[Sca-cooks] Vittoria's first feast

[Karen O]

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