[Sca-cooks] newbee cook attempting feast for the first time in december

[Johnna Holloway]

I'm back and can explain more fully. I was on my way out the door to 
help with the
Senior Class luncheon previously. (Open the pizza boxes and slice the 
cakes.)

By doing a test feast, you can get an idea of quantities of raw foods to 
finished foods.
Your beef shrinks by say half. It takes a pound or a pound and half of 
this ingredient to
make the finished cooked dish. Cook the test feast and see what people like.
Then make notes that it works ok to provide one cup of
this dish per person, but one-half cup of that dish per person will be 
enough.
Tweak the sauces. Figure out the amount of meat per person. How much 
bread per person?
Soup? Entrees, sides, salad? How many servings of the cake?
What can be prepared ahead of time? What will need to be fixed on site?
Adjust these amounts needed to how feasts in the past have gone. Will 
40-60 people be
attending? 80-100?  How soon in advance of the feast date will you know 
the final number?

Johnnae


Gretchen Beck wrote:
> Find a commercial cookbook (or a textbook about cooking for large numbers
> of people) -- there are going to be differences in the proportions of each
> ingrediant for 6-8 people than for 100 people, and having the reference for
> the conversion is invaluable.
> Not to say the test feast isn't an important key (it is), but that you
> can't just multiple everything by 15 and have a reasonable recipe.
>
> toodles, margaret
>
> --On Friday, June 05, 2009 10:25 AM -0400 Johnna wrote:
>   
>> Welcome to the list and feast cookery.
>> Quick answer is to do a test feast for 6-8 people and see what works.
>> Adjust amounts per person and recipes at that time. It also helps to
>> resolve plating
>> and timing issues.
>>
>> Johnnae
>>
>>
>> brooke white wrote:
>>     
>>> HOW DOES ONE ASSESS THE AMOUNTS OF EACH DISH.
>>> Is there any rule of thumb? 
>>> Yours In service to the dream
>>> Elisande
>>> _________________________
>>>