Pots and Pans or Serving Dishes
By Modestah
@Modestah (11179)
United States
July 24, 2007 2:38pm CST
When serving your dinner do you serve from the pots and pans or do you take the food out and place it into serving dishes for an attractive table?I usually serve everyone from the pots at the stove, and then they take their plate to the table. They help themselves to seconds by going to the stove and serving.
I find I eat less without the various foods left at the table for me to oogle over.
Plus there are a lot less dishes to wash this way.
On special occasions and holidays I will go ahead and put the foods on the table in special serving dishes.
5 people like this
29 responses
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
25 Jul 07
Most nights, we serve from the baking sheet (we do a lot of roasted veggies) and the crock pot or whatever we cooked in. Then the plates are placed on the table. Other times, we go ahead and put the food into serving dishes. Of course for special meals or if there are guests we use serving dishes. As you pointed out, by serving directly from the prep dishes onto the plates, it cuts out an entire line of dishes to be washed!
2 people like this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
24 Jul 07
You must be at my house. :) I do things the same way. It just seems easier than clearing off enough space to put all the food on the table. (we don't eat at the table because all my craft stuff is on it!) The food stays warmer, too, when left on the stove.
For special occasions, I will clean off the table, but we still serve from the kitchen. I have a ledge on the DR side of my kitchen that I set up a buffet. This works pretty slick, as everything is loaded from the kitchen side, and clean up is a breeze!
2 people like this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
25 Jul 07
that's how we do it back in the philippines. we just get the food we wanna eat on the pots just placed on the stove. better this way. you are right, less mess, and less dishes to wash afterwards.
but now that i am in sweden, i do not do that whenever i serve it for a certain meal. i put the food on a plate and serve it on the table.
anne
@maii_instik (133)
• Philippines
25 Jul 07
What you are doing is the practical way. I mean it doesnt hurt serving food this way, right. Serving in pretty platters are only formalities. If I have my own house I would be glad to do the same thing. I know i wont mind...
1 person likes this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
25 Jul 07
true. this is one practical way of serving meals. plus, one can just get the certain amount of food he or she can consume. and no need for extra time to replenish the plate when it rans out of food. the person can just go on the stove on his or her own and get food for herself/himself.
anne
1 person likes this
@jess_d_blue (385)
• United States
25 Jul 07
I am a LOT like you. We do it buffet style with pots etc on the stove most times. However, if it's company and we are trying to make it a "nice" meal or if its a holiday... everything is put into prettier dishes :)
The dish washing reason is why we do this as well lol - Well it works!
1 person likes this
@mp48tm (7)
• United States
24 Jul 07
My son and daughter attend college and are not at home. For me, my husband and I just serve from the pots on the stove, and when my son and daughter come home, they do the same. But when we have company it is a different story. I serve from the table and also holidays and other specials occasions from the table.
2 people like this
@Phlamingho (7825)
• Denmark
25 Jul 07
Depends on who I'm cooking for. If it's just for me and my GF then I serve the food in pots and pans, but I don't to that if we have company.
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
24 Jul 07
I cook with the new Ziploc Zip n Steam Bags, which are so easy to use that you don't have to be a great cook. Its a healthy way to eat, the food is steamed. The medium size bag makes 2 to 3 servings, which is perfect for my daughter and I to have some healthy food. You can cook frozen or fresh foods. Some foods I have made are poultry, vegetables, specially corn and potatoes and hot dogs. The bag is placed in the microwave and the amount of time to cook is right on the bag. There are recipes in each package, so you have some great meal ideas.
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
25 Jul 07
I don't want to scare you but I have recently read that cooking in plastic bags in the microwave oven can be detrimental to health. You should enquire if these bags contain PVC. Some plastic bags apparently release dioxin when heated up. It seems everything is bad for one's health these days.
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
24 Jul 07
I always take the pots and pans full of food and set them on the counter and everyone fixes their own plate. When my kids were little, I use to fix their plates for them.
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
26 Jul 07
it depends on what it is,but i do serve from the pot sometimes,like if it's macaroni and cheese.that's usually gone so fast there's no need to transfer to a better dish.and it saves cleaning,like you said.
1 person likes this
@kayrod2 (1304)
• Australia
27 Jul 07
I serve from the pots. Otherwise i would have too many things for washing up. But, like you, if it is a special occasion i will lay it all out in dishes on the table in pretty dishes. I like doing this on these days. But i still have all the washing up.
Best wishes to you, modestah
@morgandrake (2136)
• United States
24 Jul 07
Pots and pans when it just me and the wife. Serving dishes if we have company.
@myfanwy65 (1030)
• United States
26 Jul 07
If it's my immediate family, I serve out of the pots on teh stove. If it's a special occassion or other company eating with us, I use serving bowls. But, the more bowls and stuff you use, the more work it is to clean up. So, if I don't have to, I don't use serving bowls.
1 person likes this
@sugarfloss (2139)
• Malaysia
25 Jul 07
When serving dinner,I usually take the food out and place it into serving dishes.In my culture,it's impolite to serve from the pot,I don't know how that is rude but ya.
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
27 Jul 07
That sounds exactly like what we do here. We dish up our plates from the pots and pans on the stove. The less dishes we have to worry about cleaning, the better it is. The only time we put the food on the table in special serving dishes is when we have company over for a special occasion.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
31 Jul 07
No, don’t serve directly from pots and pans. Usually one or two pots or pans are reused for cooking maybe 3 to 4 dishes for lunch or dinner. So I pour the cooked food in big serving bowls and serve from there. Then I washed the pot and put it on gas again. For friends and small parties, I take out fancy dinner sets.
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
27 Jul 07
We just serve our food out of pots and pans, We find that method much more efficient than dirtying extra serving dishes. The food is already in the pots and pans, so why bother with other dieshes, before transfering the food to our plates?
@KarenO52 (2950)
• United States
25 Jul 07
I do the same thing you do. I see no point in putting food in serving dishes. It's too much extra work. We get our food out of the pots on the stove. My husband is a nut when it comes to food being hot, when he gets it out of the pot or pan, even if it's been boiling or simmering on the stove, he has to heat it up in the microwave. If I set a pretty table with nice serving dishes out, he'll get up to reheat his food, and get out his hot peppers or other condiments.
@Nardz13 (5055)
• New Zealand
25 Jul 07
Hey. If its just us at home dining I usually dish out straight from the pots and pans, But if we're having friends or extended family around for dinner or get togethers, then I will dish food out into serving dishes for the simple reason of making our table look attractive and inviting...
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
25 Jul 07
My mom always served us straight from the pots and pans, and I do the same thing. I have an aunt, however, who insists that all of her meals be served out of nice serving dishes--even breakfast during the week goes on serving dishes! It seems so silly to make all of those extra dishes, if you ask me. Special occasions might warrant special dishes, but that's about it in my house! :)
