[Sca-cooks] OT: how NOT to run a feast

[Susan Fox-Davis]

In Caid, dear heart.  I'm playing scullery maid to my lord husband
[ack!  That's not some sick fantasy, that's for real, okay?] who gets the
spotlight this time as head cook at Caid Twelfth Night, with my protege' Aeduin

as his chosen sous-chef.  I'm standing back, chopping onions and playing
troubleshooter-in-reserve.

My next cooking gigs after that:  Darachshire Black Oak Lodge, a rare Caidan
camping weekend at a mountain summer camp on the first weekend in Spring;
I'm going to =try= to get into the coveted Winter Weekend but there's never
any guarantee of getting a reservation at that very limited event.  As I
understand
it, everyone who goes gets to volunteer, and you know what duty I'll choose if
given a choice.
I'm putting in a menu bid for Caid Twelfth Night 2004, but that's all pie in
the sky.
I'm always looking for more gigs of course.  Have frypan, will travel.

I go to science fiction conventions and oft-times work the hospitality "Con
Suite"
operations, are you getting to any west coast cons in the forseeable future?

Selene Colfox

Kirsten Houseknecht wrote:

> Where do you cook, Selene?  sounds like i should eat there.....
> you have some nice advice. i kept it in the clipped origonal (below my
> sig)...... i have been party to enough disasters to know that sometimes
> things will go wrong no matter WHAT.... butwhen you have a pattern. ..its
> bad.
>
> of course, in the SCA our cooks routinely pull of feasts on budgets that
> would make any event planner cringe...so its not like we cant do anything
> right, eh?
> Kirsten
> kirsten at fabricdragon.com
> http://www.fabricdragon.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Susan Fox-Davis" <selene at earthlink.net>
>
> > Kirsten Houseknecht wrote:
> >
> > > 1.  the cook managed to completely offend and alienate their helpers...
> or
> > > the cook and their helpers are not communicating.
> > >
> > > anyone who actually helps with the food prep (cooking the eggs, baking
> the
> > > bread, whatever) is a treasure beyond price, and should be treated with
> > > great thanks and respect
> >
> > You got that right babe!  We just got through a major hassle with the
> Kingdom
> > officers about keeping up our household tradition of "Those who work do
> not
> > pay," not even the half-price fee that some cheapskates in our kingdom
> have
> > instituted.  Mind you, it's not as free a ride as all that.  We interview
> our
> > helpers and servers pretty carefully so that we don't engage anyone who
> might be
> > likely to gobble and shirk.  There is at least one cook who won't be asked
> back
> > after an incident three years ago when he let one dish burn and thought he
> could
> > conceal it and put it out anyway without my noticing.  I don't ask much,
> > competence and honesty?
> >
> > > 3. there was almost no protein at the dayboard. just carbs.
> > >> Not guilty.   We're on low-carb these days and come from families with
> various
> > kinds of picky eaters.  There =will= be something for everyone!   I can
> see why
> > it gets that way, bread and cookies are cheap relative to
> resource-intensive
> > meats and cheeses.
> > > > 6. quality control was an issue.
> > >
> > > some tables foods were cooked through.  ours was not.  in a cheese and
> > > noodle dish i believe the cheese was meant to be melted... at some
> point...
> > > even if it was actually chilly when it was brought to the table.  at a
> > > different feast the fish was nearly raw.......and it was NOT Sashimi
> >
> > There is really no excuse for this.  Late supper is preferable to food
> poisoning
> > every time.
> > > > 8. every dish had at least one of the same ingredient
> > >> I got hip to that when I started accomodating allergies.  With the
> sensitivities
> > of some of my friends and our ruling nobles, it is a real challenge
> sometimes.
> > Baroness A can't drink cow's milk, Countess B will die if she eats almond
> milk.
> > We will occasionally cook a small portion seperately, but mostly we rely
> on a
> > sufficiently diverse menu to allow the sensitive to just refrain from one
> or two
> > dishes and still have them get enough to eat.  No "hidden meat" in
> anything in
> > our barony particularly, our beloved baroness is vegetarian and some other
> > members keep somewhat Kosher.  If it is not an obvious meat dish like a
> roast,
> > it won't have any, and no lard in the pastry without warnings.
> > > > 10.  lack of communication
> > >>
> > Amen, sister!  I probably bore my help with redundancy but that's better
> than
> > their not knowing stuff.  I also print out menus, order of /c/o/m/b/a/t/
> > service, recipes and everything else.  These get posted in several places,
> in
> > the event that I get hit by a flying meatball and have to retire from the
> > /b/a/t/t/l/e/z/o/n/e/ kitchen.
> >
> > My other dictum:  BE PREPARED!
> >
> > This coming Twelfth Night, I'm mentally preparing for NOTHING in the
> kitchen
> > working and some alternate plans involving camp stoves and ice chests.  We
> live
> > close enough to the site to make this practical, as long as we have fresh
> > propane & ice.  Maybe I'm Alice's White Knight but I'm very determined to
> make
> > this come off as our best feast ever, til the next one!
> >
> > DO bring a BBQ lighter [in case you need to light a pilot light in a
> strange
> > kitchen], tool box [in case you need to actually FIX the stove or
> something],
> > first aid kit [emphasis on cut and burn wounds].  Pot holders and oven
> mitts,
> > lots of'em.  Aprons for all the kitchen staff, preferably matching.  Keeps
> goo
> > off the garb, disguises mundane work clothes, and a uniform look makes
> people
> > feel like a team.  My apron pockets contain:  instant-read meat
> thermometer, a
> > clean tasting spoon, measuring spoons, Swiss Army knife, mini-flashlight,
> as
> > well as the aforementioned printed out lists.
> >
> > Selene Colfox
> > [Kirsten & other new listies:  I use my whole name here because there is
> another
> > Selene on this list.  Who'da thunkit?]
> > selene at earthlink.net
> >
>
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