[Sca-cooks] My first feast (LONG)

[phoenissa at netscape.net]

david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com> wrote:

>Did you do any of the prep in advance? We generally do things like
>chopping onions or the equivalent at a work party the evening before.
>Of course, that requires that you have the people to do it and access
>to a kitchen.

I did as much as I had time and space to.  I ground almonds, did the desserts, baked the cheese pies, and made the labneh at home.  I had some friends come over the night before for a fava-bean-peeling party, too.

>
>>I was also reminded of how much I HATE cooking on electric ranges
>>- those things are evil!
>
>Long ago and far away we had a kitchen with two stoves--electric for
>Elizabeth, gas for me. Mine was a Chambers--the equivalent of an
>antique Rolls Royce.

cool :-)  When my roommate and I were looking for a house, a gas stove was that the top of our list of criteria.  We both a cook a lot and are decidedly in favor of gas.

>>I forgot to buy caraway,
>
>We generally try to make sure we, or someone available to us, knows
>where the nearest grocery store is, so that we can send out at the
>last minute if something is missing. I'm not sure how practical that
>would have been, given your location.

Actually, the spice store I usually shop at was just a couple blocks away.  Supermarkets, though, were not in walking distance.

>Bread is a good way of
>expanding at the last minute to meet an emergency.

Yes...one of the valuable things I've learned.

>Spinach is one of the things where we concluded that the savings from
>buying in bulk didn't make up for the time cost in washing it;
>nowadays we buy washed spinach.

I should've done that, too - but I was so worried about the budget that I bought in bulk anyway.

>In any case, I enjoyed the feast, and my impression was that my
>fellow guests did too.

Thanks :-)  I'm glad it went well.  I'm still amazed that we sold out of tickets...

Vittoria
--




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