servng-drinks-msg - 8/30/07
Serving drinks and beverages at SCA feasts.
NOTE: See also the files: Servng-Roylty-art, serving-soups-msg, feast-serving-msg, jugs-pitchrs-lnks, mazers-msg, beverages-NA-msg, jalabs-msg, Orng-Lmn-drks-art.
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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:23:26 -0400
From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On 6/29/07, Michelle LR <melbrigda at gmail.com> wrote:
> Has anyone come up with a good way to handle beverages so that the
> people are served, but not harassed and not neglected?
> --
> Mel.
Possibly divide the hall into sections and assign a couple of children to
each section. Then specify to them when talking with them prior to the
feast that they should only check at the beginning and end of each course,
perhaps. Finally, you might possibly have them ask folks if they want their
drinks refreshed and, if so, what kind of drink they want. That way, the
table will be visited only once. They could then go and retrieve the
requested liquids...
Kiri
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:58:22 -0400
From: "Barbara Benson" <voxeight at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On 6/29/07, Michelle LR <melbrigda at gmail.com> wrote:
> I need a little help in figuring out beverage service at feasts. In
> Meridies it seems the tradition is to have children serve beverages.
I personally do not subscribe to that particular tradition. Per
Kingdom Law children under the age of 12 must be supervised by a
responsible adult. In this part of the Kingdom, most of the children
are volunteered for drink service so that their parents do not have to
supervise them during feast because they want to enjoy feast.
That leaves the role of supervising adult to the Hall Steward - and
frankly, my hall stewards have waaay too much on their mind to
effectively supervise a passel of children.
My personal preferences in food service is to have enough adult
servers (who have attended a pre-feast server meeting) so that each
person handles one or two tables. They are responsible for all of the
food and drink service for their tables, and they are normally more
circumspect then the children in service.
The service of feast is/can be an art all on it's own, and children
rarely have the ability to understand the nuances of good service.
A tradition that some people (again in this part of the Kingdom) have
been trying to establish is having a separate Children's Feast that
has its' own cook and a menu more suited to children. It takes place
in a separate hall and is usually followed by some sort of activity to
fill up the time that feast occupies. I have even assisted in one that
the Head Cook was a pre-teen (13 years old) and several older children
helped with decorating their Hall and setting up the tables and
service.
What it comes down to is what you are trying to accomplish. If you, as
the head cook, are attempting to not only serve period food but serve
it in a period manner - you are well within your rights to have
restrictions on who you want to have perform said service. Especially
if you are attempting to use more period serving vessels (instead of
those horrid plastic pitchers). The drink vessels that I tend to use
are much to heavy for most children to safely handle - assuming most
feast goers do not want large pomegranate stains on their garb.
Glad Tidings,
Serena da Riva
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:18:04 -0400
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> I personally do not subscribe to that particular tradition. Per
> Kingdom Law children under the age of 12 must be supervised by a
> responsible adult. In this part of the Kingdom, most of the children
> are volunteered for drink service so that their parents do not have to
> supervise them during feast because they want to enjoy feast.
Interestingly, in our kingdom, I find kids volunteering on their own
because they find it interesting (and I think they like being able to
get up and roam around instead of 'sitting' through the feast). This
means that as you are getting ready to serve feast, whether or not you
have asked for servers, a certain number of kids come up and ask to help
serve.
We sometimes also ask for kids to volunteer, and they do. (Once
one does it, they all seem to follow suit...)
I've had good results with this, but different techniques work in
different situations.
In one case, where I had a lot of kids and a lot of adult servers (a
total of one server per table) I paired each kid with an adult server
and gave them 2 tables to serve. The only trouble was that the kids were
so eager, I had to literally stop them and make them take a break
between the 2nd and 3rd courses, lest the whole feast get served in less
than 30 minutes!
Most of the time, service at our feast is done in a one-from-each-table
way, so if there are a relatively small number of volunteers, we have
them do beverage service and bring the voiders/empty plates back.
When kids do beverage service (and I don't generally put them on
beverage service untill they are a certain height), it's done by having
pitchers on the tables and water coolers with the drinks at the back of
the hall. I know it's not period to have pitchers on the tables, but
it does work. Then the kid can *see* whether the pitcher needs
refilling, asks for it, and asks what you want in it.
Another thing you can do with kids is have them offer handwashing before
the feast, if you've got at least one for every table and a good mix of
heights, so one can carry the basin and one the ewer-- if you've got
more, one can carry the towels. They seem to love this, and it doesn't
take long to teach.
-- Jadwiga
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:34:26 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <edoard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Jun 29, 2007, at 9:03 AM, Michelle LR wrote:
> Has anyone come up with a good way to handle beverages so that the
> people are served, but not harassed and not neglected?
Several events back I bought a few cases of empty wine bottles. I
have the people in charge of beverages fill them and leave them on
the table. When they're empty they get swapped out for full ones and
refilled. The populous seems to like this approach, and it's cheaper
and nicer looking than plastic pitchers.
- Doc
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:39:26 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Daniel Myers wrote:
> Several events back I bought a few cases of empty wine bottles. I
> have the people in charge of beverages fill them and leave them on
> the table. When they're empty they get swapped out for full ones and
> refilled. The populous seems to like this approach, and it's cheaper
> and nicer looking than plastic pitchers.
>
> - Doc
If you use bottles, I'd suggest making sure that they can be easily refilled.
One of the feasts that I helped with a few years back had decorated glass bottles of varying sizes. Some refilled easily; others didn't fit under the
faucets or filled very slowly due to narrow necks. Pretty but impractical for a long feast with a number of tables. Also a number of them didn't hold more than just a pint of water which meant one couldn't refill a table from one bottle.
It was a drawback that the head cook hadn't anticipated when she counted out and did one bottle per table. BYOB had been discouraged since it was a school, so most people needed drinks.
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:42:05 -0400
From: chawkswrth at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Yes, it does get interesting when there is a lisping chirp from
somewhere around your elbow;
"Pardon me, MiLady, would you like some water?"
We have a team of teens who have informed us that they WILL serve,
and they have no problem with teaching the next generation how to do it.
I would suggest doing the same-recruit your Teens! Team them with
the enthusiastic younglings, but put a limit on the age and size of
the children. I would suggest, given the maturity of your usual SCA
child, starting at 8/second grade.
And certainly put the teens under the Hall Steward.
Helen
Another Meridian
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:27:30 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Service at Feasts
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
If you use bottles, I'd suggest making sure that they can be easily
refilled. One of the feasts that I helped with a few years back had decorated
glass bottles of varying sizes. Some refilled easily; others didn't fit under the faucets or filled very slowly due to narrow necks. Pretty but impractical
for a long feast with a number of tables. > > > >
An appropriate fitting (or the aforementioned faucet) with a nipple on it,
to which is attached some nylon tubing with a clamp . . . you are in
business regardless of bottle size. Drop tube into bottle, and fill.
Remove tube to got to next bottle. Long tube gives you some flexibility to
move to tables and other distances. Put a Y fitting, and you can have water
at faucet as well as to the tubing. I did this for brewing for several
years, and loved the performance of the really simple and inexpensive
tool.
niccolo difrancesco
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:15:51 EDT
From: Sandragood at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Kids and beverage service
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
I would have to agree with assigning tables. That is how I have handled my
feasts. Speak to them as a group before you send them out to the hall.
Explain the courtesies of waiting on tables, even for beverages. Explain as
someone suggested that they check at the end of the course. If you have some
little ones (6-7) pair them up with an older child. This way they can still
experience the serving but more in a mentored capacity.
In Gleann Abhann many children volunteer on their own. Sometimes they are
encouraged by their parents, but we also have a Page School that requires
service hours. This is a simple way for them to gain their service hours and
still be in the proximity (sight or sound) of their parents.
And yes, it does give some parents a break, but it also teaches children
responsibility and service. It's kind of like me making my older two children
make lunch for their younger siblings. It relieves me of the burden but at
the same time it teaches responsibility, cooperation, and a life lesson of
providing for themselves and others.
THL Elizabeth Donnan
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 10:46:38 -0400
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beverage Thanks
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> I like the idea of the children refilling vessels on the table and will look
> around and see what I can come up with that is better than plastic
> pitchers.
You may want to start with plastic pitchers from the dollar store, and
work up to 2-quart beer pitchers-- usually $3-5 at restaurant supply
stores. My experience is that you don't want glass or ceramic in local
group equipment if you can help it, and affordable metal pitchers I've
found seem to all give off a tang.
--
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
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