How do you usually Serve your Meals?

[The Mystery Machine]

I put things into serving dishes and place them on the table. I don't want the kids scraping up my good cookware with spoons, plus I don't want to damage the table with the pots and pans. With the hours DH works there are a lot of days that he is late for dinner, it's a lot easier to have the serving dishes in the warming drawer and the pots and pans already washed and put away when he comes in.

Oh do tell.....what kind of cooktop do you have? I don't have a warming drawer right now so that is not an option however we are looking at stoves for our next house.

The warming drawers look small. What kind of serving dishes do you have to place in the warming drawers?

 

[solferino]

I plate the food for my kids right from the pan and serve them. I then make myself a plate. DH's makes his own plate because I never know how much of everything he'll want.

This is how we do it too. I don't see the point of serving dishes cause it's just more stuff to get washed afterwards. Now if we were having guests I'd use the serving dishes but that doesn't happen too often.

 

[rcraw45425]

Oh do tell.....what kind of cooktop do you have? I don't have a warming drawer right now so that is not an option however we are looking at stoves for our next house.

The warming drawers look small. What kind of serving dishes do you have to place in the warming drawers?

Our house is 19 years old, the kitchen was designed for a slide in range, no seperate cooktop and double ovens. We are also total electric, so no fancy 6 burner units for us. Two years ago I broke down and bought the Kitchen Aid Architect series, it's a smooth glass top with four burners, but they can be reconfigured for small pans, oval, large. The oven is also convection (I love that), it has a temperature probe (great for roasts, prime rib and poultry), and the convection is grat for baking, multi pans all cook evenly. I hardly even use traditional cooking methods. The warming drawer is on the bottom, looks like the pan storage drawers that some free standing ranges have. I will transfer to stoneware bakiing dishes, corning ware, whatever will fit. Stoneware plates are fine too, as are melmine for short times. The highest warm temp is like 195, which WILL melt styrofoam trays (found that out the hard way, ick). It's a standard 36 inch slide in which meant all we had to do was have the installer cut out the bottom (old range was drop in). The oven is a lot larger than my old drop in, so I'm happy. I also have a countertop convection/toaster oven that I use for backup if necessary. This is the link from Kitchen Aid:
http://kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Freestanding+Ranges&cat=115&prod=1198

We bought ours from a local appliance store that is Brand Source, paid less than MSRP too. :

 

[Kath2003]

I'm a student. I follow the following rules:

1. If it involves more than one pan, it's not worth cooking.

2. If there are no clean plates, the pan is a perfectly reasonable eating vessel.

Generally I cook for one so everything in the pan just gets dumped onto a plate and I go from there.

 

[Amapola]

1. If it involves more than one pan, it's not worth cooking.

I'm not a student, but I have to agree with you on this one! I am the world's laziest cook. I do cook from scratch every day, no prepared food for us, but always something simple.

2. If there are no clean plates, the pan is a perfectly reasonable eating vessel.

And DH will agree with you on this! Not me, I have to plate up my food nicely, even if it is just a grilled chicken breast, veggies and baked potato. It has to look attractive. But DH will gladly eat out of pots and pans (only when I'm not home to keep him in line, though

 

[solferino]

Our house is 19 years old, the kitchen was designed for a slide in range, no seperate cooktop and double ovens. We are also total electric, so no fancy 6 burner units for us. Two years ago I broke down and bought the Kitchen Aid Architect series, it's a smooth glass top with four burners, but they can be reconfigured for small pans, oval, large. The oven is also convection (I love that), it has a temperature probe (great for roasts, prime rib and poultry), and the convection is grat for baking, multi pans all cook evenly. I hardly even use traditional cooking methods. The warming drawer is on the bottom, looks like the pan storage drawers that some free standing ranges have. I will transfer to stoneware bakiing dishes, corning ware, whatever will fit. Stoneware plates are fine too, as are melmine for short times. The highest warm temp is like 195, which WILL melt styrofoam trays (found that out the hard way, ick). It's a standard 36 inch slide in which meant all we had to do was have the installer cut out the bottom (old range was drop in). The oven is a lot larger than my old drop in, so I'm happy. I also have a countertop convection/toaster oven that I use for backup if necessary. This is the link from Kitchen Aid:
http://kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Freestanding+Ranges&cat=115&prod=1198

We bought ours from a local appliance store that is Brand Source, paid less than MSRP too. :

MIL got that stove last year right before thanksgiving- it's wonderful!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The warming drawer is on the bottom, looks like the pan storage drawers that some free standing ranges have. I will transfer to stoneware bakiing dishes, corning ware, whatever will fit. Stoneware plates are fine too, as are melmine for short times. The highest warm temp is like 195, which WILL melt styrofoam trays

Cool!!!! Thanks for the description. I am looking forward to getting "my kitchen" one day and this will include it.

I use a huge warming oven at work so when I look at the drawers they seem so small.
I work in a school cafeteria.

Now if I could only get a "steamer".... I love using that at work.

 

[rkwells]

Most nights, I fill the plates from the pots and pans in the kitchen, then carry them to the table. If DH wants more of something, he gets it himself. If DD does, I get it for her.

If I make a cassarole or have something similar that will be easier to serve at the table, I transfer things to serving dishes. We had a baked Fettucine Alfredo last night, and it came out of the oven and right onto the table (on a trivet, of course) in its nice cassarole dish to be served. I also always put bread, rolls, or breadsticks in a cloth lined basket on the table.

My kids LOVE Fettucine Alfredo....any chance I can get your cassarole recipe???? Thanks in advance!

Back on topic...I also just serve from the pans on the stove. I dish up for my kids and DH usually gets his own.

 

[LimeGreenEd]

When I'm alone I'll eat from the pan right over stove then store the leftover in the same pan for easy reheating.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We leave it in the pots and pans and either me or DH fixes plates for the kids-they're too little to do it themselves.