SC - introduction- new list member

[Donna Kepner Ford]

Greetings from Lady Evfemia, democrat of the Barony of Iron Mountain.  

I have been an active member of the SCA for about 3 1/2 years.  My
husband is Cunrich von der Elba.  I have two little girls, Cara (6), and
Laura (4).I have co-autocrated an event, (Saltare, 1999)  but I have
never feastcrated.  

I am interested in learning more about medieval cooking techniques,
ingredients and of course, recipes and documentation.  

I found a really cool book at Barnes and Noble called "History of Food"
by Toussaint-Samat.  Translated by Anthea Bell.   It has an excellent
Bibliography, lots of documentation and is quite interesting.  It
discusses different groups of foods such as breads, oils, rice, fruits,
sugars, confectionary and preserves, easter eggs, grains, legumes, etc. 
Just about every food type you could think of.  The book tells how the
food stuffs were raised, and/or caught, grown, found, and prepared in
Biblical or medieval times.   There are even some period recipies.  Over
700 pages.  I got it on sale for $20.  Hopefully you'll have such luck. 
Check it out!

 I would also like any advice members might give to someone just
starting out as a hopeful co-feastcrat.  What do you find most helpful
in organizing a menu and keeping on a good time schedule?  Any hints
about formalizing a feast budget would be appreciated also.  

Thanks, 
evfemia at mail.com