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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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.

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    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>