Dinner with Food Only

By Monicairvine

Hello Friends,
Here's another great activity that my family still begs to do again.  I'll tell you how we did it, but obviously, the sky is the limit with what you could serve and do.  I told my family that we were having a very special dinner, where we would practice our etiquette skills.  They hear this from me a lot, so really no big surprise.  I allowed them to watch me prepare in the kitchen; getting out the china, the linen, etc.  I did purchase a white plastic tablecloth and placed it on our dining room table, which my husband thought was a bit strange (plastic, really?).  When it was finally time to eat, I instructed everyone into the dining room to be seated.  The menu was:

  • Spaghetti
  • Salad
  • Brownies and Ice Cream
I brought our first course out on my beautiful silver tray.  There were no plates, bowls, or silverware on the table.  I asked my dear husband, "Salad sir?"  He said, "Yes."  So, I then proceeded to  drop salad onto the table in front of him.  After a good pile was formed, I asked, "What type of dressing sir?"  Ranch was his reply.  So, I then poured ranch dressing on his salad.  I also dropped some bacon bits, croutons and nuts onto his beautiful salad.  The kids were dying.  After serving everyone their beautiful salad, I then instructed them to begin eating.  "With what?" was their reply.  "I don't know, but figure it out," was my reply.  We went on to eat spaghetti, and brownies and ice cream in the same manner; no plates, no silverware, no napkins.  It was a blast!  And believe it or not, my floor was clean after-wards.  That was one of the rules.  We laughed a lot and became very creative with the best technique to get the most amount of food into our mouths at a time.  Great etiquette skill.
Making memories.  That's what it's all about.  Cut loose and have some fun.
Monica Irvine, a.k.a. Mary Manners