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?

to reply to your question BackforGood
I'm not sure I understand what you mean about having a mansion ?
The point is, with your own 'house family' you know what they will eat.

the point about mansion is that I do not have a formal dining, and a casual one. There's really not much difference if we have guests or not.

No, I don't know what everybody will eat, appetite and mood vary, one can polish his plate one day and not be that interested the next, which is why I don't like plating.

We usually put food in the middle in hot serving dishes. If there is one piece of meat or fish each, that might go straight on plates. We let people pick their own vegetables. That way nobody is worried if there is something they hate, and they can have the amount they like. I can be overwhelmed if my plate is too full. I prefer to have a smallish plateful and then have seconds if I want to.

My children became quite adept at taking a fair share and checking if others have had enough before they finish things off. It is a useful skill.

I plate it up in general. Only time i didn't was a Christmas day when we had 13 to cater for. It was easier to let them help their selves than remember who does not eat what and which allergies were whos etc.

If we have guests I usually do serving dishes on the table, otherwise we plate ourselves up in the kitchen and bring it through to the table.

I don’t have a dining table (tiny house, ridiculously tiny) so I dish up at the hob. Everyone comes to the hob, chooses what (and how much of it) they want, then buggers off with their plate and eats on the sofa.

Combo. My grew up in a family who ate in the kitchen and my own house has the hob on an island v. Close to dining table. I think this affects things.

As a child my Mother simply served all the food, as we got older we could influence what/How much we got. My father now rules the kitchen and does the same.

At home if cooking informally I tend to serve the "main dish" e.g. Lasagna, stew and will either let people help themselves to beg from the hob (if only 2-3 of us) or use serving dishes.

I find it difficult when I'm out & people put everything in dishes as I never want to look greedy and often end up being hungry...

I plate up, including Christmas dinner. I am the one doing the cooking so I know what the portion size is and I know what everyone will or won't eat.

If they don't want it, fine. But I am a homecook, not a chef or a restaurant. I don't take requests or orders, I plate up what I have made and that's that.

Obviously I know what my family do and don't like, dd is a vegetarian, ds is a vegdodger. So I don't deliberately put out food they don't like.

But there are usually leftovers left on the stove/in a bowl if anyone wants anything.

Always plate up. Well saying that DD5 has recently got this thing about "helping ourselves" so I've been doing a few meals like that and oh god what a faff... Extra dishes to wash, everything turning cold while you wait for everyone to get stuff and pass it round... Not for me. I hate it if I go to someone's house and it's self serve as well..I just want it given on a plate and get on with it! I do eat pretty much anything though so wouldn't be worried about getting something I didn't like.

thedisorganisedmum you have some really rather unusual thoughts around all of this.

May I just say I love the batshittery and general Mumsnet middleclass bonkersness of this thread.

Tonight it was just me and 1 dc at home for dinner. We had 3 M&S curries, some basmati rice cooked by me and some M&S poppadoms and a dip made out of yogurt mixed with mint sauce (stirred together by me). We ate it on our laps watching tv. Should I have decanted that onto 4 serving dishes before we ate? According to some of the more amusing posters here we should!

Mostly plate up at home unless it’s a serve in cooking dish like lasagne or pie. If visitors we will put veg, potatoes etc into serving dishes and people help themselves.
PIL always plate up which I find slightly annoying as no input on quantities.

My MIL plates up; my family always lets everyone serve themselves, even when it was just us with no guests. I definitely prefer to serve myself. My MIL always gives me way too much food, even though she knows her servings are too big for me. She always says to eat what I can then looks hurt when I can't finish my food, so I always end up stuffing myself to bursting point so I don't offend her.

Let guests serve themselves.

*Should I have decanted that onto 4 serving dishes before we ate? According to some of the more amusing posters here we should!
*
But surely the curries were already in some sort of container?? Just chuck them on the table!!

Where is everyone 'carrying it through' to?
Have you all got separate dining rooms?

Well yes, shockingly unfashionable as it us we do

I really can't believe the angst over this. I do whatever is easiest day to day and put serving bowls out if we have guests. Job done. All this 'I hate plating up' seriously talk about first world problems. Do you put fish, chips and peas into serving bowls... really? 😂😂

Never plate up, either serving dishes on table or help yourself in the kitchen. We always eat at the table. I don’t like someone else plating my food.

So don't you ever eat out?

Do you put fish, chips and peas into serving bowls... really? 😂😂
Peas I would put into a serving bowl, yes. Oven chips and fish done in the oven I'd put on the table in the trays they were cooked on, on a serving mat, and dish up at the table. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Serving dishes etc just seems a whole lot of faff to me. I dish up, they eat what they want of it, you know how much they eat generally and they will tell me anyway as they get a 10 minute warning before they need to come to the table. Will put in serving dishes if we have guests, put that's not very often so makes it more of an occasion (Christmas etc)

I plate for just us and DC.
If my parents or my sister and her kids are here I might plate (but ask who wants what) - this is easy as we have open kitchen/dining and I plate on the worktop between the two.
Depends on the meal though tbh. If something like sausages, individual meat portions, etc then I plate as there will be one or two per person. If it's eg curry theN I'll put on table for people to serve themselves. Or I might plate the meAt and put veg/sides on the table.

IncrediblySadTo

huh?!?
I do what is easier for all of us, and avoid any food waste. What on earth is unusual about that?

There is nothing worse, though, than having big dishes of food when you're eating with someone who is greedy and/or someone who eats really fast.

'I've give you one of my roasties for three of your sprouts'

Said no one ever :)

We had 3 M&S curries, some basmati rice cooked by me

I don't think anyone is suggesting you put ready meals into serving bowls. That would be ridiculous.

I don't get the whole say what you want thing , do people get called through. To the kitchen, line up like school dinners and then say, three roasties please, then move off and the next in the queue steps up ? Why not just shove it in bowls or whatever it was cooked in and shove it on thr table and let folks help themselves?

I genuinely can't recall a time I was served a plated meal other than a restaurant where portion control is obviously key, or if someone is doing something really fancy. I genuinely don't know anyone who does it, and we dine at others houses often.

Always used serving dishes. It saves on waste as people only take what they want to eat and the leftovers can go into the fridge already in bowls.
Kids learned portion control and were fussy eaters, I think this helped them try different things.

Bit of both but if people want to help themselves - unless we have guests or its Xmas i just bung the pan on the table with a spoon in. Can't be doing with extra washing up!