your opinion needed

[ppfuf]

I'm thinking of teaching a class on basic feast planning and organization at A&S, or maybe at the next West Coast Culinary Symposium. If you were thinking about volunteering to cook your first feast, what would you want to know?

Tentative class description: An in-depth discussion on the necessary steps to plan and execute an SCA feast. Topics will

Comments

[madbaker]

I usually tell my frozen chicken story...

[ppfuf]

The one starring the scientific freezer? That's a good one. Maybe I'll have an appendix of When Things Go Horribly Wrong stories in the class handout.
Or perhaps that example will go under Food Safety section.

[cvirtue]

Siobhan has a bunch of horror stories. Ask about the chickens and the kittybox.

I'd like to know how sca portion sizes differ from std catering eatimates

[ppfuf]

I was thinking of including a section on "portion control" in the section on budgeting. I've seen a lot of feasts where the cooks try to serve a full-size dinner in each course.

[ppfuf]

Great ideas. I usually start planning about 9 months in advance, with the menu complete at 3 months before. It could be shorter if the head cook was using pre-redacted recipes from friends or books.
I'll give some thought to easy back up dishes, hopefully we can think of some that are also cheap. The easy way to prep a last-minute feast is to throw money at the problem, but most groups don't have that luxury.

[ppfuf]

Yup, I've got a section on volunteers, as well as a warning on knowing exactly the scope of the job. Sometimes the autocrat gets a dishwasher for you and sometimes not.

[helblonde]

And servers, carvers, etc.: who's responsible for that end out of the business?

[ppfuf]

Good point! I've added servers/team garnish to the "know your scope" and "dealing w/ volunteers" section of the handout.

[j_i_m_r]

A&S and/or Collegium. I kinda think this is a bit elementary for the crowd you get at the Culinary Symposium ... but I could be wrong.

[ppfuf]

Sauenn accepted my class proposal for A&S, so it's be there. I might repeat it at Collegium 2013.
We did this class as a panel discussion some years ago. Can't put a finger on when, but Francisco took the class, so it must have been quite a while ago.

[madbaker]

Please send me your spreadsheet! I'd like to compare and overhaul my decade-out-of-date one - this would be extremely helpful.