How do you serve your meals at home?

I do what you do almost always. We get the plates put the stuff from the pans, roaster, whatever the heck you cooked it in - onto the plates and then serve at the table or kitchen counter. Like you, if you want more, you bring the dish over to the stove and get more.

Although at a big type dinner like Christmas or Thanksgiving, we may have some things in serving dishes, but still you walk up, get what you want and bring your dish to the table.

I remember as a kid we used to have the serving bowls and dishes at the dinner table and then dish out.

I agree there is too much to clean as it is - save the serving bowls!

I do the same as you. When alone, I am apt to eat from the pot and skip the dirtying of a plate.

I always put rice and spaghetti and other pastas into a colander to remove the last bits of water.
Weve switched to aromatic rices that clump raher than thos loosey rices that we get in a bag at the market. I have to schlep down to Delaware to an ethnic market to get the stuff we like

Alone, I still plate my meal and carry it to the TV.

When family is here, I love bringing things to the table on a platter. I am a platter nut.

For large groups, I serve buffet, but don't like it. I'd rather have everyone at the table.

After you drain your pasta, do you put it directly on the plates? What do you do with any extra pasta?
By that time, the pot's cooled off and I put any remaining back in the pot, mix in olive oil so it won't stick, so it's ready if we want a little more.

With rice, if there's any water left over, I just fluff the rice in the pot and it pretty well absorbs the water.

I like good rice too farmer.

I just made chicken fajitas

cooked the meat and put aside in a bowl, cooked the vegetables in the same pan. I like these tortillas that come raw from the store, just takes a minute per side to cook on a dry hot pan. While the veggies were cooking I did the tortillas. I enjoy flipping them in the air to do the other side. Plus sometimes there's images of Jesus and stuff on the browned parts of the tortillas. They went into a folded up piece of aluminum foil to keep warm, the meat went back in with the vegetables.
I just wiped off the dry pan since all that was in them was tortillas, no oil or anything.

One meal, one pan, a bowl, cutting board, spatula and knife. Oh, and the dishes we'll eat on.

Wally can bowl an egg and dirty up 34 pieces of kitchen equipment.

now that it is just the wife and I we fix our plates in the kitchen, but during the years we had the kids here we almost always set the table properly. food goes in the middle of the table in serving bowls, the plates are empty, drink glasses can be full. THen we say grace and start passing the food counter clockwise.

We serve straight from the crock pot or pan (or tupperware, if it's leftovers) to plate. Salad goes from bags to bowls.

Then again, we also generally eat in front of the TV or our computers.

But I grew up with the whole big serving mishigas on Friday nights for Shabbos. Prayers, candles, challah, the whole nine yards. Other days, big salad bowl in the middle of the table, but otherwise service was at the range/oven.

Occasionally there will be a platter or serving bowl full of food on the table, but not often. Usually we fix our plates in the kitchen, then put them on the table. Unless it's a holiday feast, when we go all out with serving dishes, platters, best tableware, linens, etc...but that's only a few times per year.

So, in other words, meals are not served the way they portray on TV shows and movies?

I have to rethink everything now.

The women of the family feel they owe it to the men of the family to look relaxed, rested and attractive at dinner.

Holy ****.

I agree! I think I will start taking naps before dinner.

Wally does that so you cook

Well I do - but that is usually when we go out to eat = or when my husband is grilling.

Oh, I don't think......wait......what?!

OH!

I've been such a FOOL!


<runs sobbing from forum>

Back when it was just Hubby and me, we had an agreement: Whoever cooks, the other one cleans up.

We ate a lot better that way. I'd make sauces, etc., if I knew I wasn't going to have to clean the pan.

That's how we do it Eva.

I cook, he cleans up.

We take turns putting away leftovers. Well, not official turns, but it works out pretty even.

usually putting leftovers away involves yet another dish. We don't put the baking pan or a pot in the fridge.
We have a whole bunch of Corning ware that weve been given or we inherited. Corning ware is great CAUSE ITS SQUARE and you can flip the lids over to serve as stable platforms on which you can stick another layer of food.
Other day I found some left over sushi in the back of the fridge. NASTY LOOKING ****, musta been there for two weeks. I think we bought some sushi at the SOKETUMI Sushi House in Rehoboth Del and brought it home .

We wouldn't even feed it to the possums. It hadda go in a Hazmat bag

Sunday Roasts go into serving dishes/bowls, salads as well, but apart from that everything goes straight onto the plate.