[Sca-cooks] large dayboard feast: need advice from those who have done this before

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

>    We are planning a clear soup (based on fighter
> needs), 2 varieties of pickles, vegetable stix/slices
> of carrots, cucumbers and celery, bread (in 29"
> French loaves), hard boiled eggs (30 dozen), cheddar
> and swiss cheeses (cubed), kielbasa sausage (diced),
> apples and/or pears, and sliced ham.
>    Our budget is $500-$700 and we have been told to
> estimate for 500 people. We would like to have cold or
> room temperature foods to minimize the
> hot-food-not-hot-enough complaints.

With the soup, be sure to get some crock pots (and some place to plug them
in). That solves the 'not hot enough' problem.

>    What quantities of meats/cheeses should we purchase
> to adequately feed the throngs?

Dayboard at EK War Camp in late july (750 attendees on site), used 45 lbs
of cheese and 10 lbs of ham and we could have used more.

The trick, as I've said, is to put the cheese and ham out in SMALL BOWLS
but replenish often. That way the piggies will not gorge their plates in
one swoop. Having Swiss and Cheddar, you could reduce the numbers-- swiss
and cheddar aren't as popular as the soft cheese like Farmer, Muenster,
etc. But since it's a winter event, keep those numbers relatively high.

>The veggies and eggs
> are cheap, but the sausage, ham, and cheese are the
> most expensive items at $1.79 per pound.

Buy more eggs. :) 45 dozen eggs were eaten up at the dayboard referred to
above. Buy the flats of 2.5 dozen. I know regular size eggs by the 15
dozen case look appealling at Sam's, but I find that I do much better
pricewise buying the flats, and small eggs are a better serving size.

Serve meat and cheese in small chunks or strips. Slices are for when
you've got $150 to do dayboard for 40 people.

Bread: buy a goodly quantity, and have someone slice it at the table, or
pre-slice it. People waste less but eat more that way.

Don't forget the butter and other things to go on bread.

>    I have heard a person consumes about a pound of
> food to feel full. One of the strategies I am thinking
> of is making a vegetarian pea soup in addition to the
> clear soup to fill up tummies. Or should we buy
> smaller quantities of meat/cheese and be sure
> everything is eaten without leftovers (like 60 lbs of
> meat and cheese combined) and stay with clear soup
> only?

The Crown that we did, we had chicken soup (with meat in it -- Hen in
Broth) that went well. The Lentil soup just wasn't as popular. Are you
making your own broth or buying it? If you are making your own broth, just
cut up the chicken bits and dump them back in. If people want a clear
broth, you just dip out of the top! Remember hot cups to serve the soup
in, people-- fighters, fencers and such especially--  resist getting
their feastgear out.

Oh-- and having chicken in the feast doesn't preclude a chicken soup.

You may want to do 2 soups, like a veggie one and an non-veggie one, but
don't worry about making too much veggie soup-- even with something like
lentil we didn't get a lot of takers.

>    Bread runs $1 per loaf and will feed 8-10 people.
>    Any and all advice and dire warnings will be
> welcomed and greatfully accepted.

The most important thing, if you are going to do a dayboard like this, is
to have someone who is in charge of the service and go with putting out
small quantities, constantly replenished.

It makes people happy if you plan to have it open longer than an hour (2
is good, 4 is really helpful, unless it's crown, because the bhoys that
can't eat until after they fight will be so busy watching after they get
eliminated that they won't eat anyway-- then they will come and bitch
nastily at you at 5 pm because they are hypoglycemic and you've Moved The
Cheese *sigh*).

What people have said when I asked about this on the EK list is that they
like stuff they can eat with their fingers and/or don't need feastgear
for.

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"I used to be one of them. Now I rather think I'm one of me." -- Terry
Prachett, _Thief of Time_