Setting a Redneck Table

A redneck table needs no instruction but here are a couple of handy hints.  It's easy, cheap and fun for a party night, and while you are partying the night away you may as well pull out the Game of Redneck Life to cap off the evening.  You probably noticed that there is nothing in the pots on the table yet but I wanted to get this done and entered before I got busy cooking.

Step 1: The Centerpiece

There are many ways you could go but I found this lovely, if somewhat dilapidated, pot of flowers in a bin at the Goodwill Outlet store.  This is where I also found my very functional, although a bit used, plastic tablecloth (It's amazing to me what great stuff some people will just throw away!)  All this was had for the affordable price of $1.59 a pound.
Candles create a necessary ambiance at any posh party.  No candlestick holders?  No problem!  Take the label off a couple of soup cans and turn them upside down, that shiny tin will create a beautiful luminescent glow when the lights are down.

Step 2: The Place Settings

Momma needs her "juice" after a long day with the kids and daddy needs his beer.  Many people think of mason jars when they think redneck, but really, any glass jar will do.  Just make sure it's not cracked or chipped, you don't want junior getting a cut or swallowing a piece of glass, no matter how tiny.
Plates, they come from many places and matching them is so boring.  Matching is for people with no imagination and there are people practically giving away pretty plates at garage sales.  Forks are a waste of time, chicken and ribs were meant to be eaten with the forks God gave you on the ends of your hands.  Spoons are for the jello salads and knives are helpful for spreading butter.
Those pretty little yellow place mats are shop rags which can double as a napkin if you really need one, they are quite absorbent.

Step 3: Odd's and End's

Why dirty so many dishes when the pot the food was cooked is quite sufficient.  Think about it, what better way to keep food hotter, longer, than in the pot it was cooked in hot off the stove.
Many months ago I lost my pepper shaker and to this day I have no idea where it is even after a detailed search through the garbage. We have now become so accustom to using the box of pepper that we don't even miss the shaker.  Hmm, I may be more redneck than I'd like to admit :-)  

Step 4: Bread and Butter

Bread an butter are essential at every dinner table, redneck or not.  In this case there were extra from the night before so instead of making more dirty dishes I just put the ziploc bag of them on the table, which, also makes for a quick clean-up if they don't all get eaten.

Well, there you have it!  Just waiting for that beer can chicken to come off the grill.