[Sca-cooks] Cooking & Serving

[smcclune at earthlink.net]

-----Original Message-----
From: "Kathleen A Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>

the kitchen for our big event is indeed huge, altho much 
of it doesn't work.  it is in a state fairground 4-H bldg, 
and has all kinds of toys.
<<<

I've been in that kitchen -- it does indeed have lots of toys.  We used the industrial potato peeler to peel turnips once.  The phrase, "I felt the earth ... move ... under my feet..." took on a whole new meaning -- the whole kitchen floor vibrated when we turned that monster on, but the turnips were nicely peeled in very short order!  It's just sad that more of the stuff doesn't actually work.

>>>
i have two chest freezers at home, so precooking parties 
(with optional hot tub visit when done) are a great help.
<<<

Waaaaait a minute, you never told me you had a hot tub!!!  I'd have been there!  Well ... okay, maybe driving from Denver to Albuquerque just to help with pre-cooking isn't terribly practical ... especially when I had our Twelfth Night to plan and put on ... <GRIN>

>>>
and you plan your feast to the venue... i would never cook 
whole chickens there, but would cook tray upon tray of 
chicken thighs.  
<<<

Exactly.  We hold our Twelfth Night at one of the local fairgrounds.  The site's kitchen has three pizza ovens, 4 regular ovens, some warming ovens, lots of refrigerators (and a freezer that was unfortunately out of order this year), two prep sinks, a separate dishwashing room with industrial dishwasher, a couple of big prep tables, an ice machine, and (new this year) a steam table ... but only two *electric* stovetop burners, plus some griddle space (I always wonder whose idea that was...).  So if someone plans on having vegetables that need cooking, we rent the steamer that's available for an additional fee.  It cooks 4 steam trays of veggies at a time, in about 5 minutes -- it's very cool.

So for roasts and baked things, it's a pretty good kitchen.  But I wouldn't, for example, do a pasta dish there, because there just aren't enough burners to have several pots of water going at a time.  And any pot bigger than about 8 quarts will never come to a boil on those wimpy electric burners.  Trust me.  Been there, tried that.

>>>
cooking for 400?  know thy venue! and be ready for things 
to go wrong.  8)
<<<

Yep ... but that's really true for any feast, right?  :)

Arwen
Caerthe, Outlands
(Denver, CO)
(who hasn't been brave enough to cook for 400 yet ...)