Feasts are your friend!

So many times when I go to SCA events I hear the same (sad...) things.

"We don't go to feast because...."

• "I hate medieval food, it tastes gross."
• "We always leave the feast hungry and have to go eat at after, so why bother?"
• "It takes too long to get our food."

Sadly, I have to agree that sometimes, the above scenarios are true.  I've been to feasts where the food was horrible, we left hungry, and it took *way* too long to get our food and the kids (and we!) were restless and ready to just GO well before the end of the feast.  (Recently my 11 yr old took a bite of soup at an event, and looked at me, and whispered, "Mommy, the soup has no flavour!"  Unfortunately, she was right.  Fortunately, her "Courtly Graces" are enough entrenched that she didn't make a scene and simply opted to quietly not finish the soup...)

I love cooking.  I love feeding people even more.  Until I started dancing in the SCA, cooking was my first love.  I also believe that a feast (really, ANY meal... but especially a feast) should be a communal and enjoyable experience for the participants.  It's not just a cafeteria (or a "Lunch Tavern") where you grab something to eat, scarf it down and move on to your next activity.  The feast (whether it's a "Peasant's Supper" or "High Feast for The Crown") adds a wonderful layer to the historical reenactment experience!  I mean... people DID eat back in the old days... and it wasn't at a burger joint!

I also believe that the process of getting the food to the table should be ~as exciting~ and interesting and enjoyable as the meal itself.  I enjoy learning new recipes... adjusting, modifying, or just completely turning a recipe inside out.  There something very satisfying about sitting around a table with three or four of your closest friends with your arms in a bowl of ground meat and miscellaneous ingredients up to your elbows and reconnecting while you work on a recipe together.  There's something ~magical~ about watching children learn how bread is made, or butter, or.... (What?  Kids in the kitchen?!  Oh yes!  Absolutely!)

So let's explore ways to make feasts fun!  After all, there's nothing quite as exhilarating to a cook to hear somebody say "This is the best feast I've been to in the 25 years I've been in the SCA!" or "This is my first feast, and it was AWESOME!"