SC - The Feast Frenzy

[Groulx, Michelle]

Alys said....
<snip>
My main input is organization (Gunthar has none, so it is needed).  Here are
some things that make it easier for us......

*********************
Alys, it sounds to me that you are about as organised as I am. I cannot
stress enuf on the importance of the amount of pre-organization stuff that
can save you time, unpleasant surprises and headaches later.

I did however have a comment or two that may even streamline you further. 

When I do the spreadsheet of ingredients for my feast or whatever, I do it
on the computer. This is what I do....

a) I type out ALL the recipes I will be using from say, Poudre Douce to
Desert. I then buff them out to the amount I am going to need to feed the
masses. I use the absolute same terminology (you'll see why in a minute) for
all recipes.

b) I then take the ingredients and cut and paste them into a separate
document and then sort it alpha. It comes out with all the same ingredients
bunched together. I then configure exactly how much they add up to and then
I have the total amount of said product that I will need for the whole
feast. You are right, that there are many duplications and having a shopping
list of this much cinnamon and that much cinnamon is just plain annoying. I
like to see exactly how much of what I need for the whole thing!

I can then do the shopping in two shots. The stuff I need and can buy now
(non-perishable) and then the stuff I can get later and the perishable.

As for WHERE I buy, I rarely shop around. I go to food wholesalers that are
open to the public. I also know of where to get the best buy and quality for
meat, even tho' this means I have to go to Quebec for it. I also don't even
bother with the grocery stores (haven't for years). They're just plain
expensive.

Just thought I would share this stuff with you. You may probably already do
this and are wondering who this person is who deems to share this common
knowledge with her. I just know what a headache it can be if you're not
organized. There are some people who are absolutely stunning cooks but
couldn't organize they're way out of a paper bag. Its not a bad thing, just
not what they excel at.

I feel that the more organized you are with paperwork (ingredient lists,
menus, schedules, etc, etc, etc, etc) then you can't go wrong because "there
was one to many cooks in the kitchen"! :)

Micaylah

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