[Sca-cooks] newbee cook attempting feast for the first timeindecember

[Elaine Koogler]

Well, if you're cooking for a large number of people, you pick period dishes
that are simple and easy to fix.  You make sure that a goodly part of the
prep can be done ahead of time.  You shop around well in advance to make
sure you find the best possible prices on that food (I usually go to at
least four or five different places to find what I need at the best possible
prices...and that doesn't include the stuff I often have to purchase
online).  You have a couple of pre-cooks to get stuff done that can be done
ahead of time...IMHO, this is a very large part of this.  If you've been
doing this for any length of time...or if you have good friends who have,
you have sources for redacted recipes and for experience with the dishes so
that you have some idea as to expense and time involved.

It's not easy and it necessitates a lot of planning ahead...but it can be
done.  I've eaten wonderful, period feasts that have been fed to large
numbers (200 or so) that I know were brought in for under budget.  And, in
my own experience, I brought my Middle Eastern feast last February in under
budget by over $100.  All of my dishes were period...and folks seemed to
enjoy them.  I fed 80 this time, but last year I fed about 150 and still
came in under budget.

Hope this helps....

Kiri

On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 5:52 PM, <chawkswrth at aol.com> wrote:

> Yet, in all seriousness-this is what we strive for-a Perfectly Period Feast
> that is Edible and Enjoyable. But, we always run into problems. Between
> dealing with allergies, area tastes, budget concerns, and the "joys" of
> serving?a beverage with even a very low alcohol content, I sometimes wonder
> why don't we all just?throw up our spatulas in frustration, and point
> everyone to the nearest KFC.
>
> I don't want to start up old, badly beaten dead horses again, but, research
> benefits aside, how in the world does anyone accomplish anything edible for
> a large number of folks these days?
>
> Helen
>
>
>