SC - Heinlein's obit

[KallipygosRed@aol.com]

>Bonne, I was with you till I got to here.
>>Over and over I saw people buying too much of the really cheap spices and
>>dried herbs instead of stopping to add up the amounts on the recipes and
>>realizing that the total amount needed is not that much.  a total of 62
>>teaspons sounds like a lot, but it isn't really much more than a cup and a
>>half--which weighs very little so bulk buying would have provides fresher
>>spices/herbs and of a better quality too.

Well, my point was, that instead of doing the math and realizing how little 
they needed, and how inexpensive that quantitiy of quality goods would be, 
they just thought "There's a lot of herbs and spices mentioned, and I'm 
making multiples of each recipe, so I'll need A LOT of each of these!!" and 
off they go to purchase multiple containers of cheap spices.

>
>Apparently your Barony does not keep certain items on hand in the custody 
>of
>the Steward.

We did have equipment.  But not food, until late in my tenure in that 
barony.  The Qurtermaster took it upon herself to stock up on spices and dry 
goods.  Given our storage capabilities, I thought this was a bad idea and I 
thought the goods she bought were of poor quality.

The barony had 4 or 5  of the largest rubbermaid bins full of serving and 
cooking gear that were stored in a rented storeroom along with a bunch of 
other baronial stuff. And also, there were pots and serving pieces owned by 
members but used regularly. Outside that, the populace was very helpful in 
bringing items from home (crock pots, pans of a certain size, extra coolers) 
if the request went out in time. Some people habitually brought crock pots 
to a certain site that only had a residential stove, just in case they'd 
simply missed the call for crockpots!

After feast, most cooks cooperatviely passed on leftover non-perishable 
cooking/cleaning supplies to the next cook in line rather than send them to 
storage. Partly because the attitude was that store items required 
recordkeeping so that folks would know what was there without having to 
arrange to drive out with the QM.  With about one event per month in the 
barony, no one was stuck with these supplies very long and they tended to 
become your responsibility right about the time you needed to look over the 
pile and finalize a shopping list. There was a supply of kitchen towels 
(actually, shop rags bought in bid sacks at Sam's) that one woman kept up 
with.  She would stop in the kitchen to see they were either sent home dirty 
with the next cook to wash and bring clean to their own kitchen -- or she 
would take them home herself.  She regularly brought new packages of towels 
to the kitchens to supplement the existing towels.

Which reminds me, an bungee cord type travel clothesline is a handy thing to 
bring to your kitchen, or get someone to string a rope around some trees 
outside.  Dirty towels can be handwashed in soapy/bleachy water, wrung out 
and hung to dry.  I wouldn't reuse them on dishes, but there's plenty of 
other tasks they are clean enough for and the really clean towels can be 
conserved for dishes.

Cooks were expected to mind their food purchases so as not to have much 
surplus, and either pass the minimal surplus to the next cook, or just keep 
it.  None of the cantons would go broke if the cook took home a bag of flour 
or bottle of vinegar or a half dozen eggs. Sometimes I just saw the surplus 
I tood home as balancing any of my goods that made their way into the 
testing process or feast, larger amounts I'd make an effort to use to make 
class samples or other SCA use (along with yet more of my own goods).

Bonne
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com