Alice!!! I KNEW you'd jump on this topic - thanks for not disappointing me!
Nobody involved in this little party has ever attempted this sort of dinner. We've got the menu pretty well set, and honestly, it almost ended up being a "Foods of the World" menu - that is, if you count S. Louisiana as abeing it's own nation, which we do!
I dunno - I guess I'm just wondering if there is something I haven't thought of that might wreck the whole thing.
FYI for anyone interested, I have a book called "Haviland China, The Age of Elegance" by Nora Travis that outlines what you might expect from a late 19th century formal dinner party. We used the book as a guideline for what to serve during which course. Each person involved has their own specialty that they will be responsible for cooking and serving. I am providing the kitchen and the china, and my friend Clarissa and I will actually be doing most of the cooking because we love to do these sorts of things. We've just never divided it up into courses before. It really makes sense though - you have time to devote to enjoying each dish in small quantities instead of trying to pig out on it all in 20 or 30 minutes.
Trust me, this dinner may look formal, but everyone involved is so enthusiastic, it will have a very casual feel to it. I'm so very happy to be able to put the old Haviland to good use again. It is old enough that it doesn't have a pattern name - Haviland didn't do that until the 30's - and "pattent applied for" is on the back of all the pieces by Theodore Haviland. I did look it up in the Schleiger books and while I can identify the blank (No. 122) still can't quite determine the floral pattern of pink, white and yellow roses with greenery. It's fairly similar to the popular Rosalinde pattern that came out in the 30's.
That's way out of my league. 
