SC - Bidding for Feast

[Diana]

I suppose listening to this topic that we are rather lucky in a way.  So
far, this is how it has worked (I live in the Southern Region/East Kingdom):

I have been asked to cook a feast three times.  Each time the autocrat-to-be
has asked me to cook before they put together an event announcement.  I
asked what the food budget would be and planned accordingly (always figure
OOPS money into the budget~!) - I wasn't expected to make a profit.  The
autocrat is in charge of planning on enough to cover the site fee and the
food budget.

My first event was a weekend event with Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner,
Sunday breakfast and Sunday lunch for $8.00US per head.  I brought that
event in $68.00US under budget - and I figured on spending most of my budget
at BJ's (a hypermercado type of place, but with cheaper prices).  I was able
to get food service size portions of everything and knew that I could spend
less money.  Do you have a Sams Club, BJs, or Costco near you?  If so, go
and check out pricing.  You could also go to a food co-op if there is one
nearby.  Most people I know that shop at the Costco type of places know the
prices by heart.  It is very difficult to underestimate and most of us round
the prices up to a dollar when we estimate pricing.  Unfortunately, I don't
have the rest of the places that Master A. has available to him - I live
just over an hour away from NYC by train.  How close is the largest city?
And do they have a restaurant food supply place?  Just some ideas of where
to look.

Second event was a normal one day event - lunch and dinner - for $5.00US per
head.  I think that was $12.00US under budget.  I tried a few more expensive
dishes (lots of honey, raisins and almonds)

This last event is planned for June 9th - I'll be posting a menu soon to ask
if anyone could help me work out any kinks.  So far, I am about $100.00US
under budget ...Just in case.  It helps to know what is 'seasonal' in your
area.  About that time is strawberry pickin time here - so one of my dishes
is a strawberry 'pudding' made with the eggwhites that will be left over
from the Tarts.

The best place to purchase anything is on sale :-)  And then fill in with a
large co-op or Costco type of place if you have them.  Since I know I am
doing the feast, I have been picking up the chicken 1/4's for .39 per
pound - or .59 per pound at the most.  This cuts down on the feast budget
significantly!  I do have a deep freezer, and I use it quite a bit.  Hope
this at least helped a bit.


Diana d'Avignon