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Setting The Table – Proper Etiquette Is An Often Forgotten ArtSetting the table is indeed an often forgotten art because in our busy world today families don’t always eat together and even if you don’t have a family after a long hard day at work it can be just too much of an effort to set the table and sit down at the table for a meal. Then we have those that haven’t ever even learned how to properly set a table. So yes, proper table etiquette is a lost art form.
Not only is proper table setting important, but actually sitting down to an unhurried meal is a good way to relax and connect with family or friends after a long hard day, and it’s actually good for digestion as well as building the bonds of communication so necessary for genuine family closeness, and it shows proper respect for the one that created the meal.
How you set a table depends upon whether it is an informal or formal setting. An informal setting is used when it’s just family and friends with a more formal setting being used when you have more formal guests such as maybe the boss and his wife or the boss and her husband. Setting a proper table even for a family meal should at the minimum include a placemat especially if there are children, a dinner plate, napkin, water glass, knife, fork, and spoon, and if dessert is being served a dessert plate or bowl. Here is a nicely done short video on informally setting the table.
For some great sections on setting the table some great references are: • The Taste of Home Cookbook – All New Edition from Taste of Home Books, Reiman Media Group • The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book, Edited by Susan Westmoreland, Hearst Books, New York • Betty Crocker Cookbook – New Edition, by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Cooking Basics
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Setting The Table For A Meal Can Be Formal Or Informal Depending Upon who The Diners Are
Informal Table Setting
Formal Table Setting
