50 in '10: #10
Apr. 19th, 2010 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: The Perfect Hostess
Author: Nancy Prentiss
Length: 66 pages
This was a fifty-cent estate sale find published in 1958. So naturally one expects it to be somewhat dated albeit with charming vintage illustrations. It's also written with a bias toward Westmorland products, for whom the author worked. That said, the menu plans aren't quite as scary as some I've seen, and while the photographs of table settings are indeed, mm, out of style, shall we say, this was actually an interesting read. These days we're not taught about the different types of china or flatware, or how to properly set a table, or what order to seat people in at a more formal dinner. Not that I'm ever likely to start doing formal entertaining (not my style), but it's nice to have a guide for how, in case I ever needed it. Given that I'm making a push to move our household over from disposable paper napkin usage to washable cloth napkins, anything is possible. Also of interest to me was a small section on table etiquette. The point on how to use one's knife and fork is fun because I use them correctly (in the American style) according to these instructions. My mother and husband, however, eat in the British style which involves not switching the fork between hands and which always seems more elegant to me. Still, nice to know I'm not a total failure despite just now learning that in eating soup, "As a ship sails out to sea, so does my spoon move away from me." Yes, the book honestly has that as a memnonic!
Verdict: Well worth a read if you're interested in this kind of stuff and can find a copy.
Author: Nancy Prentiss
Length: 66 pages
This was a fifty-cent estate sale find published in 1958. So naturally one expects it to be somewhat dated albeit with charming vintage illustrations. It's also written with a bias toward Westmorland products, for whom the author worked. That said, the menu plans aren't quite as scary as some I've seen, and while the photographs of table settings are indeed, mm, out of style, shall we say, this was actually an interesting read. These days we're not taught about the different types of china or flatware, or how to properly set a table, or what order to seat people in at a more formal dinner. Not that I'm ever likely to start doing formal entertaining (not my style), but it's nice to have a guide for how, in case I ever needed it. Given that I'm making a push to move our household over from disposable paper napkin usage to washable cloth napkins, anything is possible. Also of interest to me was a small section on table etiquette. The point on how to use one's knife and fork is fun because I use them correctly (in the American style) according to these instructions. My mother and husband, however, eat in the British style which involves not switching the fork between hands and which always seems more elegant to me. Still, nice to know I'm not a total failure despite just now learning that in eating soup, "As a ship sails out to sea, so does my spoon move away from me." Yes, the book honestly has that as a memnonic!
Verdict: Well worth a read if you're interested in this kind of stuff and can find a copy.
