Inaugural Dress Dinner Challenge Recap - 28 March, 2020

Etiquetteer would like to thank everyone who participated in the first Saturday night Dress Dinner Challenge last night! If you go to Instagram and Facebook and search for #dressdinnerchallenge, you’ll find some wonderful, fun photographs of quarantined diners dressed in their finest from Massachusetts to Colorado to California.

For Etiquetteer the evening began with a champagne videoconference with Relatives at a Geographic Distance. But when you serve as your own household staff, that means any dinner party will eventually end up in the kitchen.

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Because formal dinner menus are most Perfectly Proper in French, here’s Etiquetteer’s translated menu:

Mort l'après-midi cocktail (champagne and absinthe)

Céleri coupé Fromage cheddar et craquelins

Salade verte d’un paquet, vinaigrette au parmesan à l'ail

Saumon poché champagne, sauce à l'oignon

Épinards cuits Riz brun

Jello à l'orange avec garniture fouettée non laitière

Now, doesn’t that sound fancier than it really was? Poached salmon with onions, boiled spinach, and brown rice! You can dress up any old piece of fish if you say it in French.

The main course. The red candles in the candelabra evoke Vincent Price in Masque of the Red Death.

The main course. The red candles in the candelabra evoke Vincent Price in Masque of the Red Death.

When one is one’s own staff, finding ways to simplify Perfect Propriety make a difference. So of course a jellied dessert can be made to look impressive depending on what you set it in. Dear Grandmother’s Victorian-style hobnail coupes served the purpose admirably.

The dessert course. Candlelight makes Etiquetteer grainier.

The dessert course. Candlelight makes Etiquetteer grainier.

Because Etiquetteer had recently been given an excellent bottle of port, the meal concluded with port and almonds. It used to be the thing at formal dinners to intersperse dishes of nuts and candies down the table, and fans of Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel Enchanted April will remember Mrs. Fisher cracking her walnuts with her port at the end of dinner.

Etiquetteer hopes to welcome all of you, and more, to next week’s Dress Dinner Challenge. Many thanks to all the diners, and especially Ondine Brent Eysseric, Craig Hughes, Tim Fitzgerald, David Santori, David Bragdon, Catherine Tidd, and Kymm Zuckert for their enthusiasm and encouragement.

In the meantime, stay home!

Corona Cards from Kids, Vol. 19, Issue 13

Dear Etiquetteer:

During this time of social disconnection, what do you think of a new take on an old tradition: Corona Cards from Kids?  

If you can, hire an out-of-work photographer, who can stay at least six feet away (or take a good DIY shot). Then print and mail to family and friends.  Sadly, there are family members who may not see grandchildren, cousins, etc. for many months. Maybe a nice photo on the shelf would keep spirits up and boast immunity a bit.

Thoughts?

Dear Camp Corona Counselor:

So many thoughts!

Keeping children engaged during house confinement is challenging at the best of times. Etiquetteer can only imagine the added stress of quarantine during this Time of the Coronavirus. Etiquetteer salutes you for thinking creatively about this now.

It is a beautiful and noble thing to consider hiring freelancers during this unique moment in our economy. If this is a possibility for your family, and you can engage a photographer who is able and willing to travel (which may not be possible), by all means do so.

What Etiquetteer likes even more about this idea is that it is something the children can be actively engaged in. And you already know how valuable Etiquetteer believes handwritten correspondence is! Even if you can’t manage notecards with portrait photographs, we all know that grandparents love limited edition artwork from their favorite artists. If you don’t have blank notecards suitable for drawing, just fold ordinary paper into a square.

And why limit yourself to the visual? What about poetry? Couplets, limericks, haikus - all are possible, and all will be welcomed happily by recipients.

Etiquetteer knows of one self-isolated household with teenagers who have decided to form a Quarantine Choir. In-person audiences are not possible, of course, but even if they’re just doing it for their own pleasure, that is sufficient.

Long story short, you’ve hit on a wonderful way to engage children creatively that also helps them think about family and friends they can’t be with for awhile. What could be more Perfectly Proper? Etiquetteer wishes you joy as you proceed, and lots of return mail from recipients.

Let’s also take a moment to salute the workers of the United States Postal Service and other delivery services who are continuing to work during this crisis. They are doing a splendid job keeping us connected!

Finally, Etiquetteer would love to see you and your family get involved in the Saturday Night Dress Dinner Challenge. From setting the table to making decorations - or even helping cook the dinner - there are alots of ways for children of all ages to be involved.

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