Page 3 | Plate up or self serve?

Spondoolie · 2024-12-22T18:42:44+00:00

Christmas dinner/roast dinner - which do you do? YABU = plate up YANBU = self serve

happy44 · 22/12/2024 20:56

So I prefer self serve so the dining table isn't really busy....but.... how do you do this with hot plates????

Floralnomad · 22/12/2024 20:56

Sherrystrull · 22/12/2024 20:53

Plate up. Some relatives are well known for eating 3x their allocation of roast potatoes etc and after a few Christmases of some people left with barely anything (I'm not the host so don't have control over amounts made but there should be ample as long as some people don't eat 25 roast potatoes) this is what my family does and it's less stress for everyone.

We have the opposite problem , if it’s not plated up people take 1 slice of turkey , 2 carrots etc and we have loads left .

Printedword · 22/12/2024 20:55

mrsm43s · 22/12/2024 18:46

Dishes in the centre of the table. DH carves and puts meat on plates, help ourselves to everything else from the dishes on the table, passingroundcas required.

Pretty much all meals are served like this in our house.

Exact same here. Plated meals with veg on wasn't done at Christmas even in the 80s

Hoppinggreen · 22/12/2024 20:54

BarbaraHoward · 22/12/2024 18:54

Wow. Imagine putting some food out for a busy mum who's looking after a baby. How dare she.

We put everything on the table and everyone helps themselves. Easier than trying to make sure everyone has decent slices of turkey, ham and stuffing!

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How could she possibly know what I wanted, in what quantities and what should go next to what?
Meant well but I hate anyone putting food on my plate

Sherrystrull · 22/12/2024 20:53

Plate up. Some relatives are well known for eating 3x their allocation of roast potatoes etc and after a few Christmases of some people left with barely anything (I'm not the host so don't have control over amounts made but there should be ample as long as some people don't eat 25 roast potatoes) this is what my family does and it's less stress for everyone.

Tanfastic · 22/12/2024 20:46

CoffeeCakeAndALattePlease · 22/12/2024 19:09

I would prefer self serve but limited space both in kitchen and at the table means it’s much easier to plate up. So I do that.

Same, I just don't have a table or side big enough, so it gets plated up.

K0OLA1D · 22/12/2024 20:41

The only things we ever self serve are buffet type teas. This is at family and any friends we've ever eaten at. Really surprised by this thread

marginallyawake · 22/12/2024 20:36

Plate up. There’s limited space for self-serve and it always goes cold.

airingcupboards · 22/12/2024 20:35

I don't think anyone has played up my food in a domestic setting since the eighties! I'd be really disappointed if they did. I know my mum and sister would definitely say they knew what I'd like but they really, really don't...

MaMoosie · 22/12/2024 20:30

Plate up always. I hate self serve

Floralnomad · 22/12/2024 20:29

We go to my sisters , on Christmas Day there are more of us and she plates up - all close family she knows who has what and how much . Boxing Day there are fewer of us and it’s self serve . Works ok for us .

Slidingdowntherainbow · 22/12/2024 20:26

devilspawn · 22/12/2024 20:13

We have those electric warmers, they're great. You can use them as individual serving dishes or take all the dishes off and use the surface underneath for heating plates or keeping bread or even takeaways warm.

Plus you can just put the lids on the dishes and stick them in the fridge, then bring back out for heating again as leftovers.

They're not bad a price either.

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That sounds amazing!

katter · 22/12/2024 20:25

Asking for seconds would make anxious though.

SquashPenguin · 22/12/2024 20:24

Always self serve. All the food goes on the island.

katter · 22/12/2024 20:23

Slidingdowntherainbow · 22/12/2024 20:04

Isn’t it cold by the time you go back for seconds?

I think if I went first, I’d take too little to make sure I wasn’t seen as greedy or didn’t leave enough for others. I think if I was last, I’d feel I’d have to leave some to be polite and that I’d be anxious whilst others plated in case there wasn’t enough for me.

God, my anxiety is bad!

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It's not really cold no. Just not piping hot.
Also sometimes people don't use Service dishes but put pots and pans on the table. That's just among family though.
If you're raised this way you're just grown into it.
With the amount my mum cooks nobody would go hungry that's for sure.

Diversion · 22/12/2024 20:22

I have done both in previous years. It works better for us just to serve the turkey on individual plates and then have everything else self serve. Lots of can you pass me the .............. please but was better than putting everything on plate and trying to remember who wanted or did not want something. I will put the emergency table out so that the extras can go on there once everyone has got what they want and have seconds if they wish.

bohnerific69 · 22/12/2024 20:19

Growing up, my mum always did self serve. However, we've been going to in laws for the last 10 years and they plate up for everyone. I don't know what I prefer tbh. MIL always does a small portion for the women and men get more (this blew my mind the first year) but I always have seconds!

stopringingme · 22/12/2024 20:13

We plate up as it is just us.

We each add our own gravy and condiments as we like different things.

Extra items are left in the kitchen if anyone wants more.

I also always cook extra as my Husband is working boxing day, and he takes another Christmas dinner with him for his break.

If we had guests, I would use serving dishes and let them serve themselves the amount they want to eat.

devilspawn · 22/12/2024 20:13

Slidingdowntherainbow · 22/12/2024 20:04

Isn’t it cold by the time you go back for seconds?

I think if I went first, I’d take too little to make sure I wasn’t seen as greedy or didn’t leave enough for others. I think if I was last, I’d feel I’d have to leave some to be polite and that I’d be anxious whilst others plated in case there wasn’t enough for me.

God, my anxiety is bad!

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We have those electric warmers, they're great. You can use them as individual serving dishes or take all the dishes off and use the surface underneath for heating plates or keeping bread or even takeaways warm.

Plus you can just put the lids on the dishes and stick them in the fridge, then bring back out for heating again as leftovers.

They're not bad a price either.

devilspawn · 22/12/2024 20:11

5foot5 · 22/12/2024 19:06

Well it's great your DH knows you so well and has your back. But I do think yours is a very extreme position. How do you cope with restaurants?

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you eat at ones that serve "family style"

itsalwaysthesame · 22/12/2024 20:10

Plate up as usually as the people who are invited to dinner I'll know very well and know their likes / dislikes, i have a big platter that has meat & stuffing, then another for vegetables & potatoes so will add what's left on them so people can help themselves for seconds.

Slidingdowntherainbow · 22/12/2024 20:04

katter · 22/12/2024 19:49

Well you take small amounts first and can always come in for seconds (or thirds).
Although asking before you take the last is just polite.
There will always be morethan what is eaten, but any leftovers are stored in the fridge and eaten on christmas day when nobody wants to cook anyway.

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Isn’t it cold by the time you go back for seconds?

I think if I went first, I’d take too little to make sure I wasn’t seen as greedy or didn’t leave enough for others. I think if I was last, I’d feel I’d have to leave some to be polite and that I’d be anxious whilst others plated in case there wasn’t enough for me.

God, my anxiety is bad!

BoldBlueZebra · 22/12/2024 19:57

Self serve please when other people plate up for me I end up with a tower of food with everything touching which I then don’t enjoy

BarbaraHoward · 22/12/2024 19:57

Reallybadidea · 22/12/2024 19:14

For normal meals we put dishes on the table and help ourselves but for Xmas dinner all the dishes go on the kitchen island like a buffet.

How big are people's dining tables that they can fit all those serving dishes on?! Ours seats 8 and is a standard width but there's no way we'd be able to fit everything on there.

Ours is a standard six-that-extends-to-eight, with seven seated at it on Christmas Day. We use one big casserole dish for the turkey and ham, and then serving dishes for stuffing, roasties, sprouts and roast veg. Then it's just gravy and cranberry sauce - not too bad! Just about fits.

BigDahliaFan · 22/12/2024 19:57

We always self serve on the table. We might put the dishes on the island this year.