Another Thanksgiving Thread-Buffet or Family Style

[RedAngie]

We've always done it buffet style. Platters or bowls of food on the kitchen table or counters. Everybody gets what one wants and then carries it into the dining room to eat. The only food on the dining room table to pass around is butter and a basket of bread.

About 20 years ago an aunt hosted and tried it family style, everything on the table and pass it around. That didn't work too well and she never did it again.

Also: carving the turkey. Is it done in advance, or is it brought to the table whole and then Grandpa has the honor of slicing it, a la the Norman Rockwell illustration?

 

[Hikergirl]

For our actual Thanksgiving meal here we do family style. Turkey is carved in the kitchen and the slices/legs/wings are brought out to the table.
When we go to visit our family over the weekend, it's buffet.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Buffet.

This year my aunt is hosting and making the turkey. They will carve it, put it in a pan and it'll go with the buffet. We do see it before it gets carved and say ooohhh and aaahhhh but it doesn't go onto the table whole.

 

[Diznotyzed]

Our kitchen, dining and family rooms are open to each other, so we serve buffet style dished up in the kitchen, taken to tables in the other rooms. Plenty of seated elbow room, but interaction available among all. This set up is the reason we've hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for 28 years in a row. Whew! My husband carves the turkey in the kitchen before serving.

 

[NAB]

Yeah our Thanksgivings look nothing like on TV or a painting. We do buffet style too. Our house isn't big enough so everyone goes and finds a seat.

We do all our socializing by moving around room to room talk to someone then move on you get up or they do and someone else slips in to talk.

 

[tcufrog]

We used to do family style but now there’s too many people so we have a buffet. We will have 2 adult tables and 1 kids table this year.

 

[wenrob]

When I was a kid my stepmom served every meal family style. So from pots/pans to serving dishes to Tupperware. Needless to say as the main dishwasher I resented it immensely. I have never served a formal meal in my life. Buffet style right from the stovetop. While DH is carving the turkey we put the plates, silverware, rolls, butter and cranberry sauce on the island. DH sets up two platters, one white meat, one dark. Everyone lines up usually half at the island, half where the turkey, potatoes, veggies, stuffing and gravy are and then just rotates on through. Of course you always have that one person who goes the opposite direction of everyone else (usually older DD) and jams up the entire system.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

EVERY meal is buffet style at our house with the exception of pancakes & BBQ (neither of those cooked in the oven/on the stovetop).

 

[Meriweather]

buffet as far as fill your plate in the kitchen.....but then go sit at the dining room table

 

[NAB]

When I was a kid my stepmom served every meal family style. So from pots/pans to serving dishes to Tupperware. Needless to say as the main dishwasher I resented it immensely. I have never served a formal meal in my life. Buffet style right from the stovetop. While DH is carving the turkey we put the plates, silverware, rolls, butter and cranberry sauce on the island. DH sets up two platters, one white meat, one dark. Everyone lines up usually half at the island, half where the turkey, potatoes, veggies, stuffing and gravy are and then just rotates on through. Of course you always have that one person who goes the opposite direction of everyone else (usually older DD) and jams up the entire system.

Well I go from pots to serving dishes and tupperware everyday. We do have a dishwasher. Only day we don't is Wednesday when the garbage goes out that night so leftover need to be eaten or get thrown out. Then they run to the island with all the dishes because now one wants to be the one with only potatoes left and all the pasta taken...lol

 

[lorimay]

Buffet

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Burn the pickles wilt the lettuce special orders do upset us, all I ask is that you let us serve it my way. Have it my way, this aint Burger King.

 

[wenrob]

Well I go from pots to serving dishes and tupperware everyday. We do have a dishwasher. Only day we don't is Wednesday when the garbage goes out that night so leftover need to be eaten or get thrown out. Then they run to the island with all the dishes because now one wants to be the one with only potatoes left and all the pasta taken...lol

The dishwasher was ME. I don’t own any serving dishes aside from the formal china that I don’t use. Dinner from the stovetop, leftovers in Tupperware and Ziplocks. Done. We’re not cavemen but we’re not formal folks either. Just not my cup of tea.

 

[PollyannaMom]

buffet as far as fill your plate in the kitchen.....but then go sit at the dining room table

That's us as well. There's just too much food to have it all on the table and still have room for everyone's plates!

 

[RedAngie]

When I was a kid my stepmom served every meal family style. So from pots/pans to serving dishes to Tupperware. Needless to say as the main dishwasher I resented it immensely. I have never served a formal meal in my life. Buffet style right from the stovetop.

This is why my mother never served family style when I was growing up. My grandmother did, and my mother was the designated dishwasher. She always complained about having to wash unnecessary additional dishes. My mother prepared the plates right from the pots on the stove.

Even though my mother eventually got a dishwasher, she still continued to serve right from the stove. I do it that way too. For everyday meals, if there is extra food left and somebody wants a second helping, get up and go dish it out yourself.

 

[Cheetie]

We do family style for every meal, serving dishes and all. It’s how I grew up so it’s comfortable for me.

Thanksgiving is family style for my side because we’re a smaller group. When we entertain DH’s side, it’s buffet.

 

[kimblebee]

Always, always, always family style. The turkey is carved and then brought to the table. My mom has converted a ping pong table to the dining room table so there's enough room for everything. It is complete with a fancy tablecloth too so you'd never know it was a ping pong table.

When dinner is somewhere else, it is also family style.

 

[wenrob]

This is why my mother never served family style when I was growing up. My grandmother did, and my mother was the designated dishwasher. She always complained about having to wash unnecessary additional dishes. My mother prepared the plates right from the pots on the stove.

Even though my mother eventually got a dishwasher, she still continued to serve right from the stove. I do it that way too. For everyday meals, if there is extra food left and somebody wants a second helping, get up and go dish it out yourself.

I’m pretty sure stepmom did it because her mother did it. She was an extremely formal lady, everything just so.

 

[Wendy31]

All the dishes we serve at Thanksgiving would never all fit on the dining room table & leave any room for people's plates.

So I set up a buffet on the kitchen table, & we eat at the dining room table & at a table in the adjoining living room. I set the tables w/ napkins & silverware, & the plates are stacked on the buffet. Each table has a set of salt & pepper shakers, & I'll also put a bread basket at each table.

If it's nice outside, I set up the beverage table outside on our deck off our kitchen.

We do the "ooh" & "aah" over the turkey though, before DH carves it.

When we have gatherings at my parents' house, the food is set up buffet style on the kitchen counters, & we eat at the bar & at the kitchen table. When we have gatherings at DH's parents' house, the food is set up buffet style on the kitchen counters & a small island, & we eat in their den w/ our plates in our laps.

At home for every-day, it just depends on what we're eating - most of the time, we plate from the stove & kitchen counters though.

 

[design_mom]

When I was a kid my stepmom served every meal family style. So from pots/pans to serving dishes to Tupperware. Needless to say as the main dishwasher I resented it immensely. [snip]

I was the same way and hated all the dishes, but it was the only thing I knew. I serve from the stove for most meals around here. I think my mom thinks we're some sort of barbarians, but I don't see the point of serving dishes when we're all in the kitchen.

We go to my in-laws' for Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see what happens this year because they just finished a major kitchen remodel.

In the past, we ate family style in a too-small dining room. We had 10 people squeezed around a table meant for 6. MIL thought family style was better because there really wasn't space for people to get up from the table after everyone was seated. However, the table also wasn't big enough for everyone's plates *and* the serving dishes. I would get very claustrophobic during those meals.

As part of their remodel, they have transformed their old kitchen, dining room, and formal living room into a giant eat-in kitchen. They have a huge island that would work as a great buffet, so I'm hopeful for buffet this year. They also got a much bigger table though, so even family style would probably be a lot better than the past.

EDITING TO ADD: Dinner was buffet this year in the newly-remodeled kitchen and it worked SO much better than the old way.