[Sca-cooks] Candlemas Feast

[ysabeau]

We had a middle-eastern crown and I prepared a dinner for them at 
an event that had no feast. It was quite fun and very interesting. 
It worked well for me because I had limited (read none) 
facilities. I was able to make almost everything ahead of time. It 
actually gets better from sitting for a day or so. There are a lot 
of tangines that you can make ahead that are delicious. They 
reheated well in crockpots. 

I also grilled chicken pieces (roasted ahead of time and grilled 
to heat up) and served with a variety of sauces for everyone to 
try. There was a mention of doing something like that on this list 
and it worked well. I labeled the sauces with little cards and put 
them around the platter of chicken. It gave everyone a chance to 
try something different. 

This wasn't an official feast so I had some leeway. I didn't 
strictly stick to the middle-eastern theme but focused on Spain 
and North Africa. I didn't do the redactions myself. I used a 
friend's redactions as a baseline but, being a cook, I modified 
them based on my interpretations. 

It came out quite well! I was happy with the results and it turned 
into a big party in between the lists and court. The king even 
called court into session to present an award to someone who 
wouldn't be able to stay for court. 

In a way, it was sort of a reflection of period reality - the 
populace had a pot luck feast near the list field and the landed 
nobility had a dinner in a courtyard in front of the baronial 
manor (you have to see the site to truly appreciate the setting). 
I was cooking behind the manor and finally got the last dish out 
the door and came around the corner to find about 40 people 
milling around and having a grand time. It was one of those 
moments that just makes you feel good.  

My thoughts,
Ysabeau
Bryn Gwlad, Ansteorra


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Georgia Foster" <jo_foster81 at hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:20:49 -0600

>OK ... so I have offered to do our local Candlemas.
>
>Our local Candlemas is a small affair, around 30 and I generally 
end up 
>funding out-of-pocket as my holiday gift to the shire.  This is 
sort of like 
>throwing a dinner party for around 30 folks, more than running an 
event.  
>Last year was a celtic theme, and it was VERY well recieved.   
The previous 
>year was late period English, and the year before that was thrown 
togeather 
>from everywhere and everywhen.
>
>
>This year I am hard pressed to make a choice.  There are two 
options I am 
>considering .... a Russian theme, or a Middle-eastern.
>
>Russian... because I have never done that
>
>or
>
>Middle-eastern because the attending crown is Middle-eastern.
>
>
>What say you all?  Were you in my situation, what would you do?
>
>Cheers
>
>Malkin
>
>
>
>Jo (Georgia L.) Foster
>jo_foster81 at hotmail.com
>
>Never knock on death's door........ Ring the doorbell and run. He 
hates 
>that.
>
>
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