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frugal-feasts-msg - 10/29/16

 

Saving money when cooking SCA feasts.

 

NOTE: See also the files: bread-for-fsts-msg, feasts-msg, Food-Safety-art, Fst-Managemnt-art, game-4-feasts-msg, HC-butchers-art, pot-luck-fsts-msg, Run-a-Feast-art.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:36:28 -0400

From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Our biggest saving came from locating a supplier who sells to restaurants,

etc.  In our case, it's Restaurant Depot <http://www.restaurantdepot.com>...and

they have stores in many locations throughout the country.  It is a place

where, because they sell in quantity, the prices are very reasonable.  For

my feast I just finished, I got deals like boneless, skinless chicken breasts

for $1.27/lb and boneless leg of lamb, a great deal as I didn't have to deal

with bone or silver skin, for several dollars per pound cheaper than bone-in

was in a regular grocery store.

 

We have also stopped buying all of the herbs and spices we need for an

event.  Instead what I do is to use my own, especially for those dishes that

require small quantities.  If the dish requires a large quantity, I will use

my own stock, replacing it by purchasing the like amount from the feast

budget.  What this does is to make sure that there are no spices or herbs

that are kept by the Barony from year to year, becoming less and less potent

until we have to throw them out and buy new ones.

 

Also, I am being more careful about calculating how much of each dish to

make.  I'm cutting back on quantities, especially those things that I think

might not be as popular as others.

 

Kiri

 

On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 12:44 PM, Sharon Gordon <gordonse at one.net>  

wrote:

> With the rising costs of foods, it will be more helpful than ever to

> strettttttttch the feast dollar/euro.  What are your favorite tips for

> getting the most out of your feast allotment?

> Here's a few to start:

> 1) Make your own broth from suitable feast ingredients-appropriate

> bone/skin/fat/peels.

> 2) Cut up meat rather than serving whole pieces on the bone--eg  

> pasties vs baked chicken breasts.

> 3) Use seasonal ingredients.  Or buy ingredients in season and freeze

> until feast time.

> 4) Ask multiple barony members to garden for feast.  Even small herb

> gardens can save a significant amount.

> 5) Develop local skills so that more food can be made from scratch  

> such as bread.

> Sharon

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:54:32 -0500 (CDT)

From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

1. Shop at discount stores. You must know what stores are likely to have

what before you start.

 

2. Plan 2 or more alternative seasonal vegtables so you can use the one

which you find at the best price/quality

 

3. Bulk buy-- case prices can be significantly cheaper.

 

4. Resell/split overages from bulk buying, either to another group/event

or to local cooks.

 

5. Make drink syrups instead of using drink mixes.

 

6. Peas and lentils are still inexpensive in relative terms. So are favas.

Try dishes with these ingredients. If you have to offer a vegetarian and

non-vegetarian version, it's still worth it.

 

7. Grains, especially specialty grains, are underused. Try barley, millet,

barley groats, buckwheat etc. Use them with AT least a homemade vegetarian

stock, or make one pot vegetarian and the rest meat, and serve your meat

ON the meat stock grain.

 

8. Make stews rather than roasts. Leg quarters are the cheapest part of

the chicken.

 

9. A Gallon can of pomace olive oil from the Middle Eastern or Hispanic

grocery is still cheaper than 2 quarts from the regular grocery.

 

10. Skimp on the dessert. A dessert served buffet style is completely

documentable for the end of our time period, and can be used to lure

people away from tables.

 

11. Greens and salads are still inexpensive. Plan a half head of lettuce

or equivalent for each table-- mixing lettuce, spinach and spring mix

makes a great salad, and dressed with kosher salt, cheap red wine  

vinegar and pomace oil, goes over really well.

--

-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:12:35 -0400

From: "Cassandra Baldassano" <euriol at ptd.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Seek donations from local stores... they will often give a gift card  

that you can use to supplement the income from those purchasing feast  

tickets.

 

Euriol of Lothian, OP

Minister of Arts & Sciences, Barony of Endless Hills

Clerk, Order of the Pelican, Kingdom of AEthelmearc

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:41:09 -0400

From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

> Seek donations from local stores... they will often give a gift card that

> you can use to supplement the income from those purchasing feast tickets.

> Euriol of Lothian, OP

 

To add onto this...bakeries may be willing to donate day-old breads.  I

believe Panera has been known to do this.

 

Kiri

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:41:50 -0700

From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lowest Cost for a reasonably festive feast &

        a camping event meal ?

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

aldyth at aol.com wrote:

> In case anyone was thinking that food stamps is a viable  

> alternative to buying feast food, it isn't legal. And you cannot  

> reimburse someone who did buy something for feast with food  

> stamps. How about posting the items that you can actually buy with  

> food stamps so we know what consumables we are looking at.

> Aldyth

 

You're right- you can't reimburse someone who bought things with food

stamps, and they aren't supposed to buy food for anyone but themselves.

Now I'm not going to stand at the checkout and ask who you're buying

food for, but...

 

(And you can buy food with them, but not paper products, beer and wine,

cigarettes, or prepared food like deli sandwiches, etc.)

 

'Lainie, who's been there

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:46:16 -0500 (CDT)

From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

> 1) Make your own broth from suitable feast ingredients-appropriate

> bone/skin/fat/peels.

 

Curiously, we use paste 'base' at home and for feasts. At $5.99-$7.99 a

pint, and only a few spoonfuls needed to make the difference between

veggies in water and soup, we find it saves us significant cost in  making

soups and stews for lunches. A pint lasts us about a half year! We get

Minor's Chicken and Beef base from B.J.'s; I need to find a source for

Minor's ham flavor.

 

I collect ham bones for stock from events we've done and use it for soup.

If you cook the ham for the dayboard ahead of time, you can cut it off the

bone. Dump the bones in water in a crockpot overnight and you get amazing

soup base for something like pea or lentil soup. I float some ham cubes or

pork neck bones, which are very cheap, in the soup to make it clear it's a

meat dish.

 

I'd suggest that making your own vegetable broth is really the only way to

go for SCA purposes: i've not found a vegetable broth that completely

avoids tomato, pepper, and/or potato.

--

-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

 

 

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:46:49 +1200

From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:

>> 1) Make your own broth from suitable feast ingredients-appropriate

>> bone/skin/fat/peels.

> Curiously, we use paste 'base' at home and for feasts. At $5.99- $7.99 a

> pint, and only a few spoonfuls needed to make the difference between

> veggies in water and soup, we find it saves us significant cost in making

> soups and stews for lunches. A pint lasts us about a half year! We get

> Minor's Chicken and Beef base from B.J.'s; I need to find a source for

> Minor's ham flavor.

 

Confietor.  I hate making stock.  I don't have the equipment to make

more than about 6 litres at a time, and a feast can use 20-40l easily.

I buy it from a place that makes high-quality stock mainly for

restaurant supply. It comes in 5l packs at around $2.30 per litre.

 

Feast budget tips.

1. Choose meats with care.  A good butcher can help you with

availability, suitable cuts, minimising waste, etc.  When roasting,

remember that one large cut has less waste than several small ones.

2. Shop around, but not too much.  Look for lower prices at different

suppliers, but also plan your shopping carefully so that your savings on

food isn't cancelled out by your expenditure on petrol.

3. Avoid convenience foods that aren't. Pre-rolled pastry is my number

one bugbear for being expensive and not all that good, but there are

others.

4. Use seasonable foods.

5. Avoid false economy.  Two examples:

--I've seen a cook buy the absolute cheapest minced meat available for

meatballs.  It seemed like a good idea, until the meatballs were

cooked-- they were a lot smaller after all that fat melted away.

--Also, I've seen more than one cook make so many changes to a dish that

it just wasn't tasty anymore-- and no-one ate it, so it all went to waste.

6. Investigate catering/restaurant suppliers.  I used to imagine that

they wouldn't be terribly interested in small single orders-- then I

started getting touch with them and found out that they're usually very

friendly to small customers who take the time to seek them out.

7. Portion carefully to avoid waste.

8. Say no to bad kitchens.

--

Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

 

 

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:59:09 -0400

From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

--On Monday, April 28, 2008 11:46 AM +1200 Antonia Calvo

<ladyadele at paradise.net.nz> wrote:

> jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:

>>> 1) Make your own broth from suitable feast ingredients-appropriate

>>> bone/skin/fat/peels.

>> 

>> Curiously, we use paste 'base' at home and for feasts. At $5.99- $7.99 a

>> pint, and only a few spoonfuls needed to make the difference between

>> veggies in water and soup, we find it saves us significant cost in making

>> soups and stews for lunches. A pint lasts us about a half year! We get

>> Minor's Chicken and Beef base from B.J.'s; I need to find a source for

>> Minor's ham flavor.

> Confietor.  I hate making stock.  I don't have the equipment to make

> more than about 6 litres at a time, and a feast can use 20-40l easily.

> I buy it from a place that makes high-quality stock mainly for

> restaurant supply. It comes in 5l packs at around $2.30 per litre.

 

I would alter 1 -- don't buy broth when you have it available -- if you are

boiling chicken anyhow, don't waste the broth.  I'm always amazed when

cooks don't reuse stuff like this, or plan for reuse.

 

A couple I haven't seen -- keep a really close eye on the sales flyers, and

know the average prices in your area.  In this area, good quality meat of

various sorts can almost always be had within a week or two of an event for

<$2 per pound.

 

One that goes with the restaurant depot is see if you can get it wholesale.

Remember that sometimes 30lbs/20 lbs wholesale will cost less than getting

the 10 lbs (which may be all you really need) retail.

 

toodles, margaret

 

 

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:29:16 -0400

From: "Kerri Martinsen" <kerrimart at mindspring.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Both Panara Bread & Atlanta Bread company allow Non-Profits to come in at

closing to pick up the leftovers from the day.  You have to talk to the

manager and get on the schedule.  I came away with 1 box of "breakfast

breads" and 12 loaves of assorted breads from 1 day.

 

We sliced them up and made "variety baskets" for the feast.  It  

worked out quite well.

 

Vitha

 

On 4/27/08, Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com> wrote:

> To add onto this...bakeries may be willing to donate day-old  

> breads.  I believe Panera has been known to do this.

> Kiri

 

 

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:44:48 -0400

From: "Kerri Martinsen" <kerrimart at mindspring.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

To add a couple more:

 

1) Make friends with your favorite grocery store employees.

Talk to your grocery meat/ seafood/ produce managers. Explain what  

you are doing and the quantity you need.

 

I just got Sea Bass for $9/lb instead of the list $19/lb because I went and

talked to the manager and said I needed 15 lbs (4 full filets).  I got them

frozen as they arrive at the store and thawed/portioned them myself.  The

fish was better than if I would have purchased pre-thawed from them and was

less work for the store.

 

2) Portion control - can't stress that enough.  I always cook a "test feast"

before I cook for the masses.  I hold a dinner party, usually of the folks

that will be helping me, and cook the whole feast for "1 table".  I can see

how dishes work together, what doesn't work, how much, etc.  The diners get

to try everything that they probaby won't get to eat as they will be

working.  They get to see how I would like it to be plated.

 

3) Try making your own pasta...come on...it won't hurt :)

 

Vitha

*I just finished a feast for $7/head: Starter, 3 meats, cheese course &

dessert - underbudget. (Including the sea bass)

 

 

Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:24:50 +1200

From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lowest Cost for a reasonably festive feast &

        acamping event meal ?

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

jwills47933 at aol.com wrote:

> I think the best way to save some money is do as much of the  

> preparation as possible yourself. No prepared foods like pie  

> crusts and bread.  That is how I do it.

 

Yup.  I don't always do bread (I do do it often), but I think bought

pastry is probably the biggest waste of money possible.   It's not

_that_ much more convenient, and frequently, it's kind of yucky as well.

--

Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

 

 

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:01:07 -0500 (CDT)

From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

>> Both Panara Bread & Atlanta Bread company allow Non-Profits to come in at

>> closing to pick up the leftovers from the day. You have to talk to the

>> manager and get on the schedule.  I came away with 1 box of "breakfast

>> breads" and 12 loaves of assorted breads from 1 day.

>> 

>> We sliced them up and made "variety baskets" for the feast.  It worked

>> out quite well.

> I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable doing that.  I mean, we're  

> putting on recreational activities, not feeding the needy.

 

I would agree with you, if we were competing with a group that would get

the bread to feed the needy. However, there are many areas in the U.S.

where cooked food, even bread, can't be donated to the local food pantries

and shelters. If that's the case, then you are taking food out of no-one's

mouth, you're just keeping bread from going to waste.

--

-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

 

 

Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:09:08 -0500 (CDT)

From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lowest Cost for a reasonably festive feast &

        acamping event meal ?

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

> Yup.  I don't always do bread (I do do it often), but I think bought

> pastry is probably the biggest waste of money possible.   It's not

> _that_ much more convenient, and frequently, it's kind of yucky as  

> well.

 

I think it depends, a little, on what kind of pastry crew you've got,  

and what your resources are for cheap pastry.

 

Every time I've done pastry for an event, I've bought the frozen pastry,

but at discount stores. Usually, with clever pre-shopping, I can 2-3

packages of 2 pie shells for $1, which can be cheaper than buying the pie

shells themselves. Every time I've done a covered pie, I've been able to

buy the rolled pastry for 2 packages for $1 (25 cents a piece).  That's the

only thing that's made it possible for this pastry-phobic cook to do pies

at all. If I can't get pre-made pie shells, I will probably beg my mom to

do the pie shells. Hers are rather heavy, but she always is willing to

help. Otherwise, there will be no pie.

 

We have a few people in our kingdom who delight in making pie crusts, but

I'm definitely not one of them, and I'm loathe to impose on them. I've

been in kitchen where we made the pie crusts on site, or even someone

brought the pie crusts pre-made from home and we worked with them,  

and to me it's a lot of work for a lot of staff.

--

-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

 

 

Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:38:40 +1200

From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lowest Cost for a reasonably festive feast &

        acamping event meal ?

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:

> We have a few people in our kingdom who delight in making pie crusts, but

> I'm definitely not one of them, and I'm loathe to impose on them. I've

> been in kitchen where we made the pie crusts on site, or even someone

> brought the pie crusts pre-made from home and we worked with them, and to

> me it's a lot of work for a lot of staff.

 

I don't exactly delight in it, but I will usually bite the bullet  and

do it.  I make hot-water pastry, which is easy to handle, then pre-roll

and freeze flat.  Then at the event I thaw the pastry and put into pie

tins.  Total time on the day = about 5 min per crust.

 

(and I can't buy pastry at anything like 2 shells for $1-- it's more

like 80c per sheet of pastry, and more if I want foil tins.  That's a

lot of money out of a sub-$10/head budget)

--

Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

 

 

Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:50:52 +1200

From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 100 tips for Frugal Feasts

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Locally we've had someone raise quail? for a feast. We also have had

> venison donated for a feast. Unfortunately, in that case, the venison

> became venison stew because the hunters weren't quite as lucky (or

> good?) as they said they would be. :-)

 

We've variously had venison, boar, goat, mallard, Paradise duck, swan,

salmon...

--

Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

 

<the end>



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