Fingers or Fork?

Have I shown you my cute and informational Christmas present I bought for myself?  It is Emily Post’s “ETIQUETTE:Manners for a New World” book.  I got it at Costco.

I couldn’t resist a Tiffany blue hard bound book full of interesting information.

There is a section in the book call “Fingers or Fork” so I decided to cover this manner for F week.

Manner: As a general rule if you are at a fast-food restaurant, picnic, or barbecue, it is pretty likely that fingers are acceptable.  But if you are at a nice restaurant or dinner at someone else’s home, most likely use a fork.  Also consider how messy the food is.  If the food has a sauce or lots of toppings, use a fork.

Activity: We played “Fingers or Fork?” I called out a food and the kids would either hold up their fork or hold up their finger to show which on you would use.

Here is a list of the foods I quizzed them on.  Many of the foods required explanations.

soft taco– FORK (unless it can be eaten neatly with fingers)

hard taco– FINGERS

french fries– FINGERS (unless they are served with a food that requires a fork.  What?!?)

pizza– FORK if it is gooey and has lots of toppings, FINGERS if you can pick it up without too much mess

fried chicken– FINGERS

chicken– FORK if it is broiled or baked or roasted

asparagus without sauce– FINGERS

asparagus with sauce– FORK

hamburger– FINGERS

hotdog– FINGERS

I threw in a few personal ones that we struggle with at our house:

broccoli– FORK

scrambled eggs– FORK

rice-FORK

Book: This looks like a fun book I will have to check out.  For a short review click here.