Plate up or self serve?

[Spondoolie]

Christmas dinner/roast dinner - which do you do?

YABU = plate up
YANBU = self serve

We always plate up.

Our kitchen or table isn't big enough to do anything else

Someone else plating up for you at home isn't giving a shit about the visuals. I care about the visuals

Does anyone else get anxious with self serve? I’ve been thinking about this and wondering why I do (I do get anxious easily though…). I think part of it is navigating ‘shoulds’, eg, as I taking too much/leaving enough for others, will I be hungry or too full, if I don’t take enough now, will any remain etc.

I think I prefer others to plate up for me, that way I know what I’m working with and can just get on and eat it.

Having said that, it depends on how well people know you as to whether they get quantities and options right.

Plate up, I do for my eldest who is disabled and would struggle to wait if there was a queue of people serving themselves in the kitchen, or if everyone was pushing at once it would be too much. We normally have Xmas dinner at my parents’ who are used to our preferences, and I do roasts over the Xmas break.

Self serve but with an initial limit of three pigs in blankets per person - you can always get more but otherwise DD1 would have ALL of them.

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.

Self serve. And not just at Christmas, this is how we eat. If left to it, my husband would serve me a humongous plate of food and I wouldn’t be able to eat more than a quarter of it.

I carve up a plate of meat and put in centre of table on a large meat platter so Turkey and glazed gammon then roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and mashed potatoes go in the hot buffet server and pigs in blankets, stuffing, sausage meat and various vegetables all go in serving dishes on the table. 2 jugs of gravy a turkey one and a vegetarian one. DH is a vegetarian and has his own lentil loaf he cuts a couple of slices from and he has it Boxing day too. Everyone serves themself everything. People take what they want. I hate having my meals served up on a plate for me because I like lots of carrots but no Brussel sprouts, no parsnips but lots of peas etc.

I plate up. We’re a small family and I know exactly what everyone likes.

Decanting into serving dishes means more washing up, more dishes that need warming up when oven space is already short, more delay before we start eating so more time for the food to go cold.

If anyone wants another roast potato or pig in blanket or whatever, they can still have it - they’ll just be taking it from a cooking pan rather than a serving dish.

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

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.

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

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!

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.

you eat at ones that serve "family style"

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

Asking for seconds would make anxious though.

That sounds amazing!

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 .

Plate up always. I hate self serve