Do you use serving dishes for your Christmas dinner?

[lucysmam]

& if you do, where are they from?

I've decided I'd like everything on the table to help ourselves next year so am on the hunt for some, reasonably inexpensive, serving dishes.

It might only be the once it ever happens but I like the idea 🤷‍♀️

I use a mixture of white heart and heart shaped from Dunelm and M and S and the odd Spode piece. It comes together alright I think and can add a red server here and there if needed too

Heart and star

Thanks everyone; I'll start my hunt in the charity shop up the road and then just keep my eyes open for items that work well together I think.

My Dad did have some nice china, thinking about it 🤔 but I expect he'll have either given it to my sister or just got rid of it. I'll have to ask next time I see him.

Someone asked about protecting the table/what we'd usually do; we have a huge glass table & lots of mats to protect it from scratches so that's ok, and usually I'd serve up on the side but just fancy a change.

If it doesn't work out then, well, we tried it to see 🤷‍♀️

I didn't this year, just couldn't face the extra washing up and there was only three of us so I did it buffet style and we helped ourselves and then sat down, lots more room on the table as well so I think even if I use serving dishes next year I'll still do it that way.

I got some Denby pasta bowls free with tesco clubcard points that are a perfect size for serving veg. Bigger ones are from IKEA.

I did Xmas dinner number 2 today, and borrowed my Mums serving dishes. Got me thinking I need some of my own. they are white oval but split in half. I will ask her where they are from.

I have white oval plates for everyday - these get used at Christmas too.
Then for the sides and roast potatoes and Yorkshire pussings -
I have some random Christmas plates and bowls collected over the years .
Platter with a robin (Matalan)
Snow scene with hares (Tesco)
The Snowman bowl ( which is probably 20 years old)
A couple of Spde and Portmerion from TKmaxx/HomeSense

For non-Christmas nice dinners there's white divided dishes and some pyrex clear glass bowls

I had a huge white rectangular platter in the cupboard , as we don't eat turkey its never likely to come ou again so that went to the Charity Shop and a load of wine glasses/champagne flutes

I keep one cupboard in the kitchen for Christmas crockery

We use serving dishes, plain round white ones I bought from John Lewis about 20 years ago. About 5 years ago I also bought some white rectangular platters from sainsburys and they seem to match. I love presenting a few rows of stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, then parsnips or Yorkshire puddings. Or the rectangular platters have stripes of fruit when we entertain on the summer (mainly stripes of melon pieces)

Yes we use serving dishes, but we often use serving dishes when it is more than just the four of us, so they are just plain colours, mostly white, from a variety of obvious kinds of places. Those of you who never use serving dishes - do you always plate up for even large groups? or do people help themselves from what ever saucepans/roasting tins/frying pan you have used? I have casserole dishes that can happily go oven to table, but plenty of other cooking pots/tins I'd rather keep for just cooking.

I do have a few nice Christmas plates and dishes (Spode Christmas tree) which I use. I inherited it from my parents. I don't think I would buy it new.

I've never used serving dishes and there are so many components to a Christmas dinner I don't think we'd have space for it all.

We've always just plated up the dinners.

I have wondered about serving dishes though. Extra washing up and more space needed are the obvious cons. As well as the cost of buying them and space of storing them.

What are the obvious and less than obvious pros? Essentially what is the point?

What are the obvious and less than obvious pros? Essentially what is the point?

I just prefer not to plate up for people apart from my own husband and kids! I don't know what people want and how much they want, and it would take forever to ask every person separately as I do it. There are 12 of us on Xmas day. Instead I put everything out for everyone to help themselves. We have a big kitchen/diner so people help themselves at the kitchen so I'm not very formal about the serving dishes. My mum used to put everything on the dining table so more formal, but I find it takes too much space and is tricky to manage with a large group.

How do you do when you have people round at other times? For 4-8 I would probably plate up the main course at the table and let everyone help themselves to side dishes which would be on the table. For more than 8 (and possibly 8 actually) I would just put everything on the kitchen island for people to help themselves and take to the table. I'd never plate!

I've been collecting Spode for years and adore it. I also have some Portmeirion, Denby and some surprisingly lovely stuff from The Range. Charity shops, FB and TK Maxx are v good for some finds.

It has many pros. People can help themselves, it looks great, I can pass it on to my children (my Spode collection is worth a lot as it's not just the serving dishes), it then transfers straight to the fridge as leftovers, the lidded dishes keep things warm and free from contamination (allergies/veggie/vegan guests), it's part of a lovely tradition bringing them out each December.

I can only think of cons to plating up. Deciding what other people want and how much they want or having to ask each of the 13 people round the table exactly what they want and embarrassing them if they don't want half the veg or making them worry they're asking for too much, faffing about while 12 other people are waiting for you to get to them or the agony of making assumptions about their appetite, likes and dislikes, remembering which spoon you've already used for the non veggie roasties so as not to contaminate people's food by mistake and so on.

I like to let people help themselves. I get making sensible choices for the children and assisting them to put something other than potatoes on their plates but when serving adults, I think it's infinitely nicer to let them choose their combination of food and even what they put next to what on their plates.

What are the obvious and less than obvious pros? Essentially what is the point?
I find serving up for people really annoying especially when your cooking for a lot at Christmas. How the hell do I know if DH's Nan likes parsnips or if his brother fancies 3 or 4 pigs in blankets? So not doing that is huge plus for me,
Much less waste, as leftovers in a dish can be saved but leftover on a plate get thrown away,
People can easily serve themselves with more, which if you have a lot of people sitting down is better than multiple people getting up and down etc,
Having my children serve themselves got my fussy toddlers to try different foods and stopped loads of mealtime misery.

What are the obvious and less than obvious pros? Essentially what is the point?

I never plate other peoples food. They should make their own choices about what to eat. Also I think it’s good for children to take their own food.

It would feel really odd to be making those decisions for others.

To me it just feels more social (and maybe a bit chaotic) to be passing plates, helping other people to food, sharing. My family aren’t originally from UK so even as a child id serve myself. I can remember going to friends houses and it felt weird having a plate of food put in front of me.

We use our serving dishes all year round, I’ll do a salad, bread bowl or chips to share. Sometimes we have fajitas and dc will choose what goes in it. Or a meal of picky bits or veg sticks and hummus.

My boyfriend finds it weird so we sit at the table - I put food on his plate - and dc and I help ourselves!

I have some Denby serving dishes that match my set that are split in two for different veg. Like everyone else I have a mix of other pretty bits too.
I don’t tend to do the whole meal in serving dishes but ask people how many sausages or meat say and then have the roasties and veg and anything else in dishes.
I do use them a bit in everyday meals as well so we can choose how much we fancy for certain meals.
I love a table with odds and ends of China filled with salads and picky type foods we can all pass round.

Yes we do. We've got a mixture of Sophie Conran, white platinum and old Royal afoul ton that I inherited.

I have dishes I use to cook with that double up as serving dishes. So white and glass Pyrex and crockery might be used to make an apple crumble in - or hold a pile of roast potatoes. My nice(and that’s relative) set came from a food market where I got three matching dishes, but I’ve also used pasta bowls as serving dishes.

Playing up vs not playing up is such a weird one - one side don’t understand the other. I grew up with a mixture of family influences so used to be fairly “bilingual” but when I visit the one member of my family who still plates up I find it crazy now.

I love the sound of your red and tartan plates, Santahatesbraisedcabbage!