[Sca-cooks] Re:bakeries for custom breads and the 100 minutes headcount

[Kirrily Robert]

Marion wrote:
> My Lady Katherine,
> How fortunate you are to have a true local bakery! All
> the bakeries around here in North Eastern New Jersey
> are not 'local'. They are all large organizations who
> only do large commercial orders for restaurants and
> institutions.Although they offer superior products,
> they laugh at you when you request a custom batch and
> tell you to pick what you want for their stock menu
> and pay for it up front. I am considering starting a
> local cooking group in my shire because the next
> closest group is far away (not in miles, but driving
> time, about 2 hours to go 30 miles). I would consider
> baking bread for a feast of 8 to 10 tables, but not
> more. And that means pre-baking with the bread
> re-warmed at feast time.

The bakery I went to is part of a chain called "Harvest Loaf" that I've
seen all around this city at least (Ottawa, Canada... don't know how far
else they've spread).  They usually sell slightly unusual bread, like
ones with cheese on top, or with interesting grain mixtures, or whatever.
Their prices are usually slightly higher than supermarket prices, but
their bread is nicer.  They have little shop fronts in various
neighbourhoods.

Anyway, I just wandered in, waited for a quiet moment, and talked to the
guy behind the counter, who happened to be the store manager.  He was
quite accommodating.  I basically introduced myself politely, told him I
was putting on a special themed dinner for a non-profit organisation,
and asked him what sort of deal he could give me.  Now, my feast is a
little one, only 50 people, so I would imagine that a more normal
100-200 person feast would be *easier* to talk to a large bakery about.

Yours,

Katherine

--
Lady Katherine Rowberd (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert)
katherine at infotrope.net  http://infotrope.net/sca/
Caldrithig, Skraeling Althing, Ealdormere
"The rose is red, the leaves are grene, God save Elizabeth our Queene"