Another dinner poll

[Scuff]

I usually serve the meat and the rest gets passed around. Since DH started dieting, he needs to know the exact portion. And since I only cook what we'll actually eat, DS would end up with all the chicken and the last person would have none. Works better if I just serve.

[Cinder]

And another question - if you aren't constantly refilling plates, is that because everyone gets large servings to begin with? Does that mean you have a lot of leftovers on plates at the end of the meal? Maybe my dc are unusual, but they don't eat a predictable amount of anything ever. Some days they are hungrier or pickier or just have stranger eating habits.

 

For us, the dc get their own seconds if they're old enough. This rarely happens, though. And I tend to serve small portions, so they're expected to eat it all. I've gotten pretty good at predicting how much each will eat. Ds1 is nearly 16, so should be to eat a lot, but he's such a picky eater that I only give him as much (sometimes less) as I serve my 12yo. And they'll let me know when I've served them too much, so that helps me adjust. My 5yo is less predictable, but I still just serve her what she would usually eat. I think part of that predictability (or lack of) has to do with their growth spurts. I don't know. This is just what works for us.

 

Actually, now that I think of it, it may be that I'm just always making the same dinners over and over. *That's* why I can predict so well how much they're going to eat. :D

 

Cinder

[Audrey]

I serve from the stove 99% of the time. On special occasions like Birthday's, Christmas or when we have guests over we pass and serve at the table. It is much better for my hip pocket to cook what i know we are going to consume and then serve it on the plate appropriately.

 

 

:iagree: This also helps with portion control. Admittedly, that is more my own personal demon than dh's or ds's, but it still reduces both waste and waist. :001_smile:

[Spy Car]

We plate the food and (while not going over-board) put a little care into "presentation" as food should delight the eye as well as the palate.

 

Bill

[Crissy]

I use serving dishes on special occasions and when we have guests.

Otherwise I serve from the kitchen.

Edited September 22, 2010 by Crissy

[Tutor]

It depends on what we are having. Usually, I plate up the "main" item (lasagna or burger or whatever) then have the "sides" in serve-yourself dishes (sometimes the posts they were cooked in) on the table.

[GraciebytheBay]

ETA#2: I just read past page 3 and see that this has already been asked and answered.

 

I can only imagine what it would be like at my table if we served from the stove! People would be getting up and down the whole time to get more food. I don't get it - the poll shows that so many do it this way. Isn't it annoying having your family getting up from the table, disrupting conversation?:confused:

 

ETA:I just realized that maybe my family eats more seconds than most?

Edited September 22, 2010 by GraciebytheBay

[Crissy]

I can only imagine what it would be like at my table if we served from the stove! People would be getting up and down the whole time to get more food. I don't get it - the poll shows that so many do it this way. Isn't it annoying having your family getting up from the table, disrupting conversation?:confused:

 

ETA:I just realized that maybe my family eats more seconds than most?

 

I am the only one here who doesn't regularly eat seconds. We're a small family--just four of us--and the kitchen is just on the other side of the peninsula from our dining room (the house is small, too).

Unless we have guest or it's a special occasion, dinner is pretty casual here. Often we're playing a game, which is another reason we don't put serving dishes on the table. There would be no room for the Scrabble board. :)

My teenager is usually the first to finish his plate and go for seconds. He usually asks if anyone else wants something and will serve them. That minimizes the trips to the kitchen. I don't find it bothersome.

[gaillardia]

Table is set, food is dished up into bowls and put on the table.

This allows the little picky one to decide what and how much instead of being told what to eat and how much.

Oh, sometimes I serve it from the table to their plates, lasagna, meat, when it is too heavy of a dish for little hands.

We always have leftovers and need to put it in the fridge in something besides the pan anyway.

[Retired]

another poll where we do both, depends on the meal, who cooked, and how late we are eating

[nukeswife]

I voted other. Sometimes I'll plate up things for the kids and then dh and I will plate our own at the stove and then move to the table.

Most times we plate food at the table, but I almost never put food in serving dishes, I just bring the pots, pans, baking dish, etc to the table.

[angela in ohio]

I chose other because we usually eat from serving dishes at the table, but two nights a week we are in a rush, and I just serve it all up from the stove.

[lisamarie]

I probably should have picked other because I always bring the food to the table, but I rarely transfer it to a serving dish. I just bring the pot or the wok to the table so I don't have to wash more dishes. How tacky.

 

:iagree: I just keep everything in the pots or pans it was cooked in and set that on the table. The only time I'd use a separate serving bowl is for things like pasta salad, mashed potatoes, etc, where I mix stuff together and a pot is too small for it.

[Caraway]

The only part I like about cooking dinner is arranging the food on the plate so that it looks nice. So I serve from the kitchen. :D

[Daisy]

I serve from the stove for a number of reasons...

 

1. Fewer dirty dishes.

2. Portion control.

3. We have a very small kitchen table.

4. We rarely eat seconds but I do have salad on the table. So seconds are right there. :D

[Mrs Mungo]

Other.

 

I have a big, open kitchen area. I nearly always put things in serving dishes. Sometimes I serve up the first helping, and sometimes I put the dishes on the table and we pass. It mostly depends upon what it is.