Set a Pretty Table

With nearly 40 years of cafeteria management behind me, I know that selling food was just as much about the setting and the service as it was the menu.  That's no different than enjoying food at home.  Which brings me to my final tip for meal planning:

 Tip #10 for Meal Planning:  Set a pretty table.

We eat at our snack bar, facing each other.  Even when the boys were home, the four of us ate dinner at the snack bar.  My sets of dishes are now in storage, and I have several pairs of pretty china plates, most of them smaller dinner plates.  Placemats are a given.  I actually have a couple placemats I made the first year we were married-39 years ago.  The best of memories are made around the dinner table!