Formal Dining

Okay, I had serious reservations about posting about this, but figured what the heck. You already know we’re crazy, right?

I can’t tell you exactly how this came to be, but a couple Sundays ago, Will decided it would be good for us all to dress up for dinner and practice some manners. I still can’t believe this was Will’s idea. And I still can’t remember how it came about. Did Abby burp at the table and act un-ladylike? Was I sitting there with my socks off resting my toes on the edge of the table? Did someone forget to pass the salt and pepper? I can’t remember!

All I know is that Will said something about dressing up like the people on the show “Dallas” and eating supper. So that’s how the plan originated. Now I’ve never seen an episode of “Dallas” in my life, so in my mind we were going to be like the Grangers at Shilo Ranch on the “Virginian.” They’re more my kind of people.

I decided the menu would be salad, steak, potatoes, and rolls with cheesecake for dessert. (We had to have all these “courses” to utilize all of our silverware! Lol.)

After a quick Google search, we found how to set the table. That was Abby’s job and she had fun with it.

Gasp! This is Rhett’s place setting and he must be the enemy at the table! Did you know that the knife blade is to be facing the plate…unlike it is here? If the blade of the knife is facing away from the plate, it means there is an enemy at the table. Or something like that. I really can’t remember now, but it was some interesting piece of trivia regarding that.

So here is a quick run-down on some of the things we learned. (And please disregard the salad dressing bottles in the picture. Those should be in serving dishes! As should the delicious Hawaiian rolls.) But anyway…

1. Pass from left to right.
2. Always set the food down when you pass. Don’t pass from hand to hand.
3. Always keep the salt and pepper together. Even if someone only asks for the salt, you must pass both.
4. Once you’ve used a utensil, place it on your plate, never back on the table.
5. Never intercept a pass! If someone asks for the bread, you are not to snag one out of the basket as you are passing it to the guest.
6. Cut only enough food for the next mouthful. (i.e. only two bites at a time.)

And I’m sure there were many more lessons that I’m forgetting about. But I guess we’ll just have to do this again so I can get a refresher!

We did have a fun time with this and I’m thinking I should run this by the rest of the Werner Family Angus crew and see if they’re ready for some formal dining. Can’t you just see Uncle Clint sitting comfortably at the table in his tie and dress coat asking if someone could please pass the rolls? HA!

And about thirty seconds after the meal was over, we were right back to our “normal” selves.
Enjoy your day!