We went to the Orange County Fair on Saturday (a bad day to go--getting off the freeway was impossible). It was fun, as fairs usually are. My favorites are the Peking Acrobats and the crafts booths, and of course the abundancy of fried food. We also walked through the exhibition buildings and one of my favorite competitions is the table setting competition. Apparently you design a theme and plan a table setting (one was Elvis, one was Halloween, etc.). You make a centerpiece and coordinate all kinds of different cutlery and place settings, plus you write up a menu for the planned meal. You are judged on both technical and artistic merit. What's really funny is seeing the judge's comments, like "Plates and silverware should be placed 1 inch from the edge of the table" and "Water glass should sit at the tip of the knife." Also, a couple of people got nailed on having extra items for things that weren't on the menu, like having bread plates when no bread was listed, or champagne flutes for the same. And two people had their dessert forks pointing in the wrong direction! The horror!
I truly wonder how one gets involved in place setting competitions. Where do you learn this stuff? Where do you get all of these accoutrements? It's crazy.
Haha--right after I posted this I Googled Table Setting Competition and found someone else's blog entry about it. As it so happens, the guy lives in Redondo Beach and the competition he saw was none other than the Orange County Fair! He's got some pictures there and a pretty funny write-up. Go see it.
Posted by Shelby at August 6, 2007 10:11 PMWow I learned so much in this post. I need to remember when I have my next dinner party. I wish fairs I went to would have competitions like that! It would be hilarious to see in action.
Posted by: Raz at August 8, 2007 10:38 AM