Info For Members

Eating at Prufrock

Coming to Dinner
Dinner is theoretically served at 6:30, and usually lasts until about 7:30. If you can come between those times, you get to grab a plate and eat. Otherwise, the cook for the evening will save an individual plate of food for you. Be nice to the cook, and try to be on time!

Bringing Guests
Guests are always welcome at Prufrock. For the sake of the cook's sanity and budget, please notify the chef and write on the whiteboard how many guests you are bringing at least two days in advance. You will be charged for your guests' meals.

Skipping Meals
If you can't attend dinner, and you don't want a plate saved for the following day, then sign out on the whiteboard. Again, for the cook's sanity, please sign out at least two days in advance. If you need to sign out on late notice, contact the cook directly to see if he has shopped already. If you don't give the cook enough notice, he may decide to charge you for the meal.

Leftovers
If you missed dinner the night before, but didn't sign out, an individual plate will be saved for you. This plate will remain untouched by the other members until after lunch (1:00 PM). Other leftover food is fair game at any time.

Cooking at Prufrock

Signing Up to Cook
Members sign up to cook on the whiteboard. Everyone should cook once every month. You can cook whichever day pleases you, so long as no one has already signed up for that day. If you must miss more than half the dinners in any month, then you are excused from cooking for that month. Give at least two days of notice before you cook. Also, email out a reminder to everybody the day of.

Planning the Meal
Many new members feel daunted by the prospect of cooking a meal for a dozen (or more) people, but in general, just cook what you'd like to eat. There are no hard and fast rules on the content of meals (although some kind of dessert is strongly encouraged!), but when planning your menu, you should:

try to be aware of peoples' allergies and preferences.
take into consideration how much time it will take to prepare and cook your food. For example, meat and vegetables may need time to marinate, desserts may need to chill, and beer may need time to ferment.
think about what ingredients you will need to buy and where you can get them. The house has an extensive variety of herbs, spices, oils, and condiments, but you might have to buy more of them if they run low. (see below for details about budgeting)
note how many people you will be feeding. The night before you go shopping, you should check the whiteboard for people who have signed out or who are bringing guests.

Budgeting the Meal
Each cook buys and prepares the food himself, and records the amount spent in the house book. House budgets are theoretically computed every quarter, and the difference between the amount you've spent on cooking, and what you've cost in dinners, is eventually refunded. The current limit for spending $5.00 per person (including the cook) per meal.

Cooking the Meal
Plan on showing up to Prufrock a few hours before dinnertime to start cooking. The cook is also responsible for:

putting away all the clean, dry dishes in the drying rack and the dishwasher that the previous cook left behind;
and setting the table, although other members are often happy to help out in a pinch.

Cleaning Up Afterwards
The cook also cleans up after the meal. This involves:

cleaning up the kitchen (ie sponging down any dirty counters and the stove);
washing all the dishes, and drying them and putting them away, if there are too many to fit in the drying rack;
cleaning out the fridge (ie throw out old, decomposing leftovers and anything else that has gone bad);
taking out the trash, if the trash can is full;
and tossing all the dirty tablecloths and dirty dishtowels in the laundry machine, if you are the last cook of the week.

last updated: September 28, 2004