Belegarth

Gamhain, we all appreciate your efforts to salvage the **** paln that was the feast. You did your best and made food that was not aweful and was safe to eat. 2 things that several feasts I have been at were NOT. You did fine.
The blame for this falls SQUARELY on the event co-ordinators and their planning ability.
For instance;

There were a number of factors contributing to the suckiness that was the Yestare XI feast, not least being the fact that I have never cooked for so large a group before.

Initially, I was only going to be assisting with feast, but the responsibility for fully running it sort of fell into my lap pretty late in the game.

Your should not have been asked to make the feast, this being the case.

We had originally planned to have a marinated beef main course with the "cauliflower prison soup" and twisty bread as side dishes. We found out from our other cook pretty much the DAY BEFORE that we weren't going to have the meat dish, and the cook who was making the twisty bread had the flu.

What the ****? So did this other feast cooker steal the money for the beef? Who was this person, so that we may kill them for stealing. I fail to see how any person can just decide that there will be no meat if meat was paid for. If the meat was not paid for, why the **** not? Was it suposed to be a free favor from a friend? That is MORE **** up. You do not lay the dinner of 100 paying people on freebie favors that can be cancelled. There is MORE than enough money from troll to pay for the feast.

My recomendation for everyone everywhere is to have feasts catered, or just buy the COOKED food someplace and bring it(like we do with freid chicken at Sam Hain). Trying to save money by having a Bel person cook a feast is a farce, and unnecesary. Funky food cood in quasi-sanitary conditions is just dumb in lieu of good hot food from a business for esentialy the same price.
Don't try saying you cant afford it. We all know how much an event like Yestare takes in. Every penny of that should go into running next year, thus there is allways money for the feast.
FB

For a first time person to be the main feast cook is crazy, you should always assist someone your first time cooking for this many people. That way you can see what it takes, and plan when it is your turn to be the head chef! You did fine with what you had, and there was at least enough for everyone, thats important.

Here, here!
It can not be said enough, Gamhain, you did a good job with what you had. Thank you very much for your efforts.
FB

For a first time person to be the main feast cook is crazy, you should always assist someone your first time cooking for this many people. That way you can see what it takes, and plan when it is your turn to be the head chef! You did fine with what you had, and there was at least enough for everyone, thats important.

Sometimes the only person who steps forward is a first time feast cook. It's hard work and we all appreciate that it is not a job most of us would want to take. It could be for this event they really didn't have any other choice.

That is my point. When that many people show up and pay $15 each, the site cost are low as hell and you don't have an experienced feast cook, you just go out and buy food.
Seems to me there were about 100 people there. That's $1500. The site cost $100.
FB

Forkbeard wrote:What the ****? So did this other feast cooker steal the money for the beef? Who was this person, so that we may kill them for stealing. I fail to see how any person can just decide that there will be no meat if meat was paid for. If the meat was not paid for, why the **** not? Was it suposed to be a free favor from a friend? That is MORE **** up. You do not lay the dinner of 100 paying people on freebie favors that can be cancelled.

The way Yestare feast has been done (at least this year, not sure about the past) was that the cooks pay for the feast out-of-pocket and then get reimbursed by the event coordinators. From what I understand, the "other cook" who shall remain nameless for his/her own safety (hungry Belegrim are quick to become rabid lynch mobs) apparently came into some financial difficulties and informed me a day before the event that he/she would not be making the meat.

Sh*t happens, and the best laid plans of mice and hobbits go often awry. Ours were obviously not best-laid plans, and a bunch of stuff sort of fell apart last-minute. I don't really think we should hold anyone personally responsible, but we will definitely use this as a learning experience for future events.

If I ever make feast again I will make sure not to place any responsibility for planning or delivery in anyone else's hands, so that no one can flake out, and any problems will be my fault alone... and my fiance wonders why I'm a control freak when I cook.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who showed up and for not holding the fail-feast against me. It was definitely a learning experience (both feast and the Bardic contest) and I now know better what to do and what not to to do.

Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Fhirren of the Forsaken, without whom no Yestare feast would EVER happen. Not even Cauliflower Prison Soup

Why isn't the money from the event last year used to pay for this years feast ahead of time? Thats alot of troll money. Where does it go?
FB

As I think on it, the Ft Buena Ventura site IS a money Hemoage machine, with all of their extra fees and ****. That's why we're not going to use it this year either.
I think it cost us about 450 or 500 after paying them for the **** firewood and extra camp spots for the late comers.
But this year you guys should be doing well, I hope you save the bread to put on the show next year. Horati, I'm talking to you here.
FB

You are correct on that Fork. The FT. cost about 500-550.

I'm going to try one more time with those guys. If they'll let us camp on the grass around next to the pond AND shoot arrows for $350, no extra *, we'll do it there. But otherwise, we'll be at Crystal Springs, too. $100 is just too good a deal. Was that really all it cost, in the end?
FB

Money from last year was not enough to cover feast and site and all the other things prior to the event.

$100 for that site....... and no insurance?

Too bad WoR is in the winter

I've never been asked if we have insurance. I tell people that we are just a group of freinds who are having a sword fighting get together. Since it's not really open to the public, only sword fighters are invited. With means its a private party with games and ****, like a large family reunion. Nobody make a family reunion get insurance.
FB

Yes, 100$ was the cost of the site. I do apologize again for the feast shenanigans. I was never consulted on who was going to do feast after the initial person let it fall, I was told that Gamhain, was going to do it. So, we just rolled with it. This was a great learning experience for me and after reading many of the comments, we are setting things in motion for next year to make things much much better.