[Sca-cooks] feast organization/service question

[Stephanie Ross]

Urtatim wrote:
First let me note that our feasts are generally for under 100 diners, 
at both Kingdom (2 Collegia) and Principality levels (in the Mists, 
<<where i am, that's 2 Investitures and a Bardic Competition), and as 
far as i can tell, at the branch level as well (where there are many 
feasts). Lately, there has been a move to limit seatings to 60.
 
I assume that if we had feasts for 200 or 300, we might work this all 
out differently>>

Our feast run generally for 100 - 150, becaue that's all our halls will
hold. We generally sell them out which works for cost-effectiveness. One
hundred is such a nice round number to cook for, don't you think? Makes it
easy to scale up recipes too.


<<Most of our events are camping events and there's no feast at them, 
because there's no way to make one. Our sites are frequently pretty 
"rustic" and "undeveloped", quite often have no running water, and by 
this i mean a spigot sticking out of the ground to hold a container 
under. >>

No excuse not to have feast, but it makes it difficult to be sure! I did it
one January, for 100 people, with a couple of gar grills, turkey friers and
a huge charcoal grill. Quite the experience. I did at least have a
refrigerator and a freezer, and a small sink and two electric outlets. I
don't think it could have been done out of coolers without far too much
effort. Many households cook on site here with gas grills and charcoal
grills. Unless of course you aren't allowed to have a fire. Then it's
summer sausage, bread and cheese in oil. But you'd spend your day doing
nothing but cooking and not have any fun! Been there, done that becaue I
had my children with me.
 
<<I gather you're in one of those places with a feast hall and kitchen 
on the camp site... and maybe even *cabins* to sleep in?>>

Oh yes, one of the joys (and necessities) of living in Trimaris, where it
reaches over 100 degrees in the summer, in the interior of the state with
no breeze and humidty of 70% or greater 8 mos out of the year. Well okay,
it's really 6 months, it just feels like 8. You have to have
air-conditioned buildings or the heat becomes a health-hazard. In fact, I
just wrote the Crowns a message about leaving small kids out in the heart
all day while adult meetings are held inside.We have kids dropping like
flies from football practise out in the heat all over the state since
school started. My husband's knight, and a very dear friend both had heart
attacks last month due to being over-active out in the heat and not in
shape, and the knight died at 43 . My electric bill this month is $200
again and I live in a little two-bedroom retirement cinder-block house. The
heat has been brutal and has spawned some very nasty thunderstorms with
vicious lightning too. Today a roofer died after being struck by lightning.
A couple times a week there is a report about someone getting hit by
lightning. I'm thinking about moving a bit further north! At least we have
electricity, this heat would be unbearable without it, but the next
hurricane that comes along could ruin that luxury too. If we didn't have
cabins, then every event would be held in a church or rec hall and be
one-day revels only. Between the bugs, the heat and the storms, rough
camping is a very scary proposition here in summer. We even had a swarm of
tornadoes hit a campsite one year, our Arts/Sci event which was forever
dubbed "Blow-Sci". No one got seriously hurt thank all the gods, but
tornadoes are a threat on a weekly basis in the summer. And don't think the
kitchen on site is all it's cracked up to be either. Too many events the
appliances don't work, the kitchen are too filthy to work in and you spend
all day Friday cleaning instead of prepping and pre-cooking, so you end up
doing that at home the week before. Some kitchens have AC and some don't.
It's very hard work to put out a weekend spread in this Kingdom. It's no
wonder more people don't want to do it.

~Aislinn~
Et si omnes ego non.

"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the
first and only legitimate object of good government." --Thomas Jefferson to
Maryland Republicans, 1809.