[Sca-cooks] Sideboards....

[Denise Wolff]

>>I recall her doing one of these for an East Kingdom Twelfth Night that had 
>>to be for more than 400.
>>
>>Adamantius (same group as Andrea)
>
>However, issues of Andrea's sanity aside, it's possible that these 
>particular sideboards were for smaller, local events.  Even crazy people 
>can be limited in their excesses by kitchen resources and food budgets.  So 
>I'm curious about numbers of people being fed, partly for practical 
>reasons.  If she did make stuffed eggs or cheese tarts for 400, I'd like to 
>know more about how she managed it.

>Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
>Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
>Robin Carroll-Mann *** rcmann4 at earthlink.net

Well, one of the things Adamantius  said is true. I am a bit crazy.... but I 
love what I do.

The second menu was to feed 60. I had $75 to do it.

The first menu was for 150. I had $250 to do it, and I came in underbudget. 
( I had two weeks notice, I would have done more if I had the time)

If you look, most of the things are relatively cheap in the ingredients 
area. I make my own pie crusts and bread. I rely on fillers (carbs) to bulk 
out the bellies and spend  smaller amounts on the "interesting" things. I 
buy large bulk in flour, I have never bought chicken for less than 79 cents 
a pound (dark meat is cheap, but the whole bird is cheaper).
I debone my meats myself, I get the cheeses in large bulk cuts and chop 
myself.

I spend about 4-6 months hunting down the best buys and store in friends 
freezers until I need it. I spend time about every night preparing something 
and putting it away.

Stuffed eggs doesn't look so foreboding as it seems. I watch a couple of 
good dvd's while I work.


The 12th night Adamantius is refering to was given to me with two weeks 
notice and $250 to feed between 400-600 people. I had no kitchen crew as the 
feast had taken the bulk of the volunteers and the kitchen was off limits as 
well.

I did 3 soups. A chicken/Rice, a Beef/Barley, and a vegetable. I did four 
types of tarts (mini) sausage and apple, beef and onions, chicken and 
currants, and onion (all had cheese). I also had stuffed eggs then. I had 
pears and apples, pistachios, raisins, almonds, and walnuts. I also had the 
standard cubed-orange /white cheeses for the less adventurous. (My only 
regret is that I didn't make it more period - I had little time and a whole 
lot less knowledge back then)

I mundanely have a large selection of chafing racks (catering style), a good 
quantity of oversize pots. and a good imagination. I took off three days 
before the event and spent a good portion of those days, elbows deep in pie 
crust and mini tartlet pans (I have mini tart forms-reuseable)

I thrive on emergencies and adrenalin (I'm a nurse) and don't sleep much 
before an event anyway, so It's still fun. I PREFER small events, but I can 
and still do large ones.

Did I answer your question, or does this look like rambling?? (I just spent 
the last 12 hours smoking sausage in my fireplace- I'm a bit "toasted")

Andrea MacIntyre

_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar – get it now! 
http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/