To wonder if I am greedy or do some people serve really small portions?

[TheHouseOnTheLane]

I don't think I'm greedy....I'm a slim person...size 10-12 UK and 5 foot 6.

I don't binge or anything but when I eat a roast dinner, I do want more than 2 potatoes!

When MIL cooks anything she always seems to underestimate amounts....so there's for eg 2 potatoes per adult and one per kids...not a lot of meat and two other vegetables....curry...she'll do enough rice so people get two dessert spoonsfull.

That's not enough is it?

My MIL cooked us a roast dinner last week. She asked me how many roast potatoes I wanted."Two please" i replied. She looked at me"There's no need to be polite" she said "OK, I'll have two potatoes, you fat bitch".

My MIL does this. I hate it - "You won't have any pudding?" "I've just given you one potato" etc.

My mum and I always put out serving bowls with plenty of each thing in for people to help themselves. I hate this revolting "dishing up" or "plating up" business where someone else decides how much is on my plate.

Nobody ever gives me stew as a snack

DH is Irish and we always have roast and champ. DD (age 12) has 4 - 5 roast pot, DH has the same, AND a huge dollop of champ, and we all have 4 Yorkshire Puddings (done in cupcake tins).

In his younger days DH's appetite was legendary. Our first Christmas together, he had so much food piled on his plate that he couldn't move the plate for fear of an avalanche. He had to lean over and kind of hoover up the top layer before he could cut up anything or move his plate to the table.

I didn't really gain weight due to being pregnant. When I was discharged from the midwife at 11 days I weighed less than at my booking appointment. I was sick and ate poorly most of the pregnancy though. So now I guess I am making up for it and fuelling DS's 6 week growth spurt with epic amounts of food

Worra - 4 roast potatoes per person is fine I would think in most people's book.
When we have folks over I cater generous portion sizes, but not outlandish ones.
Apart from christmas time when I completely over do the stuffing and pigs in blankets since the memorable year when before I'd finished putting everything out, greedy teenagers filled their plates with only these items and weren't reprimanded by parents, meaning there was none left for me, the stupid mug who'd cooked the meal. That ain't happening again, no surree.

My mum and dad always used to serve off-puttingly huge portions, a mountain of food on each plate, so I tend to err on the side of caution when I'm cooking for people whose appetites I don't know well - whilst assuring them there's plenty more if they want seconds. That said, I think two roast potatoes (assuming two halves of potato rather than two whole potatoes cut in half) is possibly a bit stingy, unless there's lots of other stuff on the plate too.

I usually prefer to make a meal which works best when people help themselves, though - I think that's much more convivial and takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.

I am used to 'working men'

They can genuinely eat three meals in one sitting.

I am also Jewish and can confirm that it is an inherited trait! I'm also a quarter Irish so I'm basically a steaming mass of food angst that somebody didn't like my food / is still hungry / should have been offered something else.

I always put food into bowls for people to serve themselves. I don't know what my guests like best - Sally might secretly hate stuffing cause she is a nutter but have a total pigs in blankets fetish whilst Sarah is allergic to bacon but has to eat stuffing eight times a day or she faints. Let them at it!

Crikey, if I only catered 5 roasties each we'd all be heartbroken.

Might just about get away with 9 each ...

Never knowingly undercater in this house too. I would be ashamed. See also running out of booze. Criminal act.

I fondly remember when I was bfing my twins - DTS was also a mammoth puker so I was basically feeding triplets. I ate 2 large pieces of cake every single day for 9 months and was still 10kg lighter than pre pregnancy. Lost 6st in 4 months! Sadly bfing a singleton this time around is not quite so efficient...

That is a small amount. It's quite unusual from an older person. My mum and her Mum always put way too much on the plate, I think it's an Irish thing. It's like it was their duty to feed you up. Even then there would be a bowl of extra spuds in the middle of the table!

Once, when I was going out for a meal with work, I went round to a friend's house to get changed first. (I lived miles away and she was nearby). She was Irish and refused to let me leave to go out for a meal until I had eaten a meal at her house. Apparently, you can't put a foot across the door without being fed, it would be rude.

I came on to post that this would never happen in Ireland, but I see others have beaten me to it!

When my brother comes I only make enough for one portion for each person, because he has the appetite of a small army and I have no intention of letting him eat 3 days worth of food in one go. It's not a matter of money, I just don't want to drive out and remake an entire dinner all over again. So I save the ingredients and make the rest the next day as fresh leftovers if you will.

My grandmother has a small appetite though, she makes small portions. We bought food from the grocery store and she got upset that we were eating before dinner, thinking we wouldn't have room for it all. We still ate all our dinner.

My FIL on the other hand will get enough food to feed an army and then send us all home with the leftovers.

I just shut up and eat and grab snacks later if I'm still hungry.

I'm howling over the Wuthering Heights potatoes :o

My grandmother was like this. She was a tiny little woman who subsisted on tinned peaches and an Oreo cookie or two, so people eating things like a whole sandwich drove her crazy.

SIL will serve a tesco quiche to 6 people. With a bag of mixed salad and one little carton of salary rice or whatever. I eat before I go round. The first time it happened we took the piss but she was deadly serious. She's not slim...

My MIL does this. Two potatoes each, a few carrots, maybe one piece of broccoli if you are lucky. There is normally a meat dish and a chicken in a sauce dish but you get hard looks if you have a bit of both ( the chicken is for the fussy son first). The men of the family happily serve themselves more than their fair share but if I dare to take a bit more I get little comments - "oh she likes her food." It seems women are expected to have tiny tiny portions. I am a size 10 - so hardly massive. I think it's terrible hosting to not provide enough food, it makes people feel uncomfortable. DH has tried to have a word in the past but she just takes offence and carries on. I think she does it because she is tight and hates spending money on us (not poor though has a massive house and goes on holiday every month). But still takes the huff if we don't go for dinner at least once a month. I have started eating before I go.

I am on one hand heartened my MIL isnt the only one but on the other hand horrified at all those MILs out there commenting on the amount their DILs want for lunch.

It's a note to myself for when I'm a MIL. Are there any MILs out there that do this that would like to explain why? Especially the "it's OK for the men to have as many potatoes as they like, but if DIL has more than one, it's OK to notice it, comment on it, frown etc" business.

My mum is like this. REALLY mean with portion sizes. Not just at dinner but throughout. Eg If you happen to have more than one biscuit with a cup of tea she will comment. If you go out for coffee etc and had a cake or whatever she will make a big point of saying "oooh that's huge. You can never finish that will you? Oh my goodness.' Basically implying that you are a complete glutton and should be ashamed of yourself.

Whoever said this upthread: my mum and MIL are both like this, and to me the reason is obvious. They simply did not eat as much as we do when they were our age. Coffee shops weren't such a thing then. Rationing had been ingrained. They didn't have as much disposable income etc. etc.

I think they're right, we do, as a nation, eat way too much (guilty). Sensible portion sizes have gone out the window. The coffee and cake culture is prevalent. Sweet 'treats' are no longer treats, they're just normal everyday food. etc. etc.

So in answer to your question re: roasties - 2 is stingy if it is your only/main meal of the day and there isn't yorkshire puds, parsnips, carrots etc. to compensate. Not if it isn't and there is.

HTH.

I agree flapinko. Just because we eat much more as a nation, it doesn't really make someone stingy if they don't cater to that.

I have a fairly small oven and often have 8 people around for Sunday dinner. They'll get about 4 roasties, meat, stuffing, yorkshire pudding, 2 veg and gravy. If it's a special occasion, we'll probably have a dessert too.

If they're not satisfied with that as one of their 3 meals per day, they can bugger off home and stuff till their hearts content.

But it's their issue if they feel hard done by that they didn't get 6/7/8/9+ roast potatoes.

It's certainly not mine.

Oh and I come from an Irish family but they wouldn't expect a shit ton of potatoes at someone else's house, when there are other mouths to feed too.

In their own homes, all bets are off

None of my Irish family expect a shit ton of potatoes just cos they're Irish. They don't drink till they fall over either.

Sorry Worra, had to pick you up on that.

Before 'picking me up' on that, you might want to read the last few posts on the thread.

People are talking about how much the Irish feed/eat...

Then shame on all of them. Lol.

Working in London, people used to affectionately call me potato because if my accent. Didn't bother me to be honest, I'm very secure in myself and my work, but it did make me think the speaker was a little bit on the ignorant side.

Well I suppose two roasties is enough.

I would revolt if I was served less than five I am a huge potato fiend though and could happily polish off all roasties on offer and frequently do