SC - wanted: a marinade for spit roasting an autocrat

[WOLFMOMSCA]

Marinade suggestion:  Lay on a heavy coating of tar, sprinkle liberally with
feathers of your choosing, impale on rail, singe completely.

With luck, this experience won't sour you completely on cooking for SCA
events.  You have my sympathy.  I thought the practice of having one person
front the money for a feast was eradicated long ago by changes to the
Exchequer system within the SCA.  I remember the days when it was the only way
to throw an event, but we at least passed the helm at meetings and such so the
burden could be eased somewhat.

While I agree that pre-selling feast is a good idea, when you're doing tavern-
style feedings, it's not always practical, nor does pre-selling guarantee no
leftovers.  Especially over a long, potentially hot, Memorial Day weekend.
Having done taverns for several years in Ansteorra, I know this to be true.  

The unsolicited advice:

Never, ever allow an autocrat, especially one who has never been a feastcrat,
buy your supplies without your active participation.  We the unwilling, led by
the unknowing....

Breakfast should be easy on the cook, unless a separate individual has agreed
to take on the job.  When alone in the hot seat, I use pre-baked sweet breads
(fruit types with side dishes of preserved fruits), breakfast meats (sausage
and bacon are easily restocked when you keep an eye on the serving line),
bread and butter, and fresh fruits in season.  Oatmeal is a quick thing, so a
small pot of it is kept on the back burner for the few, the proud, the
Scottish <veg>.  I can always make more if necessary.  Anything which requires
more than fifteen minutes of stove time is pre-cooked the weekend before the
event and frozen.  Save your sanity and give thanks for modern technology.

Lunch can usually be dealt with handily by what we call traveler's feasts.  A
bowl of stew, a baguette of French bread, and thou.  Again, save your sanity
and make your stew the week before the event.  Everyone knows that a good stew
only gets better for having aged a bit.  If you cook it way in advance, freeze
it.  If done on Wednesday night, it will be heavenly by Saturday afternoon.

Supper is where a feastcrat should focus their efforts and their creativity.
Roasted flesh of some kind, be it fowl or hoofed, is a safe bet.  What doesn't
get sold on Saturday night becomes Sunday's lunch spread, with appropriate
additions of the cook's choice.  A nice salat of greens with a selection of
dressings (both period and modern <I know, ***gasp*** heresy, but... a
spoonful of Hidden Valley makes the salat go away).  Something hearty and
starchlike for the meat-and-taters crowd.  A wondermous dessert, with which
the cook can truly shine and be remembered.

It's a tavern/inn/caravanserai.  Sometimes we fail to remember that tavern
food has always been simple and hearty fare.  Even a king passing through
would eat what was available from the kitchen, albeit on better plate and with
as many flourishes as the keeper could manage.  Save the five-remove
fantasmagoric sit-down feast for another event where it is more appropriate.

Just my tuppence' worth.

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother

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