Horror stories (was Re: SC - Guilty Conscience)
kat
kat at kagan.com
Thu Jun 4 18:36:33 PDT 1998
In response to Murkial's pangs of completely unwarranted guilt, Master Huen queries:
> Does anyone else have similar horror stories? I'm sure we would all
> be amused by them!
Mine's a very mild story, but nonetheless...
I took over a local day-tourney "tavern" MANY years ago from a local cook who, tragically, was fast becoming a severe alcoholic. With a
great deal of work I set about transforming it into a breakfast-and-
lunch buffet that was at least perioid (as I was trying to learn period
cooking on my own with NO help or information).
After a few years, our tavern got quite an excellent reputation...
until one year when I was unable to do it, and the former cook
took it back, in a fit of "anything you can do I can do better..."
To make a long story short, it was a debacle. First, she chose as a "theme" Jamaican. Second, she pre-tested NONE of the dishes.
Third, she spent at least $300 (I had always kept it under $150).
The event went waaaaay over budget... and I was left with the ashes on MY hands for the next year. And the next year came around, and
I proposed my menu. To which my seneschal (and the autocrat of the event) replied:
"No, we waste too much money on those fancy dishes, and everyone
complains anyway. Why can't you just do something simple? Hey, I
know, why don't you just make a big batch of potato-corn chowder
and some bread? That'd be great!!!" (And for this, charge $5 a
head.... <<sigh>>)
It took a whole lot of subterfuge, but in the end I made a big batch of potato-leek soup to appease him (plus beef stew with onions and
herbs, plus chicken in a period sauce, plus cut-up vegetables and
fruit, plus lunchmeat, cheese and crackers, plus meat pasties, plus a
cheesecake-thing for dessert; none of which I mentioned to him...)
Oh, and it was a success, and we made money.... :-)
- k
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