Aug 26, 2017 was the date of our annual picnic. This is only my 2nd time attending. WOW as foodies all of you Yelppies would love this event. This is like the taste of Bensenville some of the food comes from outside vendors, but most of the food is provided by people in our group. We have such an awesome diverse group of people that mix and blend with each other. It's like the sign says "HATE HAS NO HOME HERE". We are a diverse blend of whites, blacks, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans, Arabic, Indians, Jamaicans, Polish and even a token Jap (me).
There were probably between 30-40 tents. The food provided at this event reflected the ethnic blend of people races & religions in our group. The people reps in the business and their guests are allowed to wander from tent to tent and try different foods. What a great way to spend the day chowing down & trying the many cuisines available and eating to your hearts content until we all waddled away, fat and happy.
The park itself is like an oasis in the middle of an industrial park to the east then all of a sudden BAM this park has a couple of baseball diamonds, a football field and a pond. This has become a huge event with probably over 1,000 people filtering in and out during the day.
In addition to the food there are games and contests for the kids and the adults. They had the inflatable tents for the kids to bounce around in, games for the kids, karaoke contests and some hilarious adult games all good and all fun
We even have a cook off where you can enter & hope to win a prize. This year I entered my chili that was loaded with about 3 lbs of beef cut in chunks & sautéed in a black iron skillet, after which I caramelized onions and added it to my sauce. I then added 3 lbs of ground beef with the fat drained out, green peppers, onions, jalapeños, chili powder, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, tomato sauce & paste and kidney beans. I thought it was pretty good? I also won 3rd place last year for my award winning blueberry cake to die for (modified with added ingredients), but alas I was not able to win an award this year for either entry. Stiff competition this year. read more