Which side of the dinner plate does the bones discard plate go on, and how do you know this?!

[NFLDERS]

Bread to the left, drink to the right. This is important to know when at a round table.

http://cooktimewithremmi.com/food-etiquette-article/the-b-and-d-rule-of-thumb

I'm guessing the bone plate would be the bread plate, but I've never heard of it.

Now you've done it! Where do I put my sword!!

 

[NFLDERS]

I have never seen one, but I loathe pulling meat from a bone so I'm highly unlikely to ever serve anything on my fine china that would call for a bone plate.

I am curious if my sister has heard of this, she went through formal cotillion, but I mercifully missed that tradition

Formal what!?

 

[NFLDERS]

When we are something with bones, we had two bone plates on the table..one for each end.

Of THE bone? Sorry, I. Could. Not. Resist!

 

[pryncess527]

Formal what!?

Cotillion. I'm not sure how common it is across the globe, or even across the US. It involved a series of formal etiquette classes, dinners, and dances where my sister and her peers learned proper dinner table manners, several types of dances, etc. I recall being a tad jealous that my mom bought my sister like, 6 different dresses :lol
It ended in a large debutante-style ball where all the kids got to show off their manners & dancing. Sort of a presentation to society now that they'd been property trained

 

[NHdisneylover]

Do you think the "lazy Susan" was invented by someone who had a wife or daughter named Susan who was too lazy to pick up a plate to turn it?

Perhaps someone named Susan invented it because she was sick of passing plates all the time and wanted to eat her foodwhile it was hot

 

[Poohforyou]

ME, and the whole British Commonwealth. My grandfather, uncle, and now 3 cousins are Anglican ministers whom would dine in many homes of provincial ideals; We use Bone Discard Plates!

View attachment 256003 View attachment 256000
Our little hand, pea eater!

Well, maybe it's a British thing. I know in my family/friends nothing would be served on the bone at a formal dinner. If would be plated in the kitchen or sliced off the bone and passed.

For casual dinners where ribs, wings, clams, corn on the cob, or other things that have a great deal of non-edible components, people would be given a bowl. Perhaps there might be buckets placed on tables at a large cookout.

For an everyday meal with something like a chicken breast on the bone, that would just stay on the dinner plate.

I grew up with a mother who went to a boarding / finishing school, hence the pea pushers.

I guess I just don't understand why another plate is better manners than just leaving it on the dinner plate.

 

[NFLDERS]

Cotillion. I'm not sure how common it is across the globe, or even across the US. It involved a series of formal etiquette classes, dinners, and dances where my sister and her peers learned proper dinner table manners, several types of dances, etc. I recall being a tad jealous that my mom bought my sister like, 6 different dresses :lol
It ended in a large debutante-style ball where all the kids got to show off their manners & dancing. Sort of a presentation to society now that they'd been property trained

This too was part of my Newfoundland ancestors upbringing. My mom who was born in 1918 was one of the last in her family to have this life experience.

 

[pryncess527]

This too was part of my Newfoundland ancestors upbringing. My mom who was born in 1918 was one of the last in her family to have this life experience.

It's alive and well in parts of the South US! My sister did it in 1997, and I'm pretty sure the country club in my home county still does. I'm not sure about the debuting part, but as a big fan of Emily Post Etiquette, I loved that she did the other parts. I even learned a few things from her!

 

[NFLDERS]

Well, maybe it's a British thing. I know in my family/friends nothing would be served on the bone at a formal dinner. If would be plated in the kitchen or sliced off the bone and passed.

For casual dinners where ribs, wings, clams, corn on the cob, or other things that have a great deal of non-edible components, people would be given a bowl. Perhaps there might be buckets placed on tables at a large cookout.

For an everyday meal with something like a chicken breast on the bone, that would just stay on the dinner plate.

I grew up with a mother who went to a boarding / finishing school, hence the pea pushers.

I guess I just don't understand why another plate is better manners than just leaving it on the dinner plate.

But, your reply reads as if a bowl IS acceptable... The difference, other than the obvious?

 

[NFLDERS]

Perhaps someone named Susan invented it because she was sick of passing plates all the time and wanted to eat her foodwhile it was hot

Necessity the mother of inventions, a gal named Susan.

 

[NotUrsula]

It's a trick question.

There isn't a "proper" place for a "bone plate" because in formal dining, there is no such thing as a bone plate, as one does not deliberately put bones in one's mouth. If you get a bone in your mouth while eating a piece of fish, you are supposed to discreetly remove the bone from your mouth, then place it on the edge of your dinner plate. With any other kind of meat or fowl, you should be cutting around the bones with your knife and fork and leaving them on the dinner plate where they belong, UNLESS you are eating marrow, in which case you may, if necessary, hold the bone down with your fingertips, whilst using the marrow spoon in your other hand to remove the marrow. Then either eat it from the spoon, or spread it on the provided toast points, which may, of course, be eaten with the fingers. (Of course, it hasn't been common to serve marrow that way in formal settings for nearly 200 years, but who pays attention to that kind of trivia when making up a trick question?)

In a setting that is informal enough that people are deliberately putting bones in their mouths, no one at all is going to care where the discards vessel is, or whether it is a plate, a bowl, or a tin bucket.

 

[xlxo]

At certain ribs and seafood restaurants. They drop a steel bucket in the center. For larger groups, they bring out a bigger bucket.

When you toss your bone.... aim for the sides to make sure it rings!

 

[NFLDERS]

It's a trick question.

There isn't a "proper" place for a "bone plate" because in formal dining, there is no such thing as a bone plate, as one does not deliberately put bones in one's mouth. If you get a bone in your mouth while eating a piece of fish, you are supposed to discreetly remove the bone from your mouth, then place it on the edge of your dinner plate. With any other kind of meat or fowl, you should be cutting around the bones with your knife and fork and leaving them on the dinner plate where they belong, UNLESS you are eating marrow, in which case you may, if necessary, hold the bone down with your fingertips, whilst using the marrow spoon in your other hand to remove the marrow. Then either eat it from the spoon, or spread it on the provided toast points, which may, of course, be eaten with the fingers. (Of course, it hasn't been common to serve marrow that way in formal settings for nearly 200 years, but who pays attention to that kind of trivia when making up a trick question?)

In a setting that is informal enough that people are deliberately putting bones in their mouths, no one at all is going to care where the discards vessel is, or whether it is a plate, a bowl, or a tin bucket.

Well, I do care!

 

[TCRAIG]

I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life
It makes the peas take funny
But it keeps them on the knife.

My favorite poem!

 

[amberpi]

Cotillion. I'm not sure how common it is across the globe, or even across the US. It involved a series of formal etiquette classes, dinners, and dances where my sister and her peers learned proper dinner table manners, several types of dances, etc. I recall being a tad jealous that my mom bought my sister like, 6 different dresses :lol
It ended in a large debutante-style ball where all the kids got to show off their manners & dancing. Sort of a presentation to society now that they'd been property trained

For us it was "the season" but equally as dumb.

 

[amberpi]

This too was part of my Newfoundland ancestors upbringing. My mom who was born in 1918 was one of the last in her family to have this life experience.

My grandma was born in 1918 and named Geneva for it. She was against the Deb thing even though mom and her sisters had done it. For granny, it was "old fashioned" and "you keep those girls in school."

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The bone disposal plate goes wherever it wants to.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Note also that the bone disposal plate also serves as a depository for toys when one isn't eating.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I've never heard of a "bone dish." But I wasn't a bride in the 1800s so I guess that makes sense! What were people in the Victorian era getting down on? I'm guessing it wasn't buffalo wings.

 

[pryncess527]

I've never heard of a "bone dish." But I wasn't a bride in the 1800s so I guess that makes sense! What were people in the Victorian era getting down on? I'm guessing it wasn't buffalo wings.

From the Wiki, it seems like it was mostly fish. I had the same thought as you -- food that leaves bones and fine/formal dinner don't really go together! I don't eat fish though, so didn't think of that.