[Sca-cooks] Red Spears Feast - Diagnostic (long)

[Louise Smithson]

Dear all,
I have had most of the day to think of things.
As my first ever feast there were a lot of things I
learnt and many things I would have done differently
given what I now know.
1) Everything takes twice as long to prepare as
expected.
2) When you grill outside in winter items will take 4
times as long to cook as expected.  A 20 degree wind
really takes the heat out of a grill.
3) Plating 16 dishes in a kitchen with a single 6'
counter is not easy
4) you can't do anything without a support staff.
5) the feast took too long to serve, I had a plan, I
couldn't stick to it as things took 3 times longer to
cook than anticipated.
6) the leaf bowls I made for salt cellars and serving
dishes for candies and toothpick holders made by me
and by Master Hroar were I believe a unique touch, and
I am glad I got to share my other hobby with the
feasters.

What I would do differently:
In retrospect it would have been easier to grill whole
chickens or just spatchcocked chickens.  Until I got
to the site I thought that I would have a rotisserie
set up and not a grill.  This made things hard.  The
cold wind stole the heat from the grill extending
cooking times a lot. The stuffing fell out of the
chickens a lot and they had a tendency to
disintegrate.
The pasta should have been 1/2 pre-cooked and then
chilled the day before, this would have made cooking
and serving easier.  The pasta boilers were outside in
the cold, the water did not boil, even though it was
on high heat for an hour before putting the pasta in
and stayed on high heat for the 30 minutes it took to
cook the pasta.
We should have carved the chicken up, but it was so
delayed that we were trying to get it out of the
kitchen asap.  We were testing the temp of the chicken
in the breast which is probably why some of it ended
up with raw pieces, dependent probably on where the
chicken was in relation to the edge of the grill.
Should I ever again have to grill 20 chickens in the
middle of a howling winter gale I will know what to
do. Start three hours before you need them, and keep
them hot in a chafing dish.
The things that went out in a timely manner where
those which were pre-cooked the day before and
pre-prepped long before: i.e. the biscotti, sausage,
cheesecake, bread, sauces etc.
The things that got messed up were the items that had
to be cooked on the grill in the cold.
The garlic sauce got spilled on the way into the
kitchen (make sure lids on pots seal tightly). The
other sauces had been pre-prepped and canned weeks
before.
Serving spoons: the baronial cooks guild had 15
serving spoons, often in the crush of "people haven't
had food for ages" we forgot and sent food out
without.  It was way more hectic than I anticipated
and planned for.
Without a strong support staff all is lost special
mention has to go to my household, House of the lost
keys who provided me with most of my kitchen help,
these people and the two that aren't in my household
are listed in alphabetical order.  Without these
people the feast would not have happened.
Alexander Ross - indefatigeable 20 year old who helped
my load and unload my car for and after the event, who
ran off site twice for me, who helped serve and
finally was there till 11.30 washing dishes.
Isabella the Grey - who made the subtleties for the
feast, who helped me with dishes and kitchen prep from
3pm onwards, helped with dishing for service and was
there for me. Who also recieved her Order of the
Willow at this event.
John - who helped with the grill and pasta, outside in
the cold.  And it was very cold outside.
Johnnae Ilyn Lewis - who got the feast prep kick
started when I lost track of time, who prepared an
exquisite selection of canditi and confettioni, who
made all the wafers served with the final course, who
helped outside in the cold at the grill as I was
inside in the kitchen, who provided additional sources
for feast and has been there for me throughout the
entire planning process.
Laura Muser - who despite wearing a lovely Italian Ren
helped with dishes and pre-feast prep.
Magrat, Martha Schultes - a new member and personal
friend who helped with the Sausage day the weekend
before feast, did dishes and feast prep, helped
arrange platters for service and did dishes post
feast. Who was throughout bouncy.  Who gave me a hug
before feast and said "Before you get all growly I
just want you to know it will go fine and you are my
friend".  I didn't think I would get growly, but I
did.
Ophelia - who spent the entire time that people were
being served with her hands in the sink.  Washing
serving dishes so that they could immediately be
turned around and sent back out again.  This poor
woman had the worst case of dishpan hands I had ever
seen by the time that she finished.
Red Spears Cooks guild - who made all the bread for
the feast, the excess of which was donated to a local
food shelter.
Wulfgaest Ingwine - who agreed to be grill Master for
me weeks previously.  I did not anticipate that this
would entail over four hours spent outside fighting
with cold and wind to serve meat to a hungry populace.
The youngest DeShano brother (whose first name has
completely skipped my mind for some unknown reason),
who served during feast then did dishes till 11.30 and
then helped Alexander tote all my stuff back home, up
a flight of stairs.  What a way to work at your first
local event (the only other event he has attended to
date was War).
The serving staff included:  Francesca di Covani,
Malcolm the black duck, Fey Silvermist (who came in
from Cleveland as a friend to eat feast and then ended
up helping to serve) and Vida, there may be one other
but for the life of me I can't remember their name
right now.  If I forgot you, I apologize.

Lady Helewyse de Birkestad, OW.
p.s.  The willow was a nice surprise, but I wish I
could have got it with nice garb on, not grotty
kitchen garb that I had been using as an apron:-)


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