SC - malt

[Nick Sasso]

Greetings, all!

	Seumas had to catch his ride back to Ashland, so I thought I'd sit down
and write out a wee bit about our various triumphs and disasters, and
let him tell his side of the story when he gets home...
	My day began with a bump- I was downstairs making tea and trying to
talk myself into being motivated when one of my daughters came down and
said that Seumas was on the phone. This could not be good- and it
wasn't. He was calling from a rest area, because his truck broke down
near Rogue River- some 2+ hours from the site. And of course where was
the food? He sounded awful- I gave him the phone number he needed
(autocrat) and he had already come up with a couple of people who likely
hadn't left Ashland yet and could pack him and the food to the site. He
arrived late but in remarkably good temper.
	_I_ was pretty fratzed though- and had a series of minor disasters. For
one thing, the KING showed up- something that had been rumoured but was
unconfirmed (I tried- they don't answer their e-mail). That messed with
my plans for serving the high table and created protocol problems.
Mostly because I was attempting to serve as per the instructions in
_Ffor to Serve a Lord_ and _Boke of Kervynge_ and such, and there just
isn't precedent really for someone higher up the food chain to be at the
coronation/investiture. But we dealt with it. The table cloths that were
all pressed and nice for the high table somehow didn't appear at the
site, even though I remember putting them in the TO GO pile. And they
still haven't reappeared. My big bucket of salt could not be found. The
pants I'd planned to wear with my 'Bob' tunic had disappeared. And then
things got _really_ bad...
	The site was an elementary school cafeteria/gym. Big, echoey, with a
basketball hoop right over the high table. But you know, there's alot
that you can just 'not see' if you want to. Some banners went up, wall
hangings, and it was not great but ok. The kitchen however... when I got
on site the autocrat comes out of the kitchen and says "Is Seumas with
you?" Well, no, and she knew he'd broken down but thought I might have
been part of the rescue party. The problem was the kitchen. It had
ovens, lots of them, a walk-in cooler, steam tables, and these giant
steam cooker things that could be used in place of a stovetop. _Could_
be. But they were broken, and had been for about six weeks, though no
one had told us. And Seumas had planned to use them.
	Fortunately, Seumas is the most unflappable man I've ever met. He took
matters in hand, did a re-group, some campstoves were obtained, and he
produced the feast anyway. ON TIME. AND IT WAS GOOD. I had so many
people try to compliment me on the feast, and I had to tell them "Hey,
it's not my doing- I'm just the Marshal of the Hall- Seumas is the Head
Cook!" The roast goat was a hit, as were the Tarts de Bry (several
people came back to the kitchen looking for seconds, but the kitchen and
serving staff had devoured all the leftovers).
	I was pleased with how the service worked, even with the usual many
disasters. We made do with some other sheets for the high table cloths.
A couple of people I had counted on for serving didn't show, and one of
my daughters gang had to come late because of her work schedule and got
lost on the way to the site. I was missing several small things, but it
still pulled together. The first three or four minutes of service were
crucial, and frantic, but it worked. When Seumas gave me a ten minute
warning that dinner would be ready, I had a herald herd everyone
outside. While this happened, a couple of the girls madly distributed
the appetizers, while the others got ready for the hand-washing. I lined
up the high table, and marched them in, showed them to their places,
then Simon and Kelly did their hands. Meanwhile, at the door, people
started filing in- past the washing stations there- two huge shallow
bowls were on the floor (idea came from an illustration in a 14th c.
_Prose Tristan_ that show what looked like kiddie pools on the floor),
and as you came in, you would pause, the servant would pour water over
your hands, and then you would dry them on the proffered towel. The
water was warm and had sage and rosemary in it. Then people went down
the center aisle, gave reverence to the high table, and peeled off to
the sides to find their places. Seating was on one side only- which not
only looked cool (I kept saying "This looks so cool! It looks like the
pictures!") but was a boon to the servers. When each course was served,
I lead the procession, with Simon and Kelly behind me bearing the high
table's portions, and the rest of the servers behind them. We'd walk in,
I would briefly address the high table, then stand to the side, bang my
staff (affectionately known as the 'Bob-stick') on the floor three
times, and announce the course and the dishes. I also sweet-talked one
of the knights into carving the meats for the high table, which was
truly cool and very impressive.
	There are a few things I would do differently if I were to attempt it
again. For one, I thing I would start earlier with the arm-twisting to
enlist servers. I WOULD NOT MOVE THE WEEK BEFORE!!!!!! I think I would
hide some hooch in my bag and use it. There is a local who I would have
to shoot (though I understand there is a line waiting for the
privilege). I would put insoles in my boots. And I would INSIST that
Seumas and I take about a week of vacation afterwards to recover. a day
and a half is not long enough.
	And I think I want to go back to my texts on serving and fill in the
gaps...

And you'll have to get the rest (menu, etc.) from Seumas...

'Lainie
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