[Sca-cooks] Fundraiser Lunch at Hero's Portion this past weekend LONG

[morses3 at aol.com]

Greetings,
 
Since I pleaded for advice months ago about a lunch fundraiser I ran this weekend for the Barony of Marinus, I thought it would be polite to say thanks for all the good ideas I received and give a brief recap of how it went so I'm coming out of delurk mode. Hopefully, the information might help someone in the future planning a similar event.
 
I did end up offering an "a la carte" type of menu which worked well. Many people expressed that they were pleased that they were able to choose what they wanted and didn't feel bad for taking more of something they did like since they were paying for it. We kept prices on most items at $1.00 with a few 50 cent items and had a dedicated cashier who took money all day, so it ended up being really easy for everyone. (You have to admire a woman who is only a month away from the delivery of her child who offers to sit in a hot tent all day and collect money.......)
 
Since this was outside in a tent and I didn't want to interfere with the kitchen which was being used by the feast cook AND I knew some of the donated food wouldn't be period, I opted for a non strictly period menu (but tried to be as close as possible and that was inspired by period sources at least!, since this was a fundraiser I wanted to use supplies I already had so I wouldn't have to buy anything extra). the menu included miniature beef pies with an orange flavoring, miniature spinach and cheese pies with raisins, baked chicken legs with a honey mustard glaze (that was a variation of Lombardy Chicken), oven roasted carrots with garlic and herbs, cucumber salad, pickles, bread, cheese, stuffed eggs, apples, pears, and oranges. We had enough food for the 80 people we planned for (a lower than expected attendance left us with some leftovers which made a few people happy :-) ), and the cost for all the food was $138.44, or about $1.71 per person. I donated the bottled water we sold and the serving and cleaning supplies, we also had several great dessert donations (I'm in a Barony with great bakers, yeah!) 
 
Most of the day, there were three of us serving which gave us enough time to take a break and walk away occasionally, the food had all been precooked the day before and was warming in electrical roasting ovens and crock pots during the lunch, we were also fortunate that the event autocrat set up the pavilion and had tables waiting for us at 8 AM when I arrived that morning. One last minute addition was a table and some chairs nearby for people to sit down and eat, the bonus of that was that we had a lot more people "hanging out" with us and making us laugh all day. I had also brought rattan trays from home so people could carry their food away easily, we used disposable plates, bowls, and flatware so we could stay out of the kitchen. (I packed the dirty serving dishes and utensils in the empty coolers and the end of the day and when I pulled them out the next morning just filled them up with the hose to soak.)
 
We had planned to start serving at 10 AM but electrical issues made that closer to 11 instead (it's the first time I've ever thought of cooking as a combat sport ), we started cleaning up and packing things away about 3:45 PM. By the time court had started, we were completely packed and able to sit down and relax.
 
Thanks again to the many list members who answered my questions months ago and gave me some great ideas of things to do (and not to do!). I hpe this information helps someone in the future and my apologies for everyone who had the burden of reading through it all.
 
In service,
 
Geffrei de Warenne