SC - Okay, I've had enough

[Chris Stanifer]

I've skimmed the recent digests.  Huh.  I am a carnivore and not ashamed to admit it.  I do try to only eat or wear animals where you can make use of the whole beast, so snake is good and mink is bad, and extrapolate from there.

But on to another topic - several of you asked for a postmortem on the feast this weekend.  Well!  I got a LOT of compliments, and some were even of the type "well, my wife generally refuses to eat cabbage but she tasted yours," which I consider HIGH praine indeed.

We ended up with all foods as stated, although the order got rearranged by a few items:

1)  Insufficient serving gear.  I had enough bowls for two items.  Some courses required more than that, which required some jiggling of service.  Most of the time the problem was that we had to pull back and wash fast (luckily, most could just be rinsed) to serve the next course.  Next time, I specify HOW MANY bowls I need per a course times two as a serving implement requirement (one set out on tables, one ready to go out).

2)  Wooden trenchers are pretty but almost useless for serving if they are just flat pieces of wood.  I was very grateful I had borrowed serving trays and bowls from my barony.

3)  Forgot to get the chicken on early enough to be sure it was well-cooked.  So I swapped second course for first, which meant some people thought they had very little meat because I had about three or four ounces of brisket per person.  Once the chicken came out they were happier, and I actually got back a couple pieces plus a little of the lamb.

Otherwise, I appreciated all the help that walked into the kitchen, and the fact that most of the servers had no problems picking up a knife or spoon when required.

The feedback about specific dishes, as I remember it, was that the carrots were "awesome," the peas very good, the lamb very nice with lemon (one person has already reminded me that I would send her the recipe), not enough beef, and the chicken was well enough cooked.  Nobody complained that there was not enough food overall, and we did get leftovers.  Not much of the liver pate was eaten, I could have easily done half the amount, but I didn't think that would be a big seller.  The soup turned blue, and only one person said anything really negative about that, although some people asked what was in the broth (nothing -- it was just green and red cabbages, an onion, a leek, and some asparagus; of course, the cabbage made the broth blue but with the white, green, and yellow veggies it looked very pretty).

I put less garlic in the chicken than I would for personal consumption, about a head for every six-to-seven pounds of meat.  I might do half again or double as much.  But people said it was a nice flavour and not overpowering.  This is where I goofed on the time factor, forgetting how long it takes to peel garlic.  Next time, we peel ahead and hold them until cooking.

We ended up serving items in this manner:

TRAYS ON TABLES:  Dried fruit, shelled nuts, butter, matzoh, and liver pate.  The hard-boiled eggs, oranges, and bread were added to the tables.

FIRST COURSE:  Braised beef, greyn pesen, vegetable soup.

SECOND COURSE:  Chicken in hotchee, roasted carrots, salade, and roasted apples and pears.

THIRD COURSE:  Sweet potatoes, A Cooked Dish of Lentils, Funges, and Fried Wortes (all on one platter, very pretty and saved on bowls!); lamb stew, and strawberries with almond trifle.

We went through six quarts of limonadas syrup by the end of the second course.

One person said that he was impressed that I had managed a feast that took into account all the dietary restrictions set for the day, and another noted that this is very proper for an in-period meal.  One of the cleanup crew, who had dropped in during the last-minute prep to tell me that they would change out of fancy garb before showing up and I should not worry, told me later that he was immensly impressed at the quiet of my kitchen.  Apparently it looked a lot smoother and more organized than I felt at that moment (my second had disappeared without a word or trace, the chicken would not be done on time, the belted circle was running late, and I did not have enough bowls).  <S>

While we had a lot of leftovers of some dishes (especially the lentils, just because they swelled so much while cooking and standing), most came pack with just a couple zipper bags of leavings by the time we consolidated.  I had remembered to bring the bags, and with the addition of some foil was able to give the cleanup crew whatever they wanted (in addition to a sample set for one of my pre-work helpers from during the week).

I may think of more things to report later.  I will say that except for a complete absence of serving items or utensils, the kitchen we used was great.  A huge siz-burner stove, two separate sets of sinks (a triple and a huge double), a microwave (useful on the potatoes), four ovens, and some other things I did not use.  A long central table in two parts that we used for prep and setup, and a long counter where we could have things standing as well as set up the drinks stations.  Two doors made the ingo-outgo much easier, as did a permanent bar just outside one where we staged the next courses as dishes were ready.  And I think that we were able to get everything out hot, not cooled.

Whew!!  Any questions?

                               ---= Morgan
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"A clown is like aspirin, only he works twice as fast."
                       ---= Groucho Marx
"Start every day with a smile and get it over with."
                       ---= W.C. Fields