[Sca-cooks] Dayboard postmortem Very long

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

Well, the EK War Camp Dayboard is over, and we fed lotsa people. About 750
people trolled in on site, and were moderately pleased with the food, as
far as I could tell.

The whole episode should probably be written up by E.M. Delafield as "the
Provincial Lady Does a Dayboard" but I will give the highlights here.

The menu was: 80 loaves fresh bread (Food 4Less), 15 loaves cheese bread
and 20 cheese boards (from the local Redner's), butter, dilled cream
cheese, green sauce, sauce for pigeons, aquapatys, lombard mustard,
pretzels, 6 gal dill pickles, sweet pickles, olives, 50 doz hard boiled
eggs, 45 lbs assorted cheeses, watermelon, honeydew, cantelope, plums,
nectarines, oranges, bananas, grapes, cucumbers, carrots, celery, syrup of
lemons, syrup of ginger with lemon, and sekajabin. (Sugarfree rasberry
syrup was also provided but nobody used it.) I also did a separate section
for the royals that included berries and kiwis. We put out dried chopped
dates and garlic sesame sticks in addition to the rest as a sideboard for
court, as well.

The budget came out to be about $700 total including 20 lbs of ham.
Due to weather conditions, we had fighting and thus dayboard run long.
Fighting started late, dayboard was half an hour late. Trays for royals
went out beautifully, if sans hard boiled eggs. Trays for archery never
got done; people had to come get trays for MOL, troll and Pent and I made
them assemble those trays themselves. We were short of coolers on the
field and ice, and the gatorade never did go out but the ginger and lemon
syrups were a big hit.

Most of the work was done by passers-by who volunteered and/or got sucked
in, and I'm very grateful. Who were those masked Cook's Guild members?
Pages are amazing and wonderful help, especially when you let them
socialize.

Moral of that is, no matter how many years you've said dayboard will need
helpers in the meeting before the event, you can't just assume that when
the autocrat says all areas will need help people will know dayboard needs
help. [I plan to hire a childminder and provide apple juice and milk next
time to take base advantage of the services of parents of toddlers in the
shire.]

The Sauce for pigeons went over very well. I still have to remember to do
labels ahead of time and have them ready to put out.

Next year I'll try again to do a handwashing station.

---
The gritty details, very long. Hopefully somewhat funny.

In the weeks beforehand, I made about a gallon and a half of ginger syrup,
which left me with lots of ginger refuse. While boiling syrups, I also
made another, thicker syrup, boiled the ginger bits in it until they
reached 225 deg. F and stuck there for a while, pulled them out in
forkloads and stirred with regular sugar. Pretty good. Forgot to put the
ones I brought out on the dayboard.

Also made about 2 gallons of lemon syrup and a gallon of sekajabin. Did
get most of the syrup dregs off the floor after several moppings.

The week beforehand I made a Sam's club run to get the staples-- except
the aluminum roasting pans, which we had bought before the last event.
Also bought butter and 20 of the 45 lbs of cheese as they had cooper and
jack cheeses at 1.89 a pound.

Wednesday I called in the order to the produce vendor who delivers to
site, ended up with more berrries and stone fruit than originally planned,
less apples and no pears because of prices. Must remind self that $22 a
case is ok price for grapes...

Thursday I made a run to Lancaster county for cheese and bulk food. Got
good prices on cheese ($1.69 to $1.89 a pound) and found Kunzler brand
hams at 99 cents a pound at the same discount store, so I bought the ones
that looked in good condition (20 pounds worth).

Had some confusion with the sesame sticks as they use soybean oil and
there is a kid with a peanut allergy in the shire.... I was pretty tired
and ended up grabbing chocolate covered pretzels as a substitute: the word
chocolate wandered through my brain in search of something to connect with
and it was only after I stopped at my mom's and got a drink that I
realized that I couldn't serve chocolate as its so not period. Checked the
list of allergy foods, found soy not on it, and went back and exchanged
the pretzels. Also picked up sweet baloney and 2 pounds of frozen sliced
roast turkey breast for the royals (TRH eat red meat, TRM only eat
poultry...)

Had to take my mom with me to the farm stand to negotiate with the Amish
owners, since they only had 3 watermelons out but she was sure they had
more-- and they did. Prices between 2.30 and 2.99 each.

Fit everything back into the car. Drove back to Allentown. Unpacked
refrigeratables. Asked myself why I was doing this. (When your car is full
of watermelon belonging to the shire is probably a bad time to consider
quitting the SCA.) Friend pointed out that I could do this in my sleep-- I
replied that I was.

Friday got up and packed everything I had left to go (half my stuff being
kindly delivered to the site by a friend, as 10 watermelons, 2 coolers and
80 loaves of bread were not going to leave much space in the Saturn
sedan.

Rearanged the watermelon. Rearranged the coolers. Rearranged again until
it all fit and left room for three boxes of bread. Went to Food 4 Less.
Bread was baked but unbagged, they weren't sure what time I had said I
would pick it up. (10 am). Waited half an hour while they bagged it and
struggled through the checkout line with the traditional two carts,
answering the funny questions. [Nobody in the Lehigh Valley asks why you
are wearing funny clothes, but 2 carts full of bread get you questions.]

Managed by main force to get all four boxes of bread into the car, made a
run to the Farm Market which was short on dill but could sell me one bunch
(approx 2x the size of the silly plastic containers you get in Supermarket
produce aisles).

Drove 45 minutes to site, started to unload, found main hall was locked
and breakfast cook panicking because she was supposed to get in a precook.
Panicked myself a bit as I was supposed to cook 50 dozen hardboiled eggs.

Dropped off stuff, sent breakfast cook in search of someone with hall key,
drove to local redners to pick up cheese breads, cheesey boards (long
flattish loaves with garlic, chease and italian seasoning on them) and 2
cases of eggs (each 10 of the 2.5 doz small egg flats). Got all that in
car with assistance from wondering Redners staff.

Went back, started boiling eggs. Helped breakfast cook with onions and
advice as she had never done this before and her mentor had had to leave
for Pennsic. Boiled more eggs. Boiled more eggs. Autocrat stopped by to
ask if I needed help. I said, yes, I would soon.

Breakfast cook asked if we had flour. I said, "is it on the inventory?"
Cook went to her tent where the only copy of inventory was, discovered
that there was no flour. She made a trip offsite to buy potatoes and
flour.

Pages began to flock to kitchen offering to cut things. Started them on
the cheese. Produce delivery arrived. Found someone with radio to radio
for exchequer for check for produce vendor. Exchequer found seneschal to
co-sign check while we unloaded. Discovered that order had been misheard
and we had only a half a case, not a case and a half, of oranges.

Lent my food processor to breakfast cook to slice potatoes. Grabbed random
passers-by to bring perishable fruit down to beer cooler.

Started pages cleaning and cutting celery. Started others snipping
parsley. A merchant, her husband and a friend came to volunteer. Gave them
things to cut. Rearranged egg operation to allow breakfast cook to start
sausage gravy. Rescued the last of my olive oil from dayboard cook who was
pouring it on the sausage 'so it wouldn't burn when fried'. Gave solicited
advice about consistency of sausage gravy (i.e. it should be a good deal
thicker than pan drippings!). Put hams to cook.

Started first batch of sauce for pigeons (parsley, onion, garlic minced
and mixed with vinegar) in food processor. Adamantius' lady and others
wandered in to help, people were put to work snipping parsley and peeling
garlic.

I began wrestling with cutting the cooked ham. And put the aquapatys on to
boil.

Eventually ham was all cut, all the garlic peeled, and I made up the other
green sauce and batch of sauce for pigeons. Dilled the cream cheese. One
bunch dill turned out to be enough for 6 lbs cream cheese.

Began washing dishes, cut my hand, washed a bit more, went back to camp
and to bed.

Next morning, got up early but waited in line for cold shower and was not
in kitchen until 9. Washed cutting boards, etc. and set up for cucumber
peeling/slicing. Deputy cook (Jeff the Brewer) and I peeled and sliced for
a while, until a newbie and her daughter from Caer Adamant happened by and
volunteered. Put daughter to work on dishing up sauces and washing
nectarines, mom cut cukes.

Saw that dayboard pavilion was being put up. This is good. Found someone
to go up to upper hall and wake caretaker to open beer cooler so we could
get fruit out.

Cut watermelons. Cut oranges. Cut Honeydews. Had child wash plums.

Group of members of a cooks guild wandered by to volunteer. Put them to
work cutting citrus and also washing grapes and snipping into hand
bunches.

Adamantius allowed himselve to be volunteered to do trays for Royals.
Borrowed a truck and deputy took first load of dayboard food up to field.
Waterbearing team reported hose could not be used, left a funny tasted,
and filled and carried three of the four water coolers up to field. Forgot
the gatorade. 4th water cooler (2 were missing) got sent to fencing not
archery.

Went to pieces over arranging royals' dayboard. Had to get pages lined up
in two neat rows, one for TRM and one for TRH as plates were different.
Deputy went back up to field with another load to start arranging. Only
had one cooler so most perishables had to stay in fridge at hall.

Finally got all the food cut and brought to field by 12:25. set up food
trays, deputy madly arranging. Got some bread cut and sauces out. Realized
that MOL and Troll had not gotten trays. Autocrat made tray for MOL and
sent someone to make tray for Troll. Pentathalon sent person to inquire
about tray for them-- gave inquirer a tray and said, "have at".

My mom showed up. Began drafting helpers from crowd and trying to send
existing helpers on break. Made up pitchers of the drink syrups (except
sekanjabin, that never made it up there.) Realized that when autocrat said
that help would be needed in a lot of places in the event, should have
pointed out that dayboard was one.

Realized that once again, "I have always depended on the kindness of
strangers" and was indebted to randome volunteers who came in and helped
thank you thank you thank you.

Never did get labels on sauces AGAIN (still kicking myself) so had to
explain verbally to everyone coming through the line. Still no radio, one
autocrat on the field and one in back hall doing MOL cards. Hijacked
random friends to fill water coolers and bring back from hall as they
emptied. Never remembered to make up gatorade.

Repeated until 4, including arrival of so many friends I thought it was a
Jimmy Stewart movie. Hijacked Annys Wolf, Evan from Atlantia, Alison and a
baroness with moonstone circlet to help cut bread under cover of trying to
have herb guild meeting. :)

Was told repeatedly by help to stop thanking them every 15 minutes.

At 4 fighters were still hitting each other with sticks (which is why
there were ham and cheese for dayboard still left, though not much).
Decided to leave dayboard open longer and start setting up for court
board. Moved 2 of 4 tables to court board and started setting up. Brought
remaining food from hall in truck, brought leftovers and trash down to
hall in truck. Refilled coolers.

Deputy and friends helped set up court board, 4 random thugly people
(mostly women) carried last table of dayboard down to court board. Tried
to put out remains of everything and cut some bread but bread was going
out faster than we could cut it.

Took short break to wash hands and have hair re-braided by Mom.

Eventually help chased me away and I told them to stop doing stuff.  They
kept cutting bread. :)

Sat down for a while, muttered to friends. Wandered up with Silver
Crescents. Wandered away afterward when Maunches were called up. Multiple
friends caught me, sat me down and made me drink. Began angsting about
whether lack of ability to properly deputize made me look foolish in front
of Master A. (Hard to deputize when people can't seem to find anything in
shire stores...)

Heard herald announce "...kova". Parsed it hoping it was my old friend
Kat'ryna. Nope. Jadwiga Zajaczkowa. Dropped goblet, according to
witnesses. Had to be hoisted out of seat and physically helped toward
court aisle by 5 friends. Walked out of my shoes on the way. Making little
heeping noises. Maunches spontaneously began to admonish me to 'Breathe!'
in chorus.

Made it up to the throne. Remarked to king, "I think I've been here
before." He asked me if I knew anything that would help him with an
ailment he was expecting in the next 2 weeks-- an attack of Midrealmers.
At a loss, I replied that he would have to take out their herbalist first,
and she was getting a Laurel and probably wouldn't be an accessible
target. King laughed.

Got gorgeous scroll by Svea the Shortsighted. Dropped it and had it taken
away from me by Baron Morgan for safekeeping. Got medallion sent by
Jaella. Sat down and looked at dirty bare feet and sweaty cotton tunic hem
while other new Maunches were made.

Dragged into the back of court and hugged by the order, cried and cried.
Master A asked if I were happy. Sobbed, "Yes." After being hugged by the
order, was pulled by camp cook to look for supplies I had bought her. ;)

After dinner, angsted so much about dayboard dishes that three friends
slipped out of camp and did the dishes behind my back before I could
recruit strength to get up there, barring me and my deputy from kitchen.

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
	"Index your brain."