TIPical Mary Ellen host Mary Ellen Pinkham shows various types of serving pieces and provides tips on how to maintain their beauty.
- Silver serving pieces at one time in our history were considered to be a necessity when defining etiquette. Social status and wealth were determined by the silver one owned. The various serving pieces expressed the types of luxury foods one could afford and enjoy. In turn, guests' social status was determined by their knowledge of the utensils as well as their place at the table. In the Victorian age, one's position was determined by where they were sitting with regard to the salt well. If one was seated toward the head of the table from the well, they were higher in social rank, and if they were toward the other end of the table, they were inferior.
- There are many utensils that you may find don't serve the practical use they once did. So let's find new ways to use them.
- If you have been handed down a set of silver, expect to have the following utensils included in the immediate set: dinner knives, dinner forks, salad forks, teaspoons and soup spoons. Remember when positioning your silverware on the table in preparation for your dinner party, you always eat from the outside in with forks left of the plate and the knife and spoon on the right.
- Now that you know the "what's what" of serving pieces, let's take a look at how to care for them. I think you will be surprised at how easy it is. Who knows, you may even start using your silver on a daily basis. Go ahead and throw it in the dishwasher, although the manufacturer doesn't recommend it.
- Don't mix stainless steel and sterling silver in the dishwasher. If they touch, it will create a chemical reaction that will leave black spots on the silver.
- If you don't have any silver polish, try toothpaste for a quick shine of your silver. This will not work as a substitute for silver polish, but for a quick shine it does the trick.
- Here's an amazing time saver for polishing tarnished silver. Line the bottom of a pan with a sheet of aluminum foil or use an aluminum pan. Add three tablespoons of baking soda to each quart of water used. Heat the water to almost boiling. Dip the silver into the water and let it remain until the tarnish disappears. The silver must touch the aluminum.
- Be gentle with silver-plated items. Unlike sterling silver, these items have several layers of different materials, and if they are banged around a lot, the top layer of silver has been known to chip off.
- Make sure silver is dry before putting away. It's best to leave out for several hours after polishing or washing. Dampness can cause silver to rust, which appears as black spots.
- To make sure that the shine stays with your silver as long as possible, make sure that it is stored in a proper silver chest lined with rouge cloth.
