[Sca-cooks] Adjusting your Feast budget for Comps

Deborah Hammons mistressaldyth at gmail.com
Wed Apr 20 09:50:50 PDT 2011


We will see.  :-))  Legend no, I just cook.  But today, I got an email from
the steward.  Seems the advance I got was $5 a person for 150.  How I was
going to feed 250 out of that is sort of amazing. But, reservations close
May 1.  We will see.

On the 30th I do a spanish thing.  Everything but the bread is coming from
De Nola, and with 55  feasters, I get $200.  THAT one is easy though.

Aldyth

On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Nick Sasso <franiccolo at mindspring.com>wrote:

> Greetings from a far and strange voice of experiences many, fra niccolo
> difrancesco :o)
>
> You do have a badger by the tail on this one.  It has been some eight years
> now since I last donned a tunic in the forges of culinary craft.  I gave it
> up for a restaurant in a small town.  I digress.
>
> Aldyth, it really is a no-win situation that I've read in this thread.
>  There is a lot of partial information and lack of communication all over
> the place, and it seems you get to catch it all.  I can recommend to you
> that you can do a feast on a shoestring budget, but it does take a lot more
> time researching recipes, and a lot more work and skill on your part to
> develop the menus and working recipes.  Making a $3 feed look and feel like
> more is where the mastery/artistry wells up out of you.  You'll be looking
> at boiled grains, some fresh vegetables, maybe the last of the dried fruits
> from winter . . . and probably making the staples like bread and pie crusts
> from scratch.  You'll end up eliminating nearly any convenience product that
> makes our lives easier.
>
> Things like animal proteins and cheeses will be more condiment than focus.
>  Just the way it will be.  You may get away with one course that is a
> roasted meat or something like that, but you'll need a sale.  Root
> vegetables will be your friend, as will spices/seasonings.  In the more
> frugal menu, flavors and seasonings become the absolute bedrock of the taste
> experience . . . sometimes we can lean a little on that nice roast to carry
> some of the taste load . . . not now.  Techniques will also stand up and
> carry some load for you . . . developing strong crusting/caramelizing on
> meats before braising, "cheating" a little with some tomato paste or other
> umami condiments here and there (like fish sauce or anchovies).  STAFFING
> with skilled and trustworthy cooks is a requirement on this.  The more
> talent you can get involved and prepared before "The Day" the better cooking
> will go on site.
>
> It won't be the funnest way I can think of to feed 200+ people, but if you
> do it, you will be a legend.  I stand with some of the other opinions before
> me that if you can make a strong stand and show how the guests will be given
> the short end of the stick, then maybe you can wrangle more financial
> support.  DO NOT spend your hard-earned money to prop up a potentially
> poorly executed venture by the Kingdom and Steward.  They get to make the
> calls, then they get to make the sacrifices to that end.  Find a way to do
> honorably to your guests, and if you find you simply cannot do so with the
> situation given, then it is admirable and honorable to let the people
> running it know you cannot.  Then let them find a sucker who'll play it
> their way.  You are a courageous woman to be taking this on and sticking in
> this far.We will just hope that the $750 is an advance for early purchasing.
>
> pacem et bonum,
> niccolo difrancesco
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 6:12 PM, Deborah Hammons
> <mistressaldyth at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I wish I had negotiated this one.  I was asked to cook, and after
> thinking a
> > day, said yes.  The event steward was waiting to hear what was going on
> with
> > the financials from Kingdom, because she had found a site, and needed the
> > deposits, etc.  In the beginning, she thought cooking for 300 was the
> plan.
> >  Well, the hall only seats 250, and that is in presentation mode.  The
> write
> > up says  I will feed 250 or how ever many paid reservations I have up to
> > that number by May 1.  I told them I needed $5 a head, and they delivered
> me
> > a check for $750 which covers feeding 150.
> > Aldyth
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