To plate it in the kitchen rather than let people serve themselves?

[IggyPoppers]

If you're having a family meal do you plate it straight from the whatever it was cooked in onto plates and then carry those plates through or do you decant the food into a serving bowl and carry that through? AIBU to not want even more dishes and to just plate it from the hob?

For guests I half and half. Meat and potato goes on the plate. Veg, yorkies go in dishes unless it is family when all gets plated as I know what and how much they generally eat but I always cook a bit extra which will go in dishes on table for people to help themselves. Extra meat will be sliced at the time of serving as well so if anyone wants more it is ready.
On a day to day basis I cook for myself and my adult sons cook for themselves. Rarely will I cook for everyone so it is not an issue.

Mostly help themselves. I hate being given a plate with too much food already on it for me.

Well my table is in my kitchen so I normally just stick the pan or dish on a mat and put plates in front of everyone if I’m catering for several. If it’s just us three then I’ll plate it first usually (unless it’s something like fajitas where you build your own!)

Really, thedisorganisedMum ? You don't see a difference between relaxing with your own family, and making an effort when you have invited people for night out (particularly when it might be people you don't even know that well ?)
If any one of us invites a friend round for a meal, I don't know how much they like to eat, or whether they like all the components of a meal like I do with dh or dc, so I make the extra effort to let them control that themselves.
You've said you don't need to change your behaviour when guests are there, and yet, in the same paragraph indicate that there are differences. Quite normal, IMO.

We plate it up in the kitchen together, having made it together, so we can say how much we want. If we have guests, we let every dish up their own at the table.

If it's not an occasion then we serve directly onto plates. Who wants the extra washing up?!

By the way, I have never heard anyone say that they "plate up" a meal in real life. Round here you serve or dish up. Is it a regional thing? where do people say it?

MIL plates up in the kitchen then brings it out, and I hate that - I want to decide what and how much I’m going to eat.

I always laugh at adverts where the beautiful family with 2 children are sitting around an immaculate dining table in a show room style kitchen, eating chicken dippers and oven chips out of serving dishes! I wonder if that has ever happened in the history of real life ever?

That wouldn't happen in my house, it's obvious that you point out how many people there are how many Yorkshire puddings there are, hardly rocket science

You've clearly never read some of the Christmas meal threads on MN then 😂

Also, despite using it myself in my previous posts, I hate the term “plate up”. Sets my teeth on edge - there’s something very Hyacinth Bouquet about it to me.

BackforGood
I haven't got a mansion, so we have only 1 dining table and no, there's not much difference between having guests or not!

We tend to get rid of the children but that's about it, we eat in the same plates, use the same glasses and so on. I use the same serving dish for us or for guests.

I am old and have always said "plating up"

"serving up" is what happens in prisons.

"dishing up" is what happens at school

I am South Coast if it helps.

very rare its anyone more than me and dp so its plated up only have a small house so no room for a table and certainly dont need the faff of putting in serving bowls plus extra washing up

I always plate up in the kitchen, Sunday and Xmas lunch too. It’s the way my family’s always done it, come to think of it ILs also plate up in the kitchen when we’ve been there.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about having a mansion ? (thedisorganisedmum)
The point is, with your own 'house family' you know what they will eat. When other people are in your house, you don't, so you let them have choices. Got nothing to do with the size of your house or the amount of plates you have.

I teach my kids that's it's very rude not to eat a bit of everything

No it's not, why would politeness mean eating somethng you don't like or are too full for? I've not heard that before

Cuppa I am on the south coast too and say dishing up as did my mother before me. I often think terminology is pretty much passed down from what you heard as a child.

It depends who it is.
If it's fil I plate up because he makes such a fucking song and dance if I put things in bowls on the table, it's usually Sunday lunch and instead of passing bowls round he stands up with his plate and walks up and down the table like it's a bloody buffet helping himself it really gives me the rage
Normal people I put in bowls and let them help themselves cos they're normal humans

Going against the grain here, but as a guest I always think it's much more of a 'treat' to be served a plate of nicely-presented food rather than be given an empty plate and wait my turn to serve myself. But that may be just me, and I do tend to eat everything (and lots of it). When we have guests we tend to use serving dishes as I know I'm in a minority on this one!

caughtinanet
it's basic manners around me. When invited you don't tell a host you don't like something, you take a little bit to be polite, unless you are physically ill.
It won't kill you to eat something you are not too keen on. It's just rude to leave a full serving plate when the host has made lots of efforts to prepare something.

I always laugh at adverts where the beautiful family with 2 children are sitting around an immaculate dining table in a show room style kitchen, eating chicken dippers and oven chips out of serving dishes! I wonder if that has ever happened in the history of real life ever?

I’m not close to beautiful or immaculate but I do put chips in a serving dish! Chicken dippers I think I’d put on a plate to help yourself from.

Plates go on the table and food gets served from the pan or whatever.

"Say when" is used at our table often!

ating chicken dippers and oven chips out of serving dishes

where do you put oven chips? I cook mine on a piece of foil, I can't see how I would bring that to the table.

I normally cook chips in an air fryer, I can't see how i'd bring that on the table either

With guests I cook what is needed or a bit extra, serve in the kitchen, any extra stays in the kitchen for anyone who wants seconds. Any sides such as veg, salad or bread go on the table for everyone to serve themselves.

Just us, I serve up in the kitchen. I often cook for a planned number of nights. There is always fruit if we are hungry later.

it's basic manners around me. When invited you don't tell a host you don't like something, you take a little bit to be polite, unless you are physically ill.
It won't kill you to eat something you are not too keen on. It's just rude to leave a full serving plate when the host has made lots of efforts to prepare something.

I hate eating at other people’s houses because I have multiple food phobias and hate having to say I can’t eat something. No, it wouldn’t kill me, but when I’ve tried to overcome it out of embarrassment in the past I’ve had to excuse myself and been sick - throwing up on someone’s dining table is definitely more rude than refusing a certain food, but I try to avoid both 😂