped green onions. Instead of the salsa that the recipe calls for, I just topped it with some dollops of yummy Sriracha hotsauce. I also added chopped red bell peppers for extra nutrition. It was yummy! I figured it might be good picnic food, since it's easy to pick up and eat with your hands. :) Brilliant.
And ofcourse, I brought baked goodies! Banana bread/cake from 'The Joy of Vegan Baking,' and Apricot-Glazed Almond cupcakes (muffins) from 'VCTOTW.' As far as I could tell, they were a big fat success.
My 'dessert plate.'
After spending a good amount of time grazing on all the great food, we all enjoyed the rest of the afternoon engaging in random shenanigans such as playing badminton, riding around the park in 4-person bikes/carts, blowing lots and lots of bubbles, and ofcourse, catching up with good friends. Good times all around.
Here's a pretty photo I shot of the Apricot-Glazed Almond cupcakes/muffins before I packed them up for the picnic. I've had some apricot jam sitting around in my fridge for months on end, taking up valuable fridge real-estate, and decided this would be the perfect way to make it disappear. And yes, it was perfect. If only all disappearing acts could be so delicious.