Even More Obscure Serving Pieces You Must Have

 I must admit this is one piece of flatware (that is not very flat) that I have never used. For some reason I stuck it in my pot lifter drawer and there it sits. In fact, there was a bit of searching to find this little guy to photograph him.
This piece is pewter, not silver of any sort. It is large, about thirteen inches in length. I have always thought it would be great for serving some kind of stew, maybe Brunswick stew. I used to eat Brunswick stew that was made with chicken. It had corn and tomatoes in it and was quite tasty. Then later, as an adult, I ran across a recipe for this concoction and it called for squirrel. Need I remind everyone, I am from the suburbs not the country.
Well, whatever! I find this piece very attractive and interesting but I have yet to find a use for it. Any suggestions?

The top fork is a lemon fork. It is used for picking up lemon slices. The outside tines are flared. It is slightly smaller and more delicate than a salad fork. Although you could use this fork for serving lemon with iced tea or iced water, I think of it on a silver tray with a beautiful old teapot and tea cup for hot tea. I happen to be one of those people who likes milk in my hot tea but if I used lemon in this beverage, I would use this fork.

The bottom fork is a pickle or olive fork. The long handle is good for removing these treats from tall jars. This fork is generally about six inches long. There is a longer handled olive fork that is between eight and nine inches long. The shorter size shown here is more contemporary and versatile.
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 Here are three vintage butter knives. The blade of the top knife is twisted at an opposing angle from the handle. This makes holding the knife while cutting a pat of butter from a stick easier. This is a master butter knife and is used to serve butter on the dinner table.

The next knife is also a master butter knife and has an off-set blade which serves the same purpose as the top knife.

The last knife is an individual butter spreader with a flat handle. This knife is used at the individual place setting and rest across the top of the bread and butter plate. This butter spreader is used for just that, spreading not cutting. If there is not a pat of butter already on the bread and  butter plate, you would cut your butter with the master butter knife, place it on your bread and butter plate and then use your individual butter spreader to apply the butter to your bread.

Master butter knives are slightly larger than individual spreaders. They measure six to seven inches and individual butter spreaders are five to six inches in length.

 This is actually a cheese knife. I have not used it as such in many years. When I was first married, I loved to serve fruit and cheese for the dessert course and I used this piece. My entertaining is much more casual now due to living in California, being a "simpler" person and perhaps a bit more lazy. But I have found a new and I think better use for this piece.

I call it a petit-four server. On Christmas eve, our family follows in my mother's tradition of having favorite appetizers and tiny desserts, nuts, candies...all the things we love but do not dare eat the entire year. I even break out a big dish of cocktail wieners in barbecue sauce! Well, this little server is always used on Christmas eve. It is great for those tiny two bite cupcakes.

Oh my gosh, it is the irreplaceable ramekin server. How can  you live without one of these? I actually received this piece as a gift from one of my dear aunts when I was a teenager. Bless her heart, she must have known I was going to marry a proper Yankee and need such a gentile piece in my collection. The proper use is rather obvious. You have a tray full of the little baking dishes used for baking individual chocolate souffles and rather than simply picking the hot little bowl up, you slide this thingie under it and place it on your dessert plate.

I have also found it handy for serving cookies at very formal occasions. The above mentioned "tasting party" could be an event for this obscure piece to shine. It is quite small, about five inches in length.