sca-cooks Complaining

[Christi Redeker]

Sorry about this I started raving and couldn't stop:

You all remember the commercial where the lady makes Rice Krispie treats
and then bangs around her kitchen putting flour on her face and then
water to look like sweat to make her family appreciate that she made the
effort don't you?  That is what I feel I have seen the people who run
events do.  

I ran a feast at a site whose only resources was two tables in the
kitchen.  I received more compliments from that feast.  It was very
simple, very boring, and not as period as I would have liked, but
everyone loved it. (I did quiche type pies, breads, flavored butters,
assorted cheeses and baked chicken served cold, and berries in a liqueur
sauce).

We had a great time, I had one and a half pies lefts. (and I had cooked
for more people than actually showed, so that shows you how much it was
appreciated.)  And had the opportunity to work with the greatest crew in
that small space (granted they were all good friends of mine so they all
wanted to chip in more than some helpers I have had.)

The worst part was I had just started a new job so I had to take 4 hours
to go to work after getting things started.  My friends took over
following my instructions to keep everything iced and when to start
taking things out so that they would be room temperature in time, and I
got back to finish final preparations. It ran so smoothly do to the help
and the preparation before hand.  

I guess what I am being long winded in saying here, is that with good
prep work and good help there is no reason that it should seem harder
than it is.  I love the planning aspect of the feasts and I think that
they will run smoothly if you are as "anal retentive" as I am and make
about 40 lists and schedules.

Christi

>----------
>From: 	Kay Jarrell[SMTP:kay.jarrell at ccmail.bus.umich.edu]
>Sent: 	Thursday, April 10, 1997 2:09 PM
>To: 	sca-cooks at eden.com
>Subject: 	sca-cooks Complaining
>
>     
>You know, the reason cooks bitch and moan about how hard it all was is so
>those 
>who see food "appear" on the table will have some small clue as to how much 
>work, time, training, experience, frustration, diplomacy, effort and late
>ngihts
>went into not just the plate they see but the education of the cook. 
>
>I have had few rewards so sweet as a round of applause from an SCA feast, or
>the
>members of a class here at work, but the work had to get done, first. 
>
>Kay of Tre Asterium C.L.
>
>**************************************************
>Chef Kay Jarrell
>The Executive Education Center
>Univeristy of Michigan Business School
>kjarrell at umich.edu
>
>_________ Reply Separator _________________________________
>Subject: Re: sca-cooks Re: intro
>Author:  sca-cooks at eden.com at Internet
>Date:    4/10/97 10:38 AM
>
>
>Mark Schuldenfrei wrote:
>> 
>> Someone (Sean?) wrote:
>>   > Any have any suggestions on how to get
>>   > comfortable cooking for 200 rather than 40? 
>> 
>> Gunther wrote:
>>   Comfortable?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
>>   You'll never be comfortable as Head cook!  Abandon all hope! 
>> 
>> Nope.
>> 
>> Plan, plan, plan some more.  Make lists, work out timelines, make some more
>> lists.  Have people you know, and trust, practice the recipes and take
>> charge of each one.
>> 
>> It isn't that bad.
>     
>I was going to address this and hadn't figured out how to do so 
>delicately.  If we (the experienced cooks) make it seem like cooking is 
>the greatest trial and a miserable experience, how will we ever get 
>others to join our ranks?  
>     
>This is like saying to newcomers "Oh, fighting is miserable, you get all 
>hot and sweaty and bruised and battered and it takes forever to learn to 
>be any good and its mortifying when you lose and the equipment is 
>expensive and some big Duke is probably going to beat the tar out of 
>you".  Certainly not what we do where I'm from, and not a very good 
>incentive to getting people to fight.
>     
>Yes, cooking feasts is a lot of work.  But with some reasonable 
>organization and advance planning, it doesn't need to be a miserable 
>experience.  I teach a whole class on Feast Planning for our Kingdom 
>University and it sells out every time, so there's certainly interest out 
>there in "doing it and doing it well".  My great tool for feast planning 
>is the clear plastic sheet-covers.  You can put the period recipe on one 
>side, the redaction on the other, and write on it with a grease pencil to 
>check off steps, or note "cooling in left hand  fridge" or whatever.
>     
>Keilyn
>
>