Do you leave uneaten the lettuce of salad? Lettuce is a
/ery valuable food because it is rich in vitamins and mineral
natter . about which we learned when fruits were studied.
It is one of the leafy vegetables. The advice has been given
by some food experts that a leafy vegetable should be eaten
every day. If you refuse to eat the lettuce of a salad, you are
losing a valuable material that your body needs. Then, too,
lettuce costs money. It is a pity to waste this nourishing food.
In eating all the food on our plates, we should not go to such
extremes as did Jack Sprat and his wife when “ they licked the
platter clean.” It is of course both ungraceful and noisy to
scrape the food from dishes at the dining table. No dish should
ever be tilted or lifted from the table to get the last bit. In
order to drain the last drop from a cup do not conspicuously
throw the head back.’
How can you keep the table dainty ? At one time it was custom-
ary to use tiny plates about two inches in diameter for serving
butter. These dishes were, of course, large enough to hold a
serving of butter, but they were not large enough to hold a piece
of bread. Both may be placed on the bread and butter plates
which are now quite generally used. This is an advantage, since
crumbs may be kept on the plate and not on the table linen.
When breaking and spreading bread one should see to it that the
crumbs fall on the plate and not on the table cloth.
The skins of such foods as potatoes are sometimes discarded
at the dining table. These should be kept on the plate — not on
the table linen or on the bread and butter plate. The seeds of
some fruits are removed at the table. Do not place these on the
table cloth or bread and butter plate. Fish bones and seeds
should be removed from the mouth as inconspicuously as pos-
sible. Remove them one at a time with the finger and thumb.
After food is in your mouth, do not remove it unless it contains
something harmful such as a seed or a bone. If you have taken
something that is too hot, quietly take a drink of water.
Good Manners at the Dining Table 137
For correct serving, a plate should be placed underneath the
cereal dish, the soup plate or bowl, the sauce dish or sherbet
glass in which dessert is served. Such plates are called service
plates. They serve two purposes — to keep the table linen clean
and to make it easier to keep the fingers away from the food
when it is being passed.
After a piece of silver is used, it should always be placed on a
dish — not on the table linen. Resting a knife wholly on a
plate and not partly on the table has been mentioned. In the
latter position, a knife very easily slips from the plate, usually
resulting in soiling the table linen. Accidents with teaspoons are
much less apt to occur if they rest on the saucer rather than in
the cup, as explained on page 135.
Page 74
Presented as published in 1928. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
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Do you leave uneaten the lettuce of salad? Lettuce is a
/ery valuable food because it is rich in vitamins and mineral
natter . about which we learned when fruits were studied.
It is one of the leafy vegetables. The advice has been given
by some food experts that a leafy vegetable should be eaten
every day. If you refuse to eat the lettuce of a salad, you are
losing a valuable material that your body needs. Then, too,
lettuce costs money. It is a pity to waste this nourishing food.
In eating all the food on our plates, we should not go to such
extremes as did Jack Sprat and his wife when “ they licked the
platter clean.” It is of course both ungraceful and noisy to
scrape the food from dishes at the dining table. No dish should
ever be tilted or lifted from the table to get the last bit. In
order to drain the last drop from a cup do not conspicuously
throw the head back.’
How can you keep the table dainty ? At one time it was custom-
ary to use tiny plates about two inches in diameter for serving
butter. These dishes were, of course, large enough to hold a
serving of butter, but they were not large enough to hold a piece
of bread. Both may be placed on the bread and butter plates
which are now quite generally used. This is an advantage, since
crumbs may be kept on the plate and not on the table linen.
When breaking and spreading bread one should see to it that the
crumbs fall on the plate and not on the table cloth.
The skins of such foods as potatoes are sometimes discarded
at the dining table. These should be kept on the plate — not on
the table linen or on the bread and butter plate. The seeds of
some fruits are removed at the table. Do not place these on the
table cloth or bread and butter plate. Fish bones and seeds
should be removed from the mouth as inconspicuously as pos-
sible. Remove them one at a time with the finger and thumb.
After food is in your mouth, do not remove it unless it contains
something harmful such as a seed or a bone. If you have taken
something that is too hot, quietly take a drink of water.
Good Manners at the Dining Table 137
For correct serving, a plate should be placed underneath the
cereal dish, the soup plate or bowl, the sauce dish or sherbet
glass in which dessert is served. Such plates are called service
plates. They serve two purposes — to keep the table linen clean
and to make it easier to keep the fingers away from the food
when it is being passed.
After a piece of silver is used, it should always be placed on a
dish — not on the table linen. Resting a knife wholly on a
plate and not partly on the table has been mentioned. In the
latter position, a knife very easily slips from the plate, usually
resulting in soiling the table linen. Accidents with teaspoons are
much less apt to occur if they rest on the saucer rather than in
the cup, as explained on page 135.