Rule # 14

Rule # 14 is so important that it merits its own post.

Never take a serving piece from one item and use it for another item.

The serving pieces must not be moved from one item to another or carried along and used to place multiple items on your plate. Why is this so important? There are a lot of people with allergies these days - some so sensitive that even the smallest amount of something that they are allergic to mixed into something that they eat may result in a severe to fatal reaction. If you take the spoon out of the Chicken Blog - which is sauteed in peanut oil and use that spoon to scoop up the string beans you have now put peanut oil into the string beans. Someone with a peanut allergy could die. Not an exaggeration.

Do people move the utensils? I saw it this evening and I have seen it before. A woman filled her plate along the entire buffet table at the Chinese Buffet with the serving spoon from the first tray. To her I am sure it seemed convenient - I have this spoon in my hand already. I took some of that, now why not take some of this, and oh, look at that over there. The spoon made it along the whole serving table. And it never made it back to the original tray - which now has no spoon for anyone else to use.

Aside from allergies, it is rude, and who wants mashed potatoes mixed into the corn? If you want to mix things together do it at your table in your plate with your own utensils.