fun browsing through old recipes

So, since I've had a lot of downtime at work lately (ugh! I hate being bored from lack of work), I've been catching up on a few things and starting to plan for upcoming events and the like. Which means....drumroll...I am back to browsing through my historical cook books for recipe inspiration for my next event.

=)

As my next event is Moorpark, and as a group Oak Street is getting larger (by the minute it sometimes seems), and as I still do not have any dedicated "kitchen staff" to help me run the kitchen of the Inn full time, I'm back to doing 2 simple 'community' mid-day meals for the weekend: Stew! Good thing everyone likes my stew(s)! They are quite tasty, if I do say so myself. :-D I'll most likely end up doing a chicken stew one day and a beef stew the other day. Moorpark tends to be a cold event, so a warm meal each day will be a treat. (Last year it was drizzling/raining on us all Sunday morning, and we were SO wishing we had something warm to eat!)

And as I am only concentrating on 2 community meals, which have pretty simple prep and just need to be checked on and stirred once in a while while cooking (although the fire/coals need to be checked a bit more often to make sure those are still burning/glowing brightly), this means I can actually take some time at this event to do some 'for fun' cooking as my cooking demonstrations going on throughout the day. (Not that I want to be next to the fire/in the kitchen *all* day...but I'd like to try out a few new recipes and cooking techniques on a small scale at a cool temperature event while I can! =). My 'for fun' cooking would be Saturday's Breakfast & Supper and Sunday's Breakfast...and it would only be for 3-4 people (including myself).

I was going back and forth between a few recipes, but I believe I've finally decided upon what I want to cook for supper on Saturday.

Minced Meat, served on warm toast, and
Baked Potatoes (in their jackets)

(I haven't decided what vegetable to serve with it yet. Perhaps a winter squash? But anyways, I still have time to decide).

The other recipes that were up for consideration:
*Meat Pies (probably beef)
*Chicken Fricassee (either Brown or White)
and
*Salt Pork & Apples (which also includes potatoes in the recipe).

All would be interesting to cook on site, and in my cast iron (dutch ovens & skillets).

For breakfasts, I'm going to be pretty simple (since I will be getting up early, in the cold, to get the fire started so that we can all have hot coffee or tea...or even hot chocolate. =). This year I'd like to warm up some biscuits and do a quick gravy, so we (Lana, Jenn & I) can have something warm to eat (and not buy from the vendors on site). Otherwise, we'll be having the usual fare of hardboiled eggs, cottage cheese, and some cut mellon. (Generally we need a quick and easy breakfast since we have to get ready for the day before the spectators arrive, etc.).

Well, that's it for now. Must get back to my other work.
Later!
=)