[Sca-cooks] Vittoria's first feast
Karen O
kareno at lewistown.net
Sun Mar 10 16:38:23 PST 2002
Vittoria tells his story:
Well, now that I've had a full week to recover, report to this list on the
successes and failures of my first feast.
1)So, my first big mistake was not sleeping for, like, a week leading up to
the event. The night before the event I was up till3:30 AM typing up the
handout with recipes and stuff, and up again at 7:30to finish baking and
pack up everything to take to the site
2)I had planned on spending $240 on food. I ended up going about $100
overbudget I honestly did not realize that stuff costs $3 a quart...and I
needed over 3 gallons. You do the math. <sigh>
3)I expected I'd have way too much food. I realized halfway through the
event that I had too many dishes, but not enough of most of them. Some of
this was the result of utter thoughtlessness. For example: how much spinach
would you need for 60 servings?
4)I had major timing problems. The first course was less than an hour
behind schedule - not starting the second course till the first was out of
the kitchen. This was REALLY dumb, as the meat stew needed a while to cook.
5)I forgot to buy caraway, { lemons flour, etc}
6) > I felt awful that things were so off schedule, but everyone told me,
"Don't worry, that happens at EVERY feast." Having only been to two, I
couldn't have known :-) <
7)But I was WAY over-ambitious with this. My menu was far too intricate,
far too expansive, in money AND in time -
But it was my first time, so I wanted to make a splash. Call me young and
foolish <g>, but I have since learned my lesson.
>But I am NOT doing this again I will not run another feast until I am done
with college <
I have satisfied my curiosity for the time being, and I am pleased to say
that my my first feast was not a total failure.
Having been only to TWO feasts??!! You volunteered to be the Head Cook
for over 50 people? How much experience did you have being part of a feast
crew? I would say volunteer to do that while still in college; that way you
can gain more experience to do your next feast with lots of splash & color.
Not being a Head Cook until after college may be a while -- just time it
better, say an event during the summer months, or something during semester
breaks.
I would say the mistakes you made are from inexperience: Not getting
enough sleep (#1), not knowing the price of groceries & quantities needed
(#2&3) Not having a schedule for the day written down (#4 &6) Not having a
check-off list of ingredients (#5). You'll know better for "next time"
around. Just get a bit more kitchen experience in you -- watch & learn
from the others.
Congratulations on your first feast!
Caointiarn
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