When I was in university, I lived off-campus with friends. Thursday night was pub night at our school, and since we rarely felt like making the trek to campus, we would get together with other off-campus pals for what we called Feast. We would buy ingredients, make a dinner (usually something basic like stir-fry), drink (usually something embarrassing like Kool-Aid and vodka), and do Very Grown Up Things like play video games and make couch forts.
It was around that time my friend John Kruusi started experimenting with more complicated cooking. Slowly, our dinners evolved into more complex affairs, with John at the helm. Vodka and Kool-Aid turned into thoughtfully paired wine, and couch forts turned into jazz and conversation. Suddenly, we were Actual Adults. We were also busy, so our weekly dinners turned into every few months, and then every few years.
A couple of summers ago, John and I decided to organize a summer feast photo shoot up in Barrie, Ontario. It was a great weekend spent with friends and food, and for me, a bittersweet reminder of how much we’ve all grown up. John modelled along with our old dinner party friends Sarah and Andrew, and new friends Essa, Justine, and Liz. I did the photos, John did the food and food styling, and Justine did the prop and set styling.
Outdoor Summer Feast
Andrew recently shared a few of the photos on Instagram, and I decided to go back and finish editing the series. Click here to view the whole gallery.
Images can be licensed from Stocksy. For first-time buyers, you can get a 20% discount with the code JEN20.