[Sca-cooks] What would you do?

[a5foil]

Somehow I got the impression that someone else had decided on the menu. So
exactly how detailed was the printed menu? Dishes named, or just a general
category -- i.e. Parsnips with Cheese or Seasonal Root Veggie Dish?

When I figure a menu and budget, I always estimate all the ingredients at
the highest possible grocery-store price. If pork butt is $2 a pound at the
pricey supermarket, and I need 10 pounds, I budget $20 for the pork. Then
when I buy it at the discount place, it doesn't much matter whether it's 89
cents or $1.09, or if the bulk package is 12 pounds instead of 10, it still
comes in under estimate. (Not to mention that I then have 8 or 10 extra
dollars when the asparagus turns out to have gone up to $4 a pound instead
$3.) And if for some reason I can't buy the pork at the discount place, I
can still get it at the supermarket at the estimated price. This keeps us
under budget and allows for those last minute
oops-I-forgot-to-buy-paper-towels emergencies. I also don't publish the
*entire* menu in advance, so I can substitute on some items if necessary.

Still, there should be no reason to delay payment of feast funds until the
last minute, even if the prepay deadline is only a week in advance. That's
just unreasonable.

Cynara