Xmas dinner

[Empress13]

Hosting 8 people this year. Just wondered if you put your food out in serving dishes for people to help themselves or do you plate up ? Our table isn’t that big so it’s a bit awkward to put all the dishes on the table. Just interested as to what others do

A bit of both.
I plate up the meat and serve the veg and extras from a heated hot plate which is on a nearby sideboard.

We plate up a small dinner each with a bit of everything and then put extra on the table.
It works for us (12). We find it's quicker and fewer serving dishes on the table.

I put everything on the table for people to serve themselves. I just prefer it.

Serve themselves. I’ve also got a hostess trolley. Underrated but so bloody useful.

I plate up for everyone. Kind of an assembly line with a helper I’ve roped in. Then you can make sure nobody has more than their fair share( sad but true in my DH’s family).Also not enough room on the table with candles and glasses and crackers etc.

If you have a kitchen/diner then you can put dishes on the counter for a buffet self serve and then gravy etc on the table.

If not then I would just plate up or have them come up to see how much they want. Normally it’s people you are pretty close to so all ok.

If there’s just the two of us we plate up in the kitchen, otherwise we have tended to put what we can on the table and on a heated plate on the sideboard, with the occasional putting some things on the plates. Tbh its depended on numbers, who the people are and how we feel on the day. We can get 8 around our table, but there is not much space then for much more then for gravy and condiments without them being in the way. 6 people gives more scope and if there are 4 everything can go on the table.

I would suggest doing what makes life easier for you.

I put all the food out in the kitchen and we form a line and serve ourselves. Much easier than passing the food at the table.

Serving dishes on the table but if my table wasn’t big enough I would do serving dishes on the kitchen side for people to help themselves to buffet style

I generally let people serve themselves- otherwise it can be 'Oh, I didn't want sprouts', 'Bob only eats the white meat', 'That mash is touching my peas, I can't eat that now' 🙄

If you don't have enough room on the table for all the plates, a hostess trolley from ebay/market place would help. Could you fit a smaller table in the corner and have one of those heated trays?

If you put the food out in serving dishes you need a way to keep the food hot - ceramic dishes with lids that have been warmed in the oven before you put the food in (make sure you have plenty of table mats so you don’t burn your table) or get an electric hot plate. All those dishes mean extra washing up! I usually plate up in the kitchen then zap every plate in the microwave before it goes out. I get DP to pour the drinks and get the crackers pulled while I’m doing this, MIL’s stone cold roasts have scarred me for life!

Oh god MiL never warms the plates!
Always make sure gravy is piping hot too and put extra in the table.

So true. When did people get to be so self absorbed and fuss creating. Just eat the stuff. Or leave what you don't want.

Serving dishes, so that everyone can choose the amount and items that they want. We're generous hosts, and I'd never dream of dictating how much people are allowed. They can have as much as they want. I do have a hostess trolley, which helps, plus a decent sized dining room with a large table..

I clear a work top in the kitchen and put everything out there and people queue up and serve themselves. No way could I plate up.

I put everything out in dishes on the island and we have a Toby Cavery thing going on complete with massive queues. There’s no room on the table for everything.

Everything goes on the island for people to help themselves. That way I don’t have to put so much in serving dishes and less washing up. My mum used to have a hostess trolley and that worked quite well. I don’t like a load of stuff cluttering up my lovely Christmas dining table and you also don’t spend the first five minutes of the meal with everyone asking ‘can you please pass me the ..’

We find it works, provided nobody goes the wrong way around the island (I act a bit like a traffic policeman). I do put bread sauce, cranberry sauce and extra roast potatoes on the table though.

Everything goes on the kitchen island in chafing dishes like these https://www.webstaurantstore.com/choice-6-piece-full-size-disposable-chafer-dish-kit-with-a-wire-stand-deep-pan-2-1-2-size-shallow-pans-and-2-4-hour-wick-fuels/176CHAFHSKIT.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gbraid=0AAAAAD_Dx-sMB_F81kinF2RKDDgf0waNU&gclid=CjwKCAiA3L_JBhAlEiwAlcWO52bceI-FN9i6Ubtrn9oXXXECRl6QaoPJo3NOkg05YF80VQuZqBfPgRoCHJIQAvD_BwE

they say disposable but I've been reusing them for years. I hate having someone plate my dinner for me.

Same I put everything out and let people serve themselves, I find less stress with the kids also, I let them pick their plate and encourage a little of everything...the deal is if they eat all their plate they can eat anything else they want after (selection boxes etc). On the point of warming plates I need to look up microwavable plate warmers I remember seeing them online before......

Previously I've brought everything to the table but this year I plan to put serving dishes in the kitchen, apart from gravy, cranberry sauce etc. I want to free up space on the table and avoid passing dishes around, knocking over drinks, people squeezing in between chairs or reaching over other people.... Will see how it goes!