[Sca-cooks] English Food

[Lady Celia]

Since you're in Atlanta, you should also call the Dept of Parks &
Recreation... the division that handles game poaching.  I know that in may
of the groups in Meredies that we were able to take some of the "poached"
venison and game that they confiscate off their hands.  Mention that it's
for a non-profit educational organization, and they may donate it, or give
you a break.  Make sure to talk to some of the experienced feast stewards in
your area... many of them are experts at bringing a feast in under budget
while offering an elaborate selection of dishes by using local resources
well.  I learned a lot from them (unfortunately, it was decades ago - so I
don't know who might still be there.) 

Don't know if you're getting your pork for the sausage cheaply, but you may
also want to consider cutting the pork w/chicken or turkey, which will
likely be cheaper.  It may not be quite period (then again, it may be - I'm
not up on period sausages.  I'm sure someone here can offer you guidance)
but may be a way to cut both the price and the fat a bit. 

My household used to do taverns at events, usually as a Saturday mid-day
thing (selling tavern items for lunch) or after feast partying Saturday
night.  We had a good deal of success with chicken and beef pies (either
full pies sliced and served cold, or tart sized pies sold as individual
pies), as well as with "field breads", which we often made based on a beer
bread recipe with mixed grains and dried fruit and nuts (I'm sure there
would be some recipes in the flori-thingy ;-) We also supplemented the
proteins with hard cheeses and herbed butters served with the breads, but we
stuck mostly to things we could hawk from baskets on the field.

Finally, just sharing something from my own experience - it doesn't sound
like you're inexperienced, but feel the need to say it because your autocrat
is.  Don't allow your inexperienced autocrat to drive how much you buy in
planning for your feast without letting you know how many pre-reservations
she has... she should be projecting attendance from that based on a
comparison of pre-reservations of prior similar events.  One of my first
service awards was won salvaging a feast where both the feastcrat and the
autocrat were inexperienced, (I just happened to be doing the Tavern
Saturday afternoon, and ended up helping salvage the feast when I found out
how much trouble the feastcrat was in), and assumed that the event would
have 200-300 people based on the fact that other, established, events by the
same Barony had always drawn that many, and ignoring other factors,
including the fact that we had less than 15 pre-reservations two weeks prior
to the event.  The final attendance was 45 people, and they had bought
ingredients to serve 300. 

Best of luck!  Taverns can be *great* fun!