Read table setting tips and ideas for
Thanksgiving, serving food style and arranging Thanksgiving table.
Table Setting Tips and Ideas for Thanksgiving
One of the major attractions of Thanksgiving celebrations is the festive meal, which is mainly centered on a huge roasted turkey, along with a number of side dishes and desserts. Families start preparing for the big feast weeks in advance and people wait in anticipation for the 'big day' to arrive. Most of these dishes are traditional in nature, with the recipes being handed down from one generation to the other. The few changes seen in the menu today are due to modernization and the recent intermingling of cultures. Preparations for the Thanksgiving feast start about two to three weeks beforehand and with the passing days, the refrigerator gets stocked with delicious and mouth-watering dishes. By now, you have an elaborate menu, all your dishes are ready; you have polished and scrubbed your dinnerware well, bought new tablecloths and fabric napkins and are ready to throw out a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. What about setting the table? Here are some table setting tips and ideas that you can use to make your Thanksgiving Dinner a huge success:
Arranging Thanksgiving Table
- The formal style of serving the meals is the one where someone serves each plate in the kitchen and delivers it to the table. At the same time, there is someone to wait on everybody at the table. If you are hosting a large gathering or having a potluck dinner, you may also arrange for buffet-style serving.
- Make sure you have a serving dish and serving utensils for each of your dish and that you have enough gravy ladles too.
- The dinner fork is kept closest to the plate on the left side and the salad fork is farthest away from it, while knife is kept closes to the plate on the right, with the blade facing towards the plate and spoon is further on the right. The soup spoons are the furthest on the right, while tea spoon, if present, is placed just after the knife.
- The host may sit on the head of the table, serve each plate there and pass it down to the guests. Serving dishes are then left on the table, so that they can be passed on for second and third helpings.
- While setting the holiday table, plan out on the positions of the serving dishes too, along with table settings and always place the serving utensils next to the serving dishes.
- You may serve in family style, where the table is already set with all the dinnerware already arranged at each seating place and serving dishes placed at the center of the table, from where they are passed down to all the guests, who can then serve themselves.
