A formal dinner

More passages. Fiona had a birthday. Her choice for a celebration was a formal dinner where the parents wait on the children. We had done this several years ago for Noah, but she barely remembered it and wanted one of her own.

She invited her grandma. There was a brief discussion about whether grandma was first and foremost a guest and hence would sit at the dining table, or primarily a grown-up thus relegated to the kitchen and waiting staff. It was decided, quite rightly, that grandma was a guest.

A folding table was placed in the midst of the warm ambiance of the living room and laid with a real tablecloth, topped with full place settings of silverware including all those different sizes of forks and spoons for the various courses. There was a candle in the centre, and a choice of red or white "kids' wine" (sparkling grape juice) to start along with some rice crisps.

Then there was soup (cauliflower, the birthday girl's favourite) or salad with ume plum and garlic vinagrette. Followed by a choice of entrées: ham, jacket potatoes and peas for the birthday girl and any other meat-deprived omnivores living in this mostly-vegetarian family, or squash-stuffed agnolotti (fresh but store-bought, I confess!) with mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic.

To finish we all enjoyed a Tiramisu Layer Cake which was also of her request, and decaf lattés.