The feast went well and consisted of the following:
1st - Vegetable soup, White mice, apples and pears, bread, and sweet cheese flan
2nd - compound salad, orange chicken, apple moye
3rd - mushroom pasties, beef steaks, and cherry pottage
The Shire along with Mike and Antina truly pitched in and helped GREATLY. I would have so fallen flat on my face with this if they hadn't all helped. It was only with their help that things went as well as they did. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to all those people!!! Forever I am in your debt. I must also commend Maredudd and Marion for getting everything cleaned up the next day before I returned to site.
Vegetable soup was cooked off site by Wellyn and heated on site. That was a HUGE load off my mind! Everyone pitched in to make some eggs and get them peeled so they just had to be decorated on site. I made the sweet cheese flans ahead and froze them and by feast they were thawed perfectly.
Compound salad being all fresh ingredients already cut just had to get assembled. We had bought roasted chickens and picked them up fresh just in time for the 2nd course then shredded them, dusted them with cinnamon and OJ and out they went. The apple moye was also made ahead and frozen but it hadn't quite thawed and I had been so busy during the day that I'd not had the chance to remove things from the cooler if they weren't thawing appropriately. We scooped the moye out of the big container into smaller containers and then threw them in the microwave quick to thaw while also keeping the big container over the somewhat warm dishwater in the hope that the steam would thaw it too. I think it was probably served a little too chilled and slightly frozen but it went out on time and not as one big icicle.
The last course was the most intensive as NONE of that work could really be done ahead of time. Mike and Antina undertook the cooking of the steaks and had them all done in time for the 3rd course (we started at the 1st) despite the fact they only had 2 small cook fires to take care of it. The mushroom pasties had also been done ahead and frozen but those HAVE to be served warm so we were warming them 6 at a time in the microwave which meant that when we had a steak and the correct number of pasties that platter hit the table rather than waiting for all the food to be done at one time and served at one time. This probably wasn't the best presentation and some people complained that the food was cold when it reached them but it was a cold evening and we were limited on what we could do and the platters were metal so that didn't help. The cherry pottage had also been done ahead and frozen but it was SERIOUSLY still frozen when we got to it during the 2nd course . . with mixing and some microwaving it warmed up enough to be served although I know it wasn't the "correct" serving temperature.
Their Majesties called the kitchen staff forward at the end of the feast and complimented us on serving so well and so tasty without the benefit of a proper kitchen. Her Majesty was quick to point out that His Majesty rarely eats much during feasts finding a lot of the food not ot his liking but she knew I had done well when he ate EVERYTHING on his plate. YES!!!!!! I was elated, thrilled, relieved! For my role as Feast-o-Crat I received an extremely nice star broach with celtic designs of a sort and green and black stones set in it. It is the perfect balance to wear on my opposite shoulder from my red scarf and academy braid and His Majesty complimented me on it the next day.
The shrewsberry cakes were put out for the ball but I'm not sure anyone knew they were there or they were all to busy enjoying the ball or too full from dinner because there was still quite a bit of them left the next day. That was disappointing because they were the most time consuming to make and I made enough for everyone on site to have some so there were a LOT of them. All told I think I made 4 batches of the recipe that Kallie gave me and they weighed a TON when moving them to site. Quite a few ended up in the garbage I'm afraid. Any of those that had not been open were given to shire members or anyone else who wanted to take them home.
When people had returned home and commended the event to the news lists there was compliments for the fare and the job well done. I consider this a feather in my cap. I planned and served a feast that was enjoyed at Raglan Castle without the benefit of a full kitchen. It was a lot of work on the forefront but it was well worth it. The amount of help I got to pull it all together brought tears to my eyes. Cherished memories!
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