How To Set A Table

*oh my my my, I'm dallying from Cookie Week - forgive me forgive me! I promise you'll be glad I'm posting this How To tutorial though...and I'd be willing to bet you'll remember at least one tip from it while setting your holiday table! And anyway, keep your socks on, a Cookie Week post is coming up later today!*

Christmas is fast approaching and with that comes holiday meals and with those comes setting a table. I'll be honest with you, when I was a kid I read a book on party etiquette by Emily Post. You may laugh now. Ok stop. No really - I realize I was a total geek. But please. Some decorum, if you will.

Now.

Here's how to properly set a table:

Start with the dinner plate. Set it in the middle of the place setting, directly in front of the chair. Place the bread plate above and to the left of the dinner plate with the butter knife resting on the bread plate. Fold the napkin and lay it to the left of the dinner plate with the folded edge facing away from the plate.


A handy bit of info I've brought out numerous times deals with which side of the plate to lay your utensils. Fork has 4 letters and so does left, therefore the forks go on the left side of the plate. Knife has 5 letters as does right, therefore the knife and spoon go to the right of the dinner plate. The knife's blade is always pointed towards the plate and the forks should rest atop the already laid napkin.

Always ensure your utensils are laid down in the order that they'll be used from the outside in.

The wineglass and water goblet are positioned above and to the right of the dinner plate. The wineglass will be the closest glass to the plate, and the water glass above and just slightly to the left of it.


Lastly, dessert utensils. While it is completely acceptable to lay the table with the dessert utensils already placed, proper placement is important. They'll be situated above the dinner plate with the spoon on top and pointing towards the left, and the fork below the spoon with the tines pointing towards the right.

Shortbread Cookies

Christmas isn't Christmas without shortbread cookies. Shortbread is in like, the Top 5 of Christmas cookies, right beside Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread, Nanaimo Bars, and more.

Shortbread is a funny thing. You either like it, or you don't. There really isn't a middle ground with shortbread. You might say it's too dry and crumbly, or like myself and my brother, go crazy over it. Especially if it's dipped in chocolate, perhaps. Me? I like it plain jane.

In my opinion, shortbread cookies need to be two things. One - small. Shortbread is best in small doses so that you can appreciate the buttery-ness without being overwhelmed by it's richness. Two - it has to be firm enough so that it doesn't crumble until! until it hits your tongue where it's almost as though it takes a big sigh and then - then it crumbles into several delicate chunks.

Yum.

The shortbread recipe I used last year still stands as a fabulous recipe to use, but this year I decided to give this recipe shared by 17 & Baking, a try. She piped her cookies using a star tip and I thought they were ever so pretty.


Melt In Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes
Makes 5 dozen 1.5″ piped cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment.

Whip butter on high speed in an electric mixer for 10 minutes, until white and very fluffy. In the meantime, sift together the sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Beat them in on low speed for one minute, then on high speed for 3-4 minutes until well combined.

Transfer to a piping bag fit with a large star tip. Pipe cookies two inches apart into 1.5 inch “stars” and bake 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Cookies might be crumbly, so let them cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.

Candy Cane Cookies

Spur of the moment blog event:

The Week of Cookies!

Yes that's right. Every day this week I'm posting one of the cookie recipes I'm baking for Christmas - for your sole pleasure! Try to contain your excitement!!

Today's cookie? A retro cookie straight outta the aluminum tree and color wheel (ooooh I want so bad), Andy Warhol, go go boot and Elvis era - the Sixties, of course! Betty Crocker's Cooky Book, published 1963, showcased this funky cookie with it's twisted strands and when I first saw it via Cakespy, I knew it was going on the must-bake list this year.

The only changes made to the recipe was going the all butter route as suggested by Cakespy (the original recipe calls for a shortening and butter blend) as well as skipping the almond extract in favor of using all vanilla.

Candy Cane Cookies
Adapted From Betty Crocker's Cooky Book
Makes 4 dozen

1 cup butter
1 cup sifted icing sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
red food coloring

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cream butter and sugar; add egg and vanilla. Blend thoroughly.

Spoon and measure flour, stir in salt. Add to butter mixture and combine.

Divide dough into two parts; blend red food coloring into one half until desired shade.

Taking small bits of dough from each color, roll each into 4 inch strips on a lightly floured surface. Place strips alongside one another, press gently together and twist. Very important - shape cookies one at a time or dough will become too dry to twist.

Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet and curve the top of cookie down to form the handle of the candy cane. Bake approximately 9 minutes or until bottoms are just lightly browned. While still warm, remove to cooling rack and if so desired, sprinkle with sugar. Allow to cool completely.