Edwardian dinner trial run

The day after Valentine's day, I finally got some hands-on practice for what it would be like to host a sumptuous Edwardian dinner. The food itself wasn't so sumptuous, but the surroundings were pretty damned elegant for a couple in their early 30s.

Not having seen my mother-in-law (MIL) since that last fine dinner which I recounted in my last entry, we decided it was high time we return the favor and host her at our house. A friend of ours, having nothing else to do that Friday night, joined us, which was fine with me because it made the table setting symmetrical. We hurried home and got as much ready as we could before MIL arrived promptly at 6:30, having already set the dining table the night before with a plain white cloth, our Strasbourg sterling flatware, a mix of our finest china (all pieces for each service matched, of course), and one of my latest acquisitions: stemware by Waterford! OK, so it's the Marquis line by Waterford -- their machine-cut econo-crystal -- but it's still quite pretty and sparkles in candlelight just like high-end Waterford. We planned a modest three-course repast of salad, baked mahi-mahi with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, and a fruit tart for dessert. While waiting for the fish to bake, we had some pre-dinner cocktails in the drawing room. Once it was ready, we gathered around the dinner table, lit with a pair of beautiful English silver candelabra, and I poured everyone's wine from a cut glass decanter. After the salad course, I turned on the coffee maker so that it would be ready for dessert, laid out the fish on a silver platter, and put the mashed potatoes and broccoli into silver serving bowls. I played footman for a bit, serving the wine from another decanter and taking the fish platter to each person, and then we passed around the side items and rolls. We presented the fruit tart on a round silver salver, and served the coffee in my other recent acquisition, a stunning silver-plated coffee/tea service given to us by my wife's grandmother. Made by Goldfeder in the 1930s, the service includes a kettle-on-stand, teapot, coffee pot, sugar bowl, creamer, and waste bowl, on an enormous, heavy, footed tray. As we were only serving coffee, I put the coffee pot, sugar & creamer on a smaller silver tray. Ordinarily I would have served an appropriate port wine with dessert and coffee afterward, but I knew MIL was getting tired, so I omitted the dessert wine. Cleanup took about an hour, as the dishes and serving pieces had to be hand-washed.

It was a lovely experience, and a great way, I think, to practice serving a grand, multiple-course dinner in the spirit of the evening meals at Downton Abbey. I learned a few lessons from this scaled-down trial-run. First and foremost, I'm never doing this again on a Friday night right after work! I would rather have begun preparations about 2 hours before the scheduled start time. Also, I made the blunder of removing the dinner plates before removing the chargers, instead of both at once. I also lack proper fish forks, but considering the cost of silver these days, little can be done about that. I really should get a pierced serving spoon in my Strasbourg pattern in case I serve very moist vegetables, and a salad set as well; this time around, we made do with a Wilton Armetale salad set.

Someday, though, I hope to host a truly grand Edwardian dinner, with guests arriving in evening dress and gathering around a most elegant table to dine on courses such as hors d'oeuvres, consomme, salmon, filet mignon, some sort of palate cleanser, and dessert. I may even go so far as to hire serving staff for the evening. I've been hard at work making my dining room more and more elegant. After that dinner, I added a leaf to the table and swapped in my nicer-looking damask cloth. I recently purchased a pair of marble-topped plant stands, on which I placed a pair of artificial palms, that really make the room feel lush. Later today I'm finally going to see about getting a gilt frame for my self-portrait, and sometime soon I hope to install a chair rail and crown molding. Later on, as funds become available, I'll get an Oriental-style area rug. For now, though, it's a wonderful experience to be able to sit down in the mornings before work at a beautifully-appointed table, amongst our shining silver and sparkling crystal, and soak in the splendor of another era as we ingest our cold cereal before heading out for another 8 hours of drudgery.