SC - non-member submission - where can I get fava beans?

[LdySabia@aol.com]

[i didn't get this mailed until now, but i wrote it last night around 12:30]

Well, i just got home from my first feast. Although there were lots 
of problems, apparently it was a success. Of course, being in the 
kitchen makes you aware of problems and not know what's going on in 
the hall. The main problem was that the food got out late, due to a 
number of different issues.

The success was that some people said it was the best feast they'd 
eaten in a long while. Some people said they tasted stuff that they 
normally didn't like and it tasted good. And lots of people asked for 
recipes.

I made way too much of some things - i guess when i multiplied the 
recipes up, i often didn't take into account the fact that there are 
so many dishes. However, 80-85 diners consumed 168 sausages, 36 lb. 
of chicken breasts and thighs (well, there was one small baggie full 
left over), and 40 lb boneless pork leg. (i noticed that one table 
had brought a large plate of cold cuts, but it didn't look like they 
eat any)

The least liked dishes were the grains, because they were bland. But 
that was the way they were supposed to be, since all the sauces and 
most of the vegetable dishes were highly seasoned. My spies in the 
hall reported that they heard someone say, "Now that's how frumenty 
is supposed to taste". Second least liked was the turnips, but that's 
because many people just don't like them. Some people said there were 
among the best turnips they'd had.

The item most requested was the Limonada. My, god, it was fantastic! 
At some tables, my spies in the hall said diners put it on 
everything, and then began dipping the bread into it.

There were more leftovers from the second course than the first 
because everyone was so stuffed from the first. Many people were 
almost saying, "What, there's *more* food?"

The biggest problems were
1) just trying to cook in the stove. It is actually a very good 
stove, but since we're cooking in big pots we can only have 2 on the 
stove at a time. I figured out how to light the grill for the 
sausages (i guess they didn't do that last year) and i put some pots 
on the grill part of the stove while others were on the burners.

2) that i didn't really have a clue how long it takes a big pot (10 
gallons or more) of fluid to come to a boil. I estimated a fairly 
long time, but i underestimated. That meant that some dishes took 
longer than planned.

Another problem was using ready-made pie crust for the Pies of Whole 
Pears. I bought ready made crust in pans for the Crustade Lumbarde - 
i got "Nancy's", an all natural brand made with butter, on sale - and 
that was fine.

But the only ready-made loose crusts i could find were made with lard 
and there were some vegetarians and Kosher folks at the meal and i 
didn't want to leave them out. (for everything that called for broth 
or stock i used a very good quality vegetable concentrate, so 
vegetarians could eat all but the meat). I got double crusts of Marie 
Callender brand for the Pear Pies. I thought double crusts would be 
enough for the pear pies and these were cheaper than "Nancy's".

But they was too gooey and i hadn't bought enough, so we ended up 
making a lot of our own anyway. But since i hadn't planned to make 
it, it was kind of haphazard - we used a wine bottle as a rolling 
pin. The crust ended up tender and flaky, thanks the two helpers who 
were working on it, because they took the initiative to create more 
crust. I don't know how it tasted because i hardly ate anything - but 
i have 1/2 of one to eat for breakfast today and Tuesday.

I ended up not making the Excellent Small Cakes because i ran out of 
time at home and there wasn't time at the event. Otherwise everything 
on the menu got cooked, and we did use almost all the ingredients i 
bought except 1 pound of butter, a container of honey, and a 10 lb. 
bag of granulated sugar.

The half of my kitchen helpers who had worked at this feast last 
year, told the me kitchen was calmer and more organized. Heck, i put 
on some music at one point and some of us were dancing :-)

I ended up volunteering to do it again next year. Now that i have 
some experience, maybe i'll be less anxious. And since everyone 
seemed to think my food was good, i plan to volunteer for another 
feast next year and do entirely Mediterranean food.

Anahita al-shazhiyya