SC - LOL and a question.

[ChannonM at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/8/00 11:17:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Bronwynmgn 
writes:

>  In a message dated 9/8/2000 5:28:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
>  nishamartin at yahoo.com writes:
>  
>  << I'm five months pregnant (with a few minor
>   comlications), so I'm not quite sure how much extra
>   work I want to take on for right now. It may be better
>   for me to wait til after the baby is born
>   before I offer to do an event. Can someone give me
>   some advice. >>
>  
>  Heading up a kitchen can be very hard work unless you can get a really 
>  dedicated deputy, so I think you are wise to wait until after the baby is 
>  born before offering to do so :-)
>  
>  My best suggestion is to offer to assist an experienced head cook in your 
>  area, or to act as that person's deputy and have them teach you how to do 
it.
>  
>   I am currently doing a similar thing for one of the ladies in our shire.  
I 
> 
>  just find that it's the kind of thing you need to leqrn through experience 
>  ratherthan through written instructions...
>  
>  Brangwayna Morgan
>  

Having been pregnant and cooked a feast, I can say that there are challenges. 
I was 6 months pregnant with my second child when I cooked a 18 dish feast 
based on the Field of the Cloth of Gold( Henry VIII and Francis the 1st). 
Anyhoo, I had done quite a bit of prep ahead. Canned what could be canned, 
cooked and froze what could be done well and finished the day with a good 
crew. 

Of course YMMV, but if you are very confident and extremely organized (I had 
a schedule of every dish, their prep, cooking method, location, serving dish, 
garnish, all in a table form on a sheet of bristol board posted on the walkin 
 freezer, I could have gone into labour then and there and the feast would 
have been able to go on without me!), are in top health during the pregnancy, 
have a great staff and prepare well in advance, then your feast will go well. 
I found it harder to deal with a newborn baby then one that could demand to 
be breastfed in the middle of the second course and would scream unconsolably 
if it's needs were not met.

If you have never cooked a feast before, I would recommend that you shadow 
someone who has, then start with a smaller meal like a lunch tavern or 
something similar then move on.

Just my 2 cents

Hauviette