SC - The Leftovers Dilemma

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

Leftover feast food is a real problem. Occaisionaly in our shire in the past
we have had events where the weather was so bad that only half the paid
reservations showed up to eat (we have rain drops on our device, as a
warning! :) . Financially, it was no problem....we have a policy: if we know
you are not coming , and either  have enough time to adjust the grocery list
OR manage to sell a person's spot for them, a refund is issued. If not, no
refund. But what to do with those leftovers from the folks who don't tell us
they're not coming????

This is my solution: First, the head cook or whomever does the buying takes
home as little as possible, to avoid any suspicion of fraud. Second, every
scrap of leftover that can be put out for breakfast, is. Anything left over
then is either delegated to someone's freezer for next event OR if that is
not possible, we make up "Goodie Bags" for folks to take home with them. I
line 'em up near the door with a sign: Goodie Bags--Free. Please take one.

Sometimes you have leftover eggs because fewer people stay for breakfast
than you figured on, or maybe the raspberry puree went farther than you
thought, or the meatballs were colored green, so folks ate fewer of them
(although if it's served and comes back, I usually throw it out for health
reasons. Who knows what they did to that dish when you weren't looking!).

People seem to really like the goody bag aproach. They never know what's in
there, and I never put in anything that can't travel well. The
fragile/spoilable  stuff I save for shire members and people who live close
by.  Baked bread, half a cheese cake, a handful of leftover oranges, etc.
make a wonderful roadside picnic for those who came a long long way to our
event and stayed behind to help clean up. Why shouldn't I reward them with a
free lunch?

Aoife

 
"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot."
				---Gabriela Mistral, Chilean Poet 1889-1957