Recipe Cards - DIY

I love to experiment in the kitchen and try interesting recipes!  However, when I found a recipe I liked, I had a hard time finding it the next time I wanted to use it!  I was using a binder, random scrap pieces of paper, torn off backs of ingredient boxes, and pinterest to hold my recipes.  Can we say mess?  To organize my favorite go-to recipes I decided to use an old school approach - recipe cards.

To start my new organization tactic, I found a box that some 4x6 note cards would fit in easily.  I had a fancy cigar box, but you could use a small shoe box, gift box, food container, or go out and buy a brand new one!

I realized that 4x6 note cards weren't "pretty" enough for my favorite recipes, so I went to pinterest to find some free printable recipe cards.  I printed off a few different kinds, cut them out, and glued them to the 4x6 cards to give them some weight. You could also just print any recipe card printable on card stock!

Voila!  Recipe cards for my favorite recipes!  Now when I find a recipe I like, I will just write it on the card and I won't have to print anything off or cut it off a box!

How do you organize your recipes?  Do you use pinterest or do you like ol' fashioned paper?

Happy Birthday Emily Post

Emily Post (born 10-27-1872) is a house hold name synonymous with etiquette and manners.  Her book is the first thing I go to when I have a question on etiquette (see here).  I have a copy of one of the original book from 1922 that I still use...  

In honor of her birthday today, I decided to share a link to the Emily Post Institute.  The Emily Post Institute is the Post family business spanning five generations.  It studies the evolution and development of new etiquette guidelines based on "core principles of honesty, respect  and consideration" which makes it the PERFECT place to continually find answers to your everyday etiquette questions!  

And The Knife Ran Away With The Spoon

During the last few weeks, while cruising from store to store, I found the COOLEST stuff EVER!  (Well maybe not coolest - EVER, but perhaps pretty neat!)  The objects that I found were not only useful, but also cheap (score!) 

What is it that I found, you ask?


Well I found plastic plates and utensils (I know, a total let down...) but not just your regular plastic plates and utensils... these look like fancy China and Silverware! 


For those of us still using our hand me down college kitchen supplies that probably won't be replaced until the last one is broken, these are an awesome find!  No longer will I be embarrassed to have a dinner party or a friend over for a meal.  If these plates crack or the fork breaks, heck just throw them away and buy new (THATS HOW CHEAP THEY ARE!)

 Now that I have flatware and "china", I thought I would explore proper table settings.  If you remember, I wrote an article on Forks, their expansive history, and questioned if anyone really cared which fork you use for dinner or salad.  As you might imagine, each type of flatware has its own history (we won't go there right now) and there are a myriad of spoons, knifes, plates, and bowls that each have had their specific function throughout history.


First lets finish the flatware:

Spoons-  
In my (rather short) lifetime, I have only seen one type of spoon inuse at a table for dinner, that spoon would be the "soup spoon".  Of course sometimes there is a dessert spoon present during the dessert course of a meal.


Soup Spoon-  Formally (and I mean VERY FORMAL), there are two types of soup spoons.  They are both the about the same size, but one is for soup with solid food (most people would probably call this a "Table Spoon") and the other is for creamy soup.  Personally I would only worry about a "soup" spoon, which is usually around 6 inches long and is meant to eat, well... soup.  The spoon is normally placed to the right of the dinner knife.


Dessert Spoon-  A dessert spoon is approximately 7 inches long and is used during the dessert course of a meal (duh!)  It is normally placed above the plate with the dessert fork (facing the opposite way)



Knife- 
Similar to the spoon, I have only ever seen two knifes in a table setting, even including dinners at fancy restaurants however when looking into different types of knifes there are plenty to choose from (Dinner, Luncheon, Fish, Steak, Fruit, Dessert (wait who uses a knife for dessert?)  The two types of Knifes that you would really want to know about are:

Steak Knife-  A steak knife is not normally sold as part of a flatware set, but usually sold in sets that come with one of those wooden storage blocks (I need to get one of those!).  Usually they are around 9 inches in length and have a serrated edge to aid in cutting of thick or tough meats during meals.  This knife would usually be set to the left (or inside) or the Dinner knife and closest to the plate.  The serrated edge should face the plate.  Fun Fact:  long ago, it was customary that the serrated edge would face outward in times of war and inward during times of peace.  (So, unless you are at war with your family and friends over your dinner table, lets just keep it inward for now.)


"Dinner" Knife-  The dinner knife is normally the longest knife of the flatware set (usually around 9 .5 inches long!)  This knife as you can imagine is used at dinner to cut food (weird huh?)  The placement of this knife is closest to the plate's right side, and is also facing the plate (unless of course a steak knife is needed).


Now on to the table setting:

Plate-
Usually the number of plates you use depends on the number of courses or "side" dishes (ie. fish, fruit, bread) you have in your meal (and then meal type of meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert pates are all different as well, except I won't tell if you use the same plates for each!)  In my observation the main plates used today are the salad plate, dinner plate, and dessert plate.


Salad Plate:  A salad plate is usually placed on top of a dinner plate and is used during the first course of a meal (normally salad!), and then is removed once the main course arrives.  This type of plate can come in different shapes and sizes but is usually found to be a bit smaller than the dinner plate.

Dinner Plate:  I would describe a dinner plate as your regular "plate".  In a table setting, it sits under the salad plate and is used after the first course has been taken away from the table.  This plate also can come in different shapes and sizes but, again, it's most often is larger than the salad plate.


Dessert Plate:  This plate is my favorite!  (I bet you can't image why..)   The dessert plate is usually not placed on the table until after the main dinner courses are finished and cleared.  This plate would most likely resemble that of a salad plate, but can also come in all shapes and sizes.  


Bowls-  I have NEVER seen more than one bowl in a table setting, and honestly the only practical difference between the different kinds of bowls are what type of soup you put in them.  My opinion... a bowl is a bowl.  Only use it in your table setting if you are going to serve soup, otherwise keep it in the cabinet and save you or your dishwasher the extra work!


(We'll keep stemware for another post!)

Thank You Notes

Ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon in my hand I have been writing thank you notes to people who have given me gifts.  As I grew up I started to realize that fewer and fewer people write thank you notes.  Now, my Mr "Fix-It" Fiance (yes, we're engaged now!)  and I disagree on this issue every birthday, Christmas, or event that includes receiving a "gift." 

He thinks that a heartfelt "Thank You" is good enough and a written letter is not necessary.  I think that thank you notes are necessary for not only birthday or Christmas gifts, but also when someone goes out of their way for you (such as helps plan a party with you!)  Perhaps I go a little "over the top" with the thank you notes, but that's just me.


I'm not going to pressure you into writing thank you notes, there are obviously many schools of thought on the topic, but I do want to help you write one if you so choose!  (Try it out, it might be fun!)




Why Write a Thank You Note:


Writing a thank you note, is a formal way to thank someone for their gift, time, money, help, attendance, etc.  I would compare it much like a greeting card, it could possibly go in the trash after someone reads it, but for that moment while they are reading your heartfelt words, they appreciate it. 


Where to Wite a Thank You Note:


If you take the time to write a thank you note, then take the time to create a clean surface, find a nice pen, and even a decent chair to sit in.  You don't have to dress up in a prom dress just to write a formal thank you, but you don't want to make the note look like you were writing the note while trying to drive your car and drink your Starbucks. 


When to Write a Thank You Note:


There is no "expiration" on a thank you, however it would be rather weird to get a thank you note for attending a co-workers' daughters party 5 years ago, today.  Most books and references say about a month tops on thank you notes.  I like to get them out in a week or two, that way the reason or gift I want to thank them for is still fresh in my mind. 




What to Write in a Thank You Note:


Obviously in a thank you note you want to THANK the person for the gift they gave you.  However a letter that looks like

Dear Joe Doe,

Thanks for the cookie cutters.

Regards,

Jessica

looks rather foolish if you ask me.  A few things you can add to a thank you are:


For a Gift:
- What you are going to do with the gift
- When you will use it.
- How you felt when you received it.


For Time, Help, or Attendance to a function:
- Why you were so happy they attended.
- Thank them for a specific action.
- The way you felt to see them at the function.


A thank you note might look something like this:

Dear John Doe,

Thank you so much for the cookie cutters. 

They were excatly what I needed to

add to my collection.  I am so excited to

use them the next time I bake my famous

sugar cookies. 

Thank you,

Jessica

Or this:

Dear John Doe,

Thank you for attending my birthday party. 

Your ability to make everyone

laugh is always appreciated

It really means a lot to me for you to be

a part of my special day.

Thank you,

Jessica

Now, is it really that hard?  

Go on, have fun with it!!

WTF: What, the Fork?!

Do you remember that scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts sits with the hotel manager and learns about table manners?  She is taught how to take the dinner napkin and lay it gently in the lap.  She looks at the table setting as if she’s never sat at a table to eat before in her life.  Her reaction to the to lesson (like many peoples’) was:  “I definitely have the salad fork, but the rest of the silverware is…. confusing.”  Now, for those of us who know how to use the assortment of forks at a formal dinner table this scene is rather humorous.  It brought me back to a time when I was trying to learn the tricks of which fork to eat the salad with.

One main question that came to my mind was “does anyone really care about which fork is the salad fork anymore?”  Probably not, but the piece does have some interesting history…  just look at the Wikipedia page for “fork”!  There are about 30 different types of forks listed! (Not including the spork or the knork- who ever heard of such a thing?) 

   

The Fork.

Yes, that three or four pronged thing usually to the left of your dinner plate has an extremely long and boring history (trust me, I read it).  In most etiquette and party planning books there are chapters on table settings and flatware (except flatware isn’t actually flat)  as well as, where and how the many forks are used.

Without getting too deep into the history of the often overlooked, pronged eating utensil, (did you know that the earliest mention of a fork is from ancient Greece and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible?) I would like to share an easy explanation of the three most important forks that you might see at a fancy restaurant.  Even if you don’t normally set your table this way, if you are entertaining someone out on the town, you wouldn’t want to look foolish by using the wrong fork would you?  Didn’t think so.

The Three Main Forks you may see at a formal dinner include:

Salad Fork:    The salad fork is usually a four pronged fork is used at during the salad course of a mean (most of the time this is the first course).  It can double as a fish fork or even a luncheon fork.  This fork is placed to the left of the plate, the outer most fork.

Dinner Fork:   The dinner fork is a four pronged fork used during the main dinner course of the meal.  It is the largest fork in the set and is placed to the left of the plate, but to the right of the salad fork.

Dessert Fork:   The dessert fork is a four pronged fork (an usually looks like salad fork) and is used during the dessert course of a meal (my favorite!).  This fork is normally served with the dessert course and used to eat dessert that cannot be eaten with a spoon.  If it is placed at the table setting during the dinner meal, it would be placed at the top of the plate with the prongs facing to the right .

If you ever get confused (which you might on occasion) just remember that a table is set according to the use of the flatware, use the outer most fork first!