The Saturday Sip: July 29, 2023
Your etiquette tip, quote and an Emily Post Cookbook recipe to start your weekend off right!
The Tip
When dining with others, unless it holds cultural significance, do your best to not make any noise. Chewing food and sipping drinks quietly make for a more pleasant dining experience for all. If the food or beverage makes it hard to consume quietly, do your best to be discrete. Remember always that the goal when dining is not to gross out your companions. We tell children not to let people ‘see’ their food. As adults, we would rather not ‘hear’ the chewing as well.
The Recipe
Last week’s Potato Salad recipe came with the use of French Dressing and Emily has provided a recipe that is not only great but can be kept in the fridge for a long time. Let’s check it out!
Emily Post’s Cookbook, 1951, pg. 283
French Dressing
Time: N/A
Serves: 1 1/3 cups
French Dressing may be made in large quantities and kept indefinitely in a closed jar in the refrigerator and shaken well just before using. If the oil in the dressing is solidified by the cold of your refrigerator, it will become liquid again after a few minutes at room temperature and its flavor will be unimpaired.
Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
5 or 6 tbs. vinegar (the best result comes from using 4 tbs. wine vinegar and 2 of tarragon vinegar)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Singapore or other good black pepper (black gives a finer flavor than white pepper)
1 tsp. dried marjoram (or 3 fresh leaves tarragon, chopped, or fresh basil or other herb)
1 pinch cayenne pepper or 6 to 8 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. paprika (optional)
1 tsp. finely chopped onion or onion juice (optional)
Directions
Beat the following [above] ingredients with an electric beater or shake them thoroughly in a glass jar with a tight-fitting screw cap.
Variations
If you like variations in your salad dressing, mix in quantity only the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. And then put the amount you wish to use in a small bowl and beat different flavorings into it before you serve your salad.
Besides the seasonings given above try any one of a combination of the following: 1 chopped hard-boiled egg; 2 or 3 tbs. Roquefort cheese, crumbled; 1/2 tsp. chili powder; 1/2 to 1 tsp. chopped chives; 1 tbs. chopped parsley; 1 tsp. sugar; 4 or 5 leaves of fresh mint, chopped; a small ripe tomato, chopped (use both pulp and juice); and by all means try beating in 1 or 2 tsp. of mayonnaise.
The Quote
“Etiquette requires the presumption of good until the contrary is proven.” - Emily Post
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Thank you for spending a bit of your day with us. We hope you’ve enjoyed the Saturday Sip today! Let us know in the comments if you have a French dressing recipe you love! And remember, the Monday thread is open to all!
Up next is Monday’s Awesome Etiquette podcast with the Etiquette Extra and Community Member Bonus Question of the Week!
Until then,
Lizzie and Dan
Emily Post at her desk in her office on Martha’s Vineyard.
I'm so happy to have this French Dressing recipe -- it sounds a lot like one my grandmother used and I can't find her recipe.
I also want to encourage readers to buy the Centennial Edition of Emily Post's Etiquette -- for yourself and for every graduate or newlywed you know. I've had mine for several weeks and every time I dip into it, I'm impressed with how useful, interesting, and practical it is. You have done a brilliant job of bringing Emily's principles into today's world with grace and kindness. It belongs on every household's shelf.
Oh my goodness, don't even get me started on chewing noises. Whether someone chews quietly or smacks their gob can change whether I'm willing to eat with them again or not. Many people, such as myself, suffer from what's called misophonia — a revulsion to certain noises. This makes smacking lips not just gross, but outright distressing. Of all the bad table manners I can imagine — elbows on the table, cutting up food to cool it (which I can easily forgive in cases of temperature sensitivity), not using a napkin, etc. — this is the worst, as it's not just breaking an agreed-upon social rule, but it's outright offensive to the senses. I'll sit myself through the dinner without fuss to be polite, but I'll probably avoid eating around that individual in the future at all costs; it's a necessary step to preserve my sanity.