Miss Manners

Not only does formal dining require lots of effort, it also requires lots of dishes.  My daughter attended an etiquette and leadership workshop and was told to practice for the next 21 days.  Of course I was eager to oblige and made a four course meal last night.

It wasn't easy because I only had a sirloin and a porterhouse marinating, and no actual plan for anything else.  Alhamdulilah for my CSA...I was able to do a salad with butterhead lettuce, spring mix, and tomatoes (I made an Italian style vinaigrette) for the first course, we had the grilled steak with purple potatoes tossed with carrots and garlic for the second course, and I pieced together some dessert remnants for the third course.

Tonight I was a bit more ambitious because I wanted to do a four course meal, again I had only planned to rotisserie the tri-tip so I had to turn to the fridge for the rest.  We stepped it up with the addition of a table cloth, napkins, and goblets:

First Course

Chilled Minted Watermelon Soup

Second Course

House Salad

Third Course

Rotisserie Tri-tip, Garlic Blue Potatoes, Balsamic Yellow Beans

Spaghetti Squash Puree, Baby Bella Mushrooms

Fourth Course

Mango Jell-O and Whipped Cream

The dessert was a reach but it was the best I could do.  One thing's for sure...I would not try this method with guests unless I had a kitchen staff plating and running food.  We thoroughly enjoyed our food but the one-hour meal was rather silent as we focused on minding our manners.