Top Dinnerware Trends

Is a Fancy Dinner on the menu?

By admin | March 22, 2009

Fancy dinner may or may not mean formal dinner. It is up to you to make the dinner as fancy as you want.

One way to make the dinner fancy, is to pull out your formal dinnerware, or dinnerware that is rarely used. Use special glassware to complement the dinnerware. Serve all the drinks in stemware, even the milk for the kids can be poured into a stemware glass.

Another way to compose a fancy dinner, is to serve each course separately, rather than placing all the food on the table at the same time. Start your meal with a soup, possibly a cold soup, like cucumber soup. Then, serve the salad, and put the salad dressing in a small gravy boat or creamer. Then serve the main course. You can separate the meat course from the vegetable course, but that could seem a little forced.

Another fun thing to do is to serve a small amount of a mild tasting sherbert in between each course – to cleanse the pallet.

For table decoration, let your dinnerware speak for itself. Create a low centerpiece, so everyone can easily enjoy conversation over the centerpiece. Fill one of your large serving bowls with flowers and or christmas tree balls or garland or . . . wherever your creativity takes you.

You do not have to load your table with lots of dinnerware, glassware, and flatware, but you certainly can. A general guideline for using flatware is to start using the outside flatware and work in toward the center plate. To set your table, the order from left to right is:
very small seafood fork (if serving a seafood appetizer)
small salad fork
dinner fork
charger plate
dinner knife
small or teaspoon spoon
soup spoon (if serving soup)
the bread and butter plate goes above the forks
the water glass (on right) and wine glass (on left) go above the knife and spoon
a dessert fork and spoon can be put above the charger

When you serve the soup in the soup bowl, place the soup bowl on the charger. The charger can collect any drips from the soup bowl and spoon. When the soup course is over, remove both the soup bowl and the charger.

That is some of the formal dining basics. When planning your dinner, incorporate those elements that will add enjoyment for your dinner, and don’t stress about using the other ones.

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How to set a table

By admin | March 22, 2009

In today’s world, the rules of setting a table are wide open. If you wish to set a table according to the etiquette rules of 1940’s, you won’t get your answers here.

The first rule of setting a table: It is your table, make it personal. Use dinnerware, flatware, glassware, whatever that is a piece of you. It may be a dinnerware pattern you love, your grandmother’s flatware, your aunt’s crystal glasses, whatever it is, it has a meaning and a story for you.

The second rule is concerns space. You can’t have a successful dinner, if everyone is crammed together. So, don’t forget to allow for plenty of elbow room.

Basic table setting from left to right: small salad fork (if serving salad, if not, don’t put it out), dinner fork, dinner plate, dinner knife, spoon. The bread plate goes above the forks and the if there is a butter fork, put it on the bread plate. The water or wine glass goes above the knife. If you are serving soup, put the soup bowl on top of the dinner plate.

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What you need to set up a buffet

By admin | March 22, 2009

If you are having a party or buffet style, the number of dinnerware is a lot looser than a dinner, where you are planning every food item and serving it as per your plan. When having a buffet with a number of different foods and different types (like salad vs. meat vs. dessert) a good general guideline will be: if you have about three times as many plates as people, it usually works out fine. Some people will use 1 or 2 plates, and others will use 4, so it should average out. If you have a variety of sizes, use them all. Then your guests can choose what size plate or bowl fits which food best – that allows them to be more comfortable with your food and buffet.

Buffet style dinner for 8

8 dinner plates
8 luncheon plates
8 salad plates
8 pasta bowls or 8 rim soup bowls (use for salad or pasta or soup)
8 cooler glasses
8 mugs (if serving hot beverages)
1 sugar and creamer set (if needed for hot beverage)
1 salt and pepper set
4 – 6 serving bowls of assorted shapes and sizes – for salad, vegetables, soup, rolls, rolled up napkins, flatware
3 platters of assorted shapes and sizes – for meat, fish, seafood, bread
2 – 4 small bowls for condiments, spices, other little things like corn holders, toothpicks

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Matching bakeware for my dinnerware, good thing or bad?

By admin | March 21, 2009

Once you have picked your dinnerware pattern, it is great to get matching and coordinating products for your home. A matching teakettle, for example, now makes the stove top area a decorative area! And, it is great to set a table or buffet with matching serving bowls and platters. What a great look! So, matching bakeware is the next best thing, right?

Usually, yes. If your bakeware is made of vitrified stoneware, you have the best bakeware possible. The strongest stoneware is made of vitrified stoneware, and that is why commercial china and restaurant dinnerware is made of vitrified stoneware. The vitrified stoneware handles the thermal shock of going from freezer to oven better than any other ceramic body.

If your bakeware is made of earthenware, follow the manufacturer’s instructions very closely. Typically, earthenware does not tolerate thermal shock well, so use your earthenware baker carefully.

Remember, the important thing about your baker is that it properly cooks and bakes your food. If it matches your dinnerware, well even better.

Today’s table is set with a variety of looks. A lot of people enjoy putting different looks or items together, to create a total effect. So, experiment and put together the dinnerware and bakeware that pleases your eye!

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What is in a dinnerware set? or what is a place setting?

By admin | March 20, 2009

The definition of a dinnerware set varies by dinnerware category and by manufacturer. There are a lot of different assortments of dinnerware sets, so here are some guidelines.

In casual dinnerware, for most manufacturers, a basic dinnerware set is 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, 4 bowls, and 4 mugs.

In formal dinnerware, the basic dinnerware set is a placesetting, which usually contains 1 dinner plate, 1 salad plate, 1 bread and butter plate, 1 cup, and 1 saucer.

From a historical point of view, the dinnerware industry started with formal dinnerware, which is why the bread and butter plate is part of the place setting. Usually soup or cereal is not part of a formal meal, so there was no need to put a bowl in the place setting. As soup became a more popular food for formal dining, a low wide bowl was created for most formal dinnerware patterns. The soup bowl was often sold as a separate item. Today, there are some formal placesettings where the 5 pieces are 1 dinner plate, 1 salad plate, 1 soup bowl, 1 cup, and 1 saucer.

As Americans embraced the casual lifestyle, the dinnerware industry created another category of dinnerware, called casual dinnerware.

Americans wanted solutions for their home, a lower priced option and more pieces that they would use. To achieve a lower price, casual dinnerware was usually made of stoneware or earthenware or glass. Instead of offering one placesetting, the dinnerware industry created a 20 piece set: 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, 4 soup or cereal bowls, 4 cups, and 4 saucers. Yes, the dinnerware industry was slow to change. Today, the standard dinnerware set is a 16 piece set, where the 4 cups and 4 saucers are replaced by 4 mugs.

When shopping, READ THE BOX. There are a large variety of “special” dinnerware sets out there for you to buy.
12 piece set – 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, 4 mugs,br />
OR
12 piece set – 4 dinner plates, 4 bowls, 4 mugs
and lots and lots of “expanded sets” with extra pieces like serving bowls or platters, salt & pepper shakers, and . . . the list goes on and on.

Remember, you are going to look at these plates, bowls, and mugs for every meal, so pick a pattern you like, and then figure out which pieces are the ones you want.

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