Introduction
The 2024 fall semester for LMF was eventful. We welcomed 9 2028s, 2 2027s, and 2 2025s. The semester began with the 50th anniversary reunion, and concluded with Dîner de Nöel. Although the 2024s graduated in May, seeing many of them come back and visit us in December was wonderful!
LMF 50th Anniversary Reunion
Although LMF had its 50th anniversary celebration in May during Tech Reunions weekend, I decided to organize a second reunion during the Labor Day weekend for the residents and other alums. We had around 25 people attend the event, and it was a pleasure to see some alums come to the event (Jim '76, Barbara '76, Dan '78, Keith '03, Allison '09). There was cake, snacks, and refreshments in the MPR, then a house tour for the alums, since New House got renovated in the 2017-2018 school year.
It was fun to hear the alums share stories of their times at LMF, and learn how much LMF has changed over the last 50 years, from our first year in Ashdown with German House in 1974 to the present day. A fun fact is that Jim and Barbara are the first LMF couple!
LMF Wedding
Daniela '18 and Jakob '20 got married this summer by the ocean, which makes them the 14th LMF marriage! Cece '21 was the officiant. We can't wait to hear about future LMF marriages in the coming years!
Wet Wednesday
On Wednesday 9/11, German House invited LMF and La Casa to their Wet Wednesday mixer that happened from 10-1 a.m. Around 10 LMF residents attended the social event. The event was kind of loud and chaotic, but it was nice getting to know other cultural house residents. Our social batteries were on the lower end though, and we ended up just chatting in the New House courtyard.
2028s Day Trip
The 2028s organized a Newburyport day trip during the long weekend in mid-October. The group took the commuter rail, and explored the shops in the town. Some highlights of the trip included strolling around a fancy olive oil and vinegar store, getting ice cream, and having fun!
Fall Retreat
During Veteran's Day weekend, 12 LMF residents went to Vermont. Christian '27 and Greta '27 organized the retreat, and everyone had a great time. Here is what Christian '27 has to share about the trip:
For the fall retreat, we rented 3 cars and went with 12 people to hike the Lonesome Lake Trail in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We left Friday morning and stopped by a restaurant along the way for some quick food and then made it to the White Mountains after another hour. We hiked the trail, it was really pretty and as we kept going higher and higher, more and more snow appeared which was cool.
Eventually, we got to the lake for which the trail was named and it was beautiful. We took a bunch of pictures and then started going down. Eventually, we got everyone and made it to the Airbnb which was in Vermont. We made dinner, watched movies, made smores, and just had a good time. We left early the next morning after making breakfast and then went back to the white mountains to stop by a scenic waterfall. Then we came home and made it back around 5 pm on Saturday.
Dinner Plate
One new thing that LMF has started doing this semester is taking dinner plate pictures, 0.5x lens portraits in which the head chef takes a picture of their plate. Zoomed-in shots of the plate were also taken. Social media chairs Eileen '26 and Greta '27 started the idea, and it quickly became part of cook team. As a result, the #dinner channel on the LMF slack is more populated, and there is more visual documentation of the meals that people cook in LMF, which is great! The dinner plate photos were also posted on the MIT LMF Instagram account at mit_lmf.
Thanksgiving
Although the majority of LMF residents went back home for Thanksgiving, about a third stayed on campus. An LMF friendsgiving happened on Thanksgiving, which had a lot of good food, from Tobi's '26 pies to Teo's '26 large Swedish sandwich. Although turkey was not served at the friendsgiving, there was steamed fish.
On Saturday, Kate '25 invited some LMF residents to her family's friendsgiving. Delicious Thanksgiving food was served at the event, which included Turkey and mashed potatoes. After the meal, the residents got to explore Kate's house. Overall, it was great to leave the MIT bubble and spend time with Kate's family and friends.
December Holiday Treat Challenge
Tobi '26 started the December holiday treat challenge, which began on 12/1 and ended on 12/21. Each day was a different dessert. Although the majority of the desserts were cookies, there were also other desserts such as Fiona's '28 matcha pistachio muffins (swamp bread) and Alysha's '28 gluten-free chocolate lava cake. Many LMF residents participated in the challenge, and it was great to try a vast array of desserts, from the churro cheesecake cookie that Eileen '26 baked to the brown butter chai cookies that Anita '28 made. Overall, it was impressive to see LMF residents put their baking skills to the test.
Another nice aspect of the challenge was that it added some festive spirit to the environment, especially the cookie decorating event and the gingerbread man cookies on the last day of finals. I hope this challenge returns in the next coming years and becomes a LMF tradition!
Dîner de Nöel
This year's dîner went well! We had a total of 11 alums (2 2022s, 9 2024s) attend dîner, which is a record turnout. Teo '26 was the head chef, and Fiona '28 was the sous chef. The two did a fabulous job of planning the event. There were a lot of dishes, including many desserts such as the classic bûche de nöel and basque cheesecake. Unlike previous years, we did chicken skewers instead of roasted duck/turkey for the main meat dish. The chicken skewers were a success!
Although dîner itself was memorable, what was just as or even more memorable was the cooking that happened before dîner. Maya '26 was responsible for the hummus, which required boiling a large quantity of chickpeas to serve over 50 people. Maya used a pressure cooker to speed up the boiling process for some time, and then released steam from the pressure cooker. What followed was incessant steam that made the hood grates and the electric stovetop wet. Thankfully, the steam eventually came to an end and the electric stovetop worked despite the water buildup.
Another chaotic cooking incident was the chicken skewers. The chicken skewers were fried on a pan, and this led to a lot of smoke, so much that it went to the dining section of the kitchen. Lowell '26 had to hold up a fan near the stove to drive away the smoke. Thankfully, the chicken skewers did not result in setting off the fire alarm.
Conclusion
This may sound like the introduction, but a lot of events happened this semester. Like the alums, I still find it slightly crazy that LMF is 50 years old. We have had LMF siblings, LMF mom/daughter pair, LMF married couples, the list goes on. I have no idea what LMF will look like in the next 25 or 50 years, but I hope that the cooking/baking traditions and sense of community remain strong after all of us graduate.
