Good advice.

Recipe for a Pleasant Dinner-Party

A round table, holding eight;

A hearty welcome and little state;

One dish set on a time,

As plain as you please, but always prime;

Beer for asking for and in pewter;

Servants who don't require a tutor;

Talking guests and dumb-waiters;

Warm plates and hot potaters.

Anonymous words of wisdom from the Faber Book of Useful Verse