March Manners

If it went in on a spoon, it comes out on a spoon. How well do you know proper table side manners? Don’t fret! While everyone else is obsessing over their March Madness brackets, we are dominating the manners game and brining you straight to the championship of etiquette.

Manners are something used to make a good impression on others and to feel good about oneself. No matter where you are – at home, work, or with friends – practicing good manners is important… mostly when you are trying to impress your significant other’s parents! Stick to these rules from Vogue’s Book of Etiquette and you will come out on top!

Vogue’s Book of Etiquette –  21 Rules for Table Manners:

1. Napkins belong on the lap.
2. The back should be straight without rigidity.
3. About elbows, which should be anchored to the table or the ribs, but always down near the sides.
4. Use your soup spoon in a motion away from the table edge.
5. Leave soup spoon in soup plate when done, but never in a soup cup.
6. Always drink something served in a cup from the cup itself (do not drink coffee from a spoon after stirring it).
7. The little finger should never be crooked.
8. Food should be kept in the center of the plate away from the flat rim.
9. Do not push around or mess up your food.
10. Only one thing cut at a time, no layering.
11. Two bites should never be taken from the same forkful.
12. The mouth should be wiped before drinking to keep the edge of the glass attractively clean.
13. Always break bread into pieces before buttering.
14. Sauces should not be sopped up with bread, nor should bread be dipped into coffee. . . . Though “Sopping up sauces or gravy with a piece of bread is standard practice in the good, hearty eating ways of middle-class Continental Europe; here, it is regarded as a little eccentric but flattering to the hostess.”
15. Salad should not be cut with a knife.
16. Anything that must be taken from the mouth and put back on a plate is dealt with according to a very simple rule: If it went in on a spoon, it comes out on a spoon (follows for hands, forks, etc.).
17. Never dip one utensil used for one reason (jam) into the vessel of another (butter).
18. Condiments go on the plate before the food.
19. Same goes for food served from a platter.
20. Soup, oysters, or any food already portioned should never be refused.
21. Fingers should never be used to push food onto the fork.