Emma M and Tom Y are coordinating and Jesse (Emma's mum) is also going help out with the cooking!   They all have had lots of experience nourishing large groups of people!   And Laura might help out with baking some goodies!  Yay!  This page is for you guys to use!

By April 9th, we'll have ratios worked out from the menus. 
By April 16th, we'll have recipe amounts on the wiki
                        contact Laura about baked goods and ingredients
                        firm up cooking party kitchens
                        work on cooking schedule on the wiki
                        compose an email requesting help and things on wishlist

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Summary of the cooking supplies we have gathered thus far:

items provided by Sasha C at Cafe Vert:
1 hot water urn
2 4lt buckets
4 1 gallon buckets
2 wash basins
2 packs bio-renewable knives
" spoons
" forks
50 recyclable cups
80 bio-renewable bowls
1 large slow cooker
4 small serving trays
6 round serving trays
1 metal platter
1 metal serving spoon

Items available through Tom and Emma:
food processer (Tom; Emma)
Chef’s Knives (Tom 2; Emma 2)
lemon juicer (Tom; Emma)
large cookie sheets, trays (Tom 2)
large cooking pots (Emma 2; Tom 1)
Large bowls for salad (Emma 3; Tom 2)
serving spoons (Emma 3; Tom 3)
Pressure cooker (Tom)

Items available through others that need to be dropped off at Sunday Jam May 10th and picked up by Emma (Emma is sending reminder to others who have offered supplies):
Large serving bowls for salads
many tea eggs
several rice cookers
pressure cookers
serving spoons
large plastic buckets
Slow cookers



___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Notes from meeting on April 12:

A number of people may have kitchens for us:  Michael; David.  Tanya will contact Joshua.  Laura (the baker) lives with Joshua.  Eroca says the Dufferin Grove kitchen might be available early in the week (but I'm not in town then). 
 

Wish list:
Michael has a car we can use.
Tanya may have some large pots - depending on whether someone can drive them in. 
Michael, Tanya and Miro all have crock pots/ slow cookers.
Tanya and Miro have rice cookers.
Yves and I have pressure cookers. 
John N has 4 pails (20 litres) and 1 pail (16 litres)
Jesse has 2 large metal serving bowls
Jesse has 5 platters, plastic


We were going to suggest that all the stuff be in by the Sunday before the regional Jam.  (I won't be in town to receive though). 

It was suggested we check with Andy about the electric capacity, if we are going to use a lot of appliances. 

Sources for food:
We like the idea of going with Organic, but set a tentative 50% threshold for amount we are willing to pay above regular.  Though we also discussed which products are most toxic. 
We should check in with farmers at the local farmers markets, esp. Dufferin Grove on Thursdays.  Plan B is a big supplier.
Miro has good supplies of local organic, biodynamic or Amish produced products:  grains, eggs and unpasteurized milk -- at good prices. 

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Wish list for food at Jam:
hotplate
hot water urn (we are assuming we are only making tea, not coffee.)
fridge space (we have 2 shelves on third floor fridge -- need more). 
large storage containers -- food service size -- John N has 4 pails (20 litres) and 1 pail (16 litres)
large cooking pots to borrow
serving bowls very large --
cars (and drivers) to transport food

Stuff to purchase or borrow:
cutlery  (ideas for non-disposable?)
dishes  -- bowls AND plates?   (we are considering serving soup onSaturday night as well as solid food.  Does this unnecessarilycomplicate things?)
mugs/cups (again, do we want to go non-disposable?)
         suggestion to bring our own dishes.  Set up a wash station.  

Recipe Amounts
Cooking Schedule

Menu 

Breakfasts (2):
- fruit, whatever is cheapest.  In Ontario this might mean strawberries.  Dried fruits maybe.
- yogourt, regular milk, soy milk or almond milk.  (tetra pack doesn't need refrigeration)
- granola (definitely home made) -- Emma
- bread,
- bagels?  (see if we can get a Montrealer to bring them)
- jam
-  rhubarb mush with honey -- Tom
- "nut butters"  These keep well, look for cheap sources of nuts we can blenderize
- Laura said she'd do some baking (muffins...?)

Lunches (2):
- hummos, or its friend caponata, which has roasted red peppers blended into it.  Tom
 - pita around them
- grated carrot salad, with lemon and black mustard seed -- Tom
- tabouleh salad (spring mint!) -- Emma
- green bean salad with kidney beans and tarragon -- Emma
- green salad with fresh local spinach and lettuce? -- Tom
- black olive tapenade (capers).  -- Emma

-[ "veggie pate", as in, broccoli and mushroomloaf?  Spinach and tofu?  Kinda pricey but easy to make lots of andserve with rice crackers or pita bread or whatever. ] -- put on hold
- raw vegetables and fruits:  like carrots, tiny apples.  In May there should be plentiful baby lettuce and spinach leaves. 
- some sort of carbs  (chips?  crackers?  bread?  sweet baked goods)


Dinners
- brown rice and plenty of it!  Cooked, kept warm over steam on the stove.
-Spring ragout:  spring peas, asparagus, bean sprouts, kale, stretchedwith dried beans, like chick peas and lentils, and potatoes, with lotsof fresh herbs.  Cook the dried beans separately, combine just beforeserving, it's quick. -- Emma and Jesse
- Huge pot 'o soup.  Tomato Lentil Squash with curry seasoning.  [or pea soup with spinachand mint.  Could be carrot and lentil.]    -- Tom
- Greek salad:  Romaine,cuke, tomato, green peppers, celery, feta, green onions, black olives,oregano, red wine vini, easy for a crowd. -- Tom
- potato salad with red onions and mustard vinaigrette. - Emma
dessert -- Laura?

Snacks:
leave things out from lunches and breakfasts.
fruit. 
one dip and some raw veggies for Friday night snack. 

Beverages:
hot teas --
iced herbal fruit tea with juice. 

Emma's original ideas (I've tried to incorporate these into Jesse's menu above   -Tom)
Friday: snack (pitas, crackers, hummus, dips of various kinds...fruit, baked goods), beverages - tea, juice, water

Saturday:breakfast:granola or cereal with soy rice or almond milk and regualr dairyprovided.  Was thinking the soy, rice and almond would be home-made,apparently this is easy to do and cheaper.  Maybe muffins?
Lunch - pitas, crackers, dips, salad-y things, beverages available
Dinner- the only hot meal served - something simple and vegetarian - brownrice, a stewy vegetable bean thing, salads, maybe a soup, bread.

Sunday:breakfast similar to the above

Snacks and beverages need to be provided throughout - snacks like chips, pitas, dips, baked goods, fruit...
beverages - juice, teas (herbal and caffeinated) and water

Ideas that we are not going with:
- wok fried veggies?  Broccoli, garlic,chilis?  Served on this same rice.  Maybe a hit of wheat berries orquinoa in the rice?  Tempeh cubes?
Either way, the sauce isimportant:  mushrooms, tamari, cornstarch, vegetable stock.  HOT, sinceeverything else might be getting cool.
        Tom:  This sounds like it would be hard to do on the spot.  I would think something that can be reheated easily would be easier. 
- baba ghanou -- might be too difficult to make? 

Some general ideas so far from Emma (Tom, Laura, and Jesse feel free to edit and add):

Friday: snack (pitas, crackers, hummus, dips of various kinds...fruit, baked goods), beverages - tea, juice, water

Saturday:breakfast: granola or cereal with soy rice or almond milk and regualr dairy provided.  Was thinking the soy, rice and almond would be home-made, apparently this is easy to do and cheaper.  Maybe muffins?
Lunch - pitas, crackers, dips, salad-y things, beverages available
Dinner - the only hot meal served - something simple and vegetarian - brown rice, a stewy vegetable bean thing, salads, maybe a soup, bread.

Sunday:breakfast similar to the above

Snacks and beverages need to be provided throughout - snacks like chips, pitas, dips, baked goods, fruit...
beverages - juice, teas (herbal and caffeinated) and water

Served on: recycleable plastic plates/cups/bowls, which we may have people sign with their names, rinse and hang up on a wash line (like at Ottawa (?) jams) for later use.  Cutlery plastic, same deal?

Budget - Depends on how many people-The budget indicates that $40 is budgeted per person for the weekend. It was discussed that 6 meal/snacks would be provided.  5 at $5 aperson and a dinner at $10 with an extra $5 to cover transitional foodtimes.

Not serving coffee -- people can get their own around the corner.  Do people agree with this? 

Budget

Miro:  Currently budgeted $40 per person.  6 meals/snacks.  5 at $5 per person with the meal at $10 and $5 for transitional times.
Tom:  I think this should be manageable. 
Jesse:  $3/person for snacks.  Thismeans spending less than two dollars on the food ingredients perperson, just to break even, which is something of a challenge.
        Tom:  I think this number has been revised up. 
Miro:  If labour costs are going to be involved what would they be?

Organic versus Conventional

Jesse: says it will add 25-30% on groceries.
Tom: I would like to go Organic as much as possible because I think these food politics are really important.  And to the degree possible I'd like to see us buying local produce.  I think we should do what we can within the budget and buy conventional where we have to.

Vegan, Vegetarian etc.

Tom:  I would say we should aim for vegetarian as the common denominator (and the cheapest way to go.)  We should definitely have vegan options at every meal.  Where it's easy we could set aside part of a dish before adding dairy (like the Greek Salad). 

Serving

Jesse: In the free service situation, a nice big spoonful looks a lot likethat.  Notoriously, people over-serve themselves at a buffet, and thefood runs out, and what can't be eaten gets wasted.  So, there may haveto be some Food Police, aka, service people.
Have you had anyexperience with this?  This is another place that volunteers could behelpful:  serving reasonably sized portions.  Gotta think this over,ethically.
Tom:  My experience is that the contact crowd tends to graze lightly.  When you're dancing all day, you don't want to be full.  I'm not too worried about people over-serving themselves.   On the other hand, if we don't have service people we might consider not serving dishes that are very expensive and concentrated. 

Non-food items to find

Recyclable or compostable plates and cutlery.  Or ask people to bring their own. 

Preparation

...

Comments from Jesse: (these have been copied into the appropriate headings above) 

My Thoughts.

1. Is this going to be organic food?  Because that will add 25 - 30% to the groceries.  And are we mainly vegan?
2. We can get cheap plastic stuff at the Cash and Carry, Logan south of Gerrard. Also water, tea, dish suds, lots of stuff.  They have large cans of things like Italian tomatoes.  Em, you should come with me for a reconnaisance mission.
   I can't find my vendor's permit, or we wouldn't have to pay PST.  I'll apply for a new one, I need it anyway.
3. $3/person for snacks.  This means spending less than two dollars on the food ingredients per person, just to break even, which is something of a challenge.
   For instance, those hummos tubs that you like, cost $3 for about a cup of food, 260 grams.  In the free service situation, a nice big spoonful looks a lot like that.  Notoriously, people over-serve themselves at a buffet, and the food runs out, and what can't be eaten gets wasted.  So, there may have to be some Food Police, aka, service people.
   Have you had any experience with this?  This is another place that volunteers could be helpful:  serving reasonably sized portions.  Gotta think this over, ethically.

Possible Snacks:
- "veggie pate", as in, broccoli and mushroom loaf?  Spinach and tofu?  Kinda pricey but easy to make lots of and serve with rice crackers or pita bread or whatever.
- raw vegetables and fruits:  like carrots, tiny apples.  In May there should be plentiful baby lettuce and spinach leaves.

Possible Breakfasts:
- fruit, whatever is cheapest.  In Ontario this might mean strawberries.  Dried fruits maybe.
- yogourt
- granola (definitely home made)
- bread, jam...  there should be rhubarb, we can make a rhubarb mush with honey
- "nut butters"  These keep well, look for cheap sources of nuts we can blenderize

Possible Lunches:
- hummos, or its friend caponata, which has roasted red peppers blended into it.
- baba ghanou ? 
        - pita around them
- grated carrot salad, with lemon and black mustard seed
- tabouleh salad (spring mint!)
- potato salad with red onions and mustard vinaigrette.
- green bean salad with kidney beans and tarragon
    My thought here is that with 5 things to put on the plate, the people will feel satisfied.


Possible Dinners
- brown rice and plenty of it!  Cooked, kept warm over steam on the stove.
- Spring ragout:  spring peas, asperagus, bean sprouts, kale, stretched with dried beans, like chick peas and lentils, and potatoes, with lots of fresh herbs.  Cook the dried beans separately, combine just before serving, it's quick.
- wok fried veggies?  Broccoli, garlic, chilis?  Served on this same rice.  Maybe a hit of wheat berries or quinoa in the rice?  Tempeh cubes?
Either way, the sauce is important:  mushrooms, tamari, cornstarch, vegetable stock.  HOT, since everything else might be getting cool.
- Huge pot 'o soup.  Never to be overlooked, this is real comfort.  Could be pea soup with spinach and mint.  Could be carrot and lentil.
- Greek salad?  Romaine, cuke, tomato, green peppers, celery, feta, green onions, black olives, oregano, red wine vini, easy for a crowd.


In My View
There really isn't a way to budget for this.  We just spend what we have, which is like, $2500., get all the volunteering we can, to bring in cookies and nut bars and whatever, and to watch that people take reasonable amounts of food on their plates.  Otherwise, we're gonna run out, and that's it.

We can get bulk deals here and there on dried chick peas, brown rice, tofu and so on.  It's going to be a big prep.
 
Miro
The budget indicates that $40 is budgeted per person for the weekend.  It was discussed that 6 meal/snacks would be provided.  5 at $5 a person and a dinner at $10 with an extra $5 to cover transitional food times.  I write this noticing that your discourse was following a $3 per meal outlook ending with a buy what we can and just do it approach.   Also if labour costs are going to be involved what would they be?