\section{Food}
\subsection{D\^{\i}ner and Pause-Caf\'{e}}
\subsubsection{Dinner Schedule}
French House traditionally serves dinner every night excluding
Saturday.  Dinner is served at a specified time which in the past has
been somewhere between 6 and 6:30 PM; usually Friday and Sunday dinners are
served a bit earlier than on other days.  The actual schedule of dinner
days and times is to be determined at the beginning of each semester.

There is no dinner served during long holidays (any holiday lasting
longer than a normal weekend), except possibly on the day before classes
resume.  That day's cooking team will decide at least two weeks in
advance if the team can cook on that day, and should consult with the
Ministre des Aliments before making a final decision.  The captain
should determine if there will be enough cooking team members (or
substitutes) available to cook.  If so, then the captain should post a
survey asking house members if they want dinner on that day.  A dinner
will be prepared if a majority of the house wants to have dinner.

\subsubsection{Pause-Caf\'{e}}
Every week a member of the house prepares a dessert or snack food for a
pause-caf\'{e} (study break).  Study breaks are usually held in the
middle of the week, around 9-10PM.  The study break chef may determine
the actual day, although it should be consistent throughout the term.

\subsubsection{Dinner Sheets}
\label{sec:dinner-sheets}
A dinner sheet is posted by the Tr\'{e}sorier each week.  It is a grid
with cooking days and study breaks listed horizontally and house members
listed vertically.  Dinner sheets are used by cooking teams to determine
how many people to expect for dinner, and by the Tr\'{e}sorier for
bookkeeping purposes.

There are four letters to write on the dinner sheets: X, G, I, and V.
{\bf X} indicates that you did not eat dinner that day;\footnote{Please
don't think it rude to mark an X before dinner rather than after.
Cooking teams will appreciate knowing that you did not plan to eat at
the house.} {\bf G} (gard\'{e}) indicates that you wish the cooking
team to save a portion for you (a.k.a.\ late plate); {\bf I} (invit\'{e})
indicates that you plan to have a guest for dinner; and {\bf V}
(v\'{e}g\'{e}tarien) means that you are eating a vegetarian meal (i.e.\ 
not eating the meat portion of the dinner) and should therefore be
charged the vegetarian dinner price instead of the meat dinner price.
A blank space indicates that you ate a normal meal.

\subsubsection{Menus}
Dinners and study breaks are described on menu sheets which are prepared
by cooking team members and posted in the dining area weekly by the
Ministre des Aliments.  In addition to specifying the courses of the
meal, menu sheets list the foods required for dinner preparation.
Before posting menus, the Ministre des Aliments indicates on the sheets
the foods that will be ordered and those which are already in the house.
Any item not ordered and not available in the house must be bought by
the cooking team (and usually by the person who wrote the menu).

When preparing a menu sheet, write down everything you expect to need,
not just what you think the Ministre des Aliments can order.  Please
remember to prepare an appropriate amount of food for vegetarians and
others with dietary restrictions.  {\em Always remember} to check menus
once they are posted for anything which must be bought.  It is also a
good idea to verify that foods listed as ``in the house'' and
``ordered'' are actually available in sufficient quantities.

Label receipts from food purchases with the menu date, the buyer's name,
and the total amount, and give them to the Tr\'{e}sorier.  The money
you spent will be credited to your house account.  The Ministre
des Aliments reserves the right to determine beforehand a reasonable
limit to the amount of money spent on non-ordered food.

The due date for menus is decided by the Ministre des Aliments at the
beginning of the semester. Please ask your cooking team captain or the
Ministre des Aliments if you have any questions regarding menus.

\subsubsection{Cooking}
\label{sec:cooking}
\paragraph{Cooking Teams}
The Ministre des Aliments will post a signup sheet at the beginning of
each semester, and ask that everyone rank their top $n$ choices for
cooking days (including study breaks).  When everyone has indicated
their preferences for cooking day, the Ministre des Aliments will assign
cooking teams.  The main goal is to balance cooking team size (optimally
four members).  In addition, for the first semester each cooking team
should have {\em at least one} upperclass member who has been on a
cooking team before.  After these considerations are taken into account
the Ministre des Aliments will choose the cooking teams so as to give
the most people their top choices.

%\paragraph{Cooking Team Captains}
%At the beginning of each semester, each cooking team will choose a
%captain.  The first semester's captain should be an upperclassman.  The
%captain will meet with the Ministre des Aliments at the beginning of the
%term to discuss details of cooking (such as menu due dates and how to
%report unused food to the Ministre des Aliments).  The cooking team
%captain is primarily responsible for making sure that all menus are
%turned in on time, and that the cooking team cleans up after
%itself.\footnote{This includes putting away leftovers, especially those
%containing milk, meat products, or other perishable items.}

\paragraph{Chefs}
The chef for a particular meal is a member of the cooking team who
oversees the preparation of that meal and the cleanup afterward.  The
chef is almost always the person who has written the menu sheet for the
dinner.  Cooking teams normally distribute among themselves as equally
as possible the number of menus each person must write and hence the
number of times each team member is chef.  However, occasionally a
cooking team may decide (with the consent of the Ministre des Aliments)
to collaborate on menu-writing and dispense with actual chefs.

\subsubsection{Uncooked Leftovers}
\paragraph{Rule of thumb for cooking teams:} If you could not eat the
uncooked leftovers by yourself in one sitting, they should be referred
to the Ministre des Aliments.  Otherwise, mark them ``eat me.''

\subsection{What Can I Eat?}
\subsubsection{Signout Food}
As a convenience, French House orders several foods and makes them
available to house members on a signout basis (such as milk, fruit
juices, iced tea, and sometimes breads and pastries).  When a house
member wishes to use these foods, it is necessary to fill in the
appropriate bubble on the signout sheets.  The Tr\'{e}sorier then
adjusts the house member's account accordingly.

\subsubsection{Non-Signout Food}
%The French House kitchen contains a lot of foods that are for free
%general use (no signout needed), and a few more expensive or bulky items
%that are for dinners only (unless marked otherwise by the Ministre des
%Aliments).  Below is a guide to the most common items; for those foods
%not on the following lists, ask the Ministre des Aliments.
%\begin{itemize}
%\item{General house use:} margarine, sugar, flour, rice, spices, soy
%sauce, bouillon, corn oil, condiments, vanilla, salad dressing, eggs,
%vinegar, corn starch, baking powder, shortening
%\item{Dinner only:} butter, chocolate, tomato paste, tomato sauce, olive oil, 
%pineapple, cheeses, pasta, bread crumbs
%\end{itemize}
Almost all other foods are for free general use (no signout needed),
such as flour, pasta, oil, eggs, etc. Please use them in moderation
(i.e. don't feed 20 friends weekly). Such things as frozen bread,
croissants, or bagels do NOT fall in this category (they must be
signed out).

\subsubsection{Food in the House Fridges}
All food should be well labeled with a cooking day, ``eat me,''
``mangez-moi,'' or that it's waiting for a decision by the Ministre des
Aliments.  If food is unlabeled, it should be assumed to be waiting for
reappropriation and labeling by the Ministre des Aliments, and so it
should not be eaten.  If it looks neglected or forgotten, it should be
reported to the Ministre des Aliments.  The food must be directly
labeled.  If you are unsure whether it is permissible to eat a certain
food, please ask the Ministre des Aliments.

\subsubsection{Dinner Food}
If you have marked an X for a particular dinner, you may not eat food
from that dinner until the following day (yes, this means wait until
after midnight!).  This is out of fairness to the people who have
actually paid for the dinner.
