Feast stewart at the crossroads was Re: [SCA-cooks] Pulled sugar

[ED Reese]

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All excellent points, Ru!  Living in the hinterlands of Texas, but close
enough to Dallas for the big shops, I can follow most of these strategies.
Mistress Selene lives in Beautiful (not quite) downtown Burbank, so many of
these options won't work for her, or would be difficult in the extreme.
There are some WONDERFUL farmer's markets, but -- despite the "discount" of
wholesale, it is still expensive.

There is also an issue of quality and availability: LA is an expensive
proposition when trying to get good stuff. Having been to Mistress Selene's
feasts, and having had the honor of cooking in her kitchen, she pinches a
penny very well. In my opinion, $10.00 a head IS a pretty tight budget --
and having been shopping with Mistress Selene, trust me, she KNOWS every
nook and cranny and cheap place. (Remember the honey baked ham bone feast,
Selene?)

I have to say, I DO like the sideboard idea.... I'd love to see what you
could do with it, Mistress!

Esther

At 10:21 PM 5/22/2003 +0000, you wrote:


> > The autocrat announced this whole fait-accompli complete with a budget
> of $1,500
> > for food, and I know they are planning a 'box lunch' type arrangement
> for $5, so
> > my guess is that would take about a third of the budget.  Either they
> get dinner
> > for 100 [we could have sold 300 tickets easily last year, if we had the
> room for
> > them] or I get a slashed budget.  I typically budget $10 per paying
> diner for a
> > major feast such as this.  I'm still working on my reputation here and
> I won't
> > do some scaled-back snack when the event truly calls for a Meal Fit For
> A King,
> > literally.  I'm trying to figure out what to do;  I want to be a team
> player but
> > I won't let them force me to do a mediocre meal.  Or:  is my next
> challenge to
> > do a boffo, razzle-dazzle extravaganza on the halved budget?  Am I up
> to this
> > challenge?
>
>I've NEVER had more than $6/head for a feast budget, and have regularly
>served 3 courses with either a roast chicken or beef or some such in each
>course as well as multiple sides for each course.  A smaller budget means
>you have to plan better and shop better.
>
>I would go back to the autocrat and point out that $5 a head for lunch is
>a bit high.  For $2 I can do a wonderful sideboard.  Boxed lunches waste a
>LOT of food.
>
>I would also go back and point out that if she caps your spending it will
>cap the number of tickets that can be sold.  That is, of course, the
>autocrats choice, but there is a limit how far you can stretch the
>food.  If last year could have sold 300 tickets, than they need to plan on
>that many again and budget accordingly.  You can always wait to buy the
>expensive stuff until the date is closer and you have a better idea of the
>numbers.
>
>Then you have to start doing your homework.
>- Watch for sales, buy stuff and freeze it.
>- Shop at your local or not-so-local costco, bjs, sams club, whatever and
>buy in bulk.
>- Start talking to local food wholesalers.
>- Know any hunters?  Venison is totally period and inexpensive in some
>parts of the country if you can find someone to go out and get one for you!
>- Shop a little first, THEN do your menu - you can plan with an idea of
>what is available in mind.  (for example, costco carries slivered almonds,
>not whole or ground, and they still have the brown part on them when they
>get slivered.  That makes a difference in the appearence of a dish.)
>- Look at what will and won't be in season and keep that in mind as you
>plan your menu.  Out of season produce will be FAR more expensive.
>
>When you look at your menu, pick a focus:  either LOTS of different foods
>or a few fabulous ones.  You can't do both, so pick and choose.  I've
>often done one showpiece dish per course accompanied and surrounded by
>things that were less showy but were filling and less expensive.
>
>Keep in mind that many of us have done fabulous feasts for much less than
>you are talking about.  It requires you to shop well, think more
>creatively and get more help to do things manually rather than buying
>prepared foods.
>
>One final thing:  You comment about "still building your reputation" kind
>of sets the hair on the back of my neck on end.  You don't build a good
>reputation by cherry-picking your projects.  You build it by living up to
>your commitments, working well (or at least working things out) with the
>people around you and than producing a quality result under whatever
>circumstances you are handed.  A budget with 8 months to plan for is far
>easier than the kitchen missing the racks in the oven, with half the
>burners dead, no refrigeration, pouring rain on the leaky tarp you are
>cooking under, etc.  You will certainly lose face if you back out
>now.  Talk to the autocrat, explain the realities of what is and isn't
>possible (mostly in terms of the number of people you will feed and its
>relationship to the budget) and than get to work.  Yes, for $10 a head you
>can serve extravagant food and lots of it, but you will impress people
>even more if you feed them great period food for half that price.
>
>Ru
>
>
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