[blithely2]

When people come over do you serve them a set plate of food, or lay out all the food in a help yourself style? Have you ever not had enough food for your guests? Do guests ever ask you for more food?

I ate at ILs house last night after not having done so for a couple of years. We both had forgotten how mean they are with food and they served up a single portion between six of us.

MIL has serious food issues as the fridge is always full of leftovers which they're squirreling away for themselves. She'll make a birthday cake and only serve half of it. Meanwhile I think they're throwing away a great deal of food while all of their guests leave hungry.

I'm curious to know how you figure out how much others eat as MIL is so clueless and we just lay on a banquet for our guests. In my house, no one leaves hungry.

This post has been edited by blithely2: 13/12/2012, 08:24 PM

[*LucyE*]

If its casual, it would be serve yourself style. If it's more of a formal dinner party, I tend to serve individual portions.

Sometimes our impromptu meals are a bit haphazard and people will share a steak or something so there's enough to go around, but there will usually be enough sides to fill people up.

I buck from my mother's habit of force feeding people til they are so full they need to roll away from the table. No one wants to hurt her feelings so don't refuse her food and because people keep eating, she keeps bringing stuff out. Vicious circle LOL.

So, I don't push food on people and sometimes I think I may go too far the other way. Using the birthday cake example, I recently only served the kids and didnt serve any of the adults. I left the cake on the table for people to help themselves (with places and cutlery) and then when no one touched it after about 30 mins, I moved it to the kitchen to clear the table. There was 3/4 of the cake left. I noticed one person go cut themselves a slice later. I had a twinge of guilt but then figured our friends know me well enough and are comfortable here, it's no big deal.

[snortle]

If its a dinner party with up to 6 guests I will serve out the courses already plated.

If its more people its buffet.
I'm from the Balkans (Europe) and basically been taught that running out of food is a sin that should be punishable by death lol, I was always taught to make one extra serve (at least) of each food unless you had a surprise guest

ETA I actually meant IN CASE you have a surprise guest lol

This post has been edited by snortle: 13/12/2012, 08:52 PM

[MrsDamonSalvator...]

depends what we have. if i "cook" a meal, i will do individual plates. but if we have a bbq (yes i know thats cooking but its different ) we just lay it all out and everyone helps themselves

[Unatheowl]

If its a dinner party with up to 6 guests I will serve out the courses already plated.

If its more people its buffet.
I'm from the Balkans (Europe) and basically been taught that running out of food is a sin that should be punishable by death lol, I was always taught to make one extra serve (at least) of each food unless you had a surprise guest

Haha. One side of my family is polish and I have been brought up with the same ideals. Running out of food would be truly mortifying. I usually serve up the food but the put the rest on the table for seconds.

[blithely2]

Just to clarify because I don't want anyone thinking she's normal in any way... MIL will bring out a birthday cake, cut it in half and take half back to the fridge. For her it's light the candles, birthday song, cut the cake in half as soon as birthday boy has done his cutting part.

[Holidayromp]

I always make sure I serve more than enough food. Usually I have so much left over that it feeds this family of five for a few days afterwards! But it it better to have more than enough then not enough.
Also I put the food out for people to serve themselves. I don't know how much people eat and they know how much or how little they want so it is easier to let them make their own decision.

[*Caro*]

I tend to do buffet style and let people serve themselves. I also do this for most of our every day meals at home - it helps the kids learn to regulate how much they eat. If they are hungry they have three serves, if they are peckish they have a little serve

I'm not Polish or from the Balkans, but I also tend to over cater and serve too much food. I hate the idea of guests being hungry! I'm also very conscious of not serving up food that people might not like - which is why I like serving up buffet style, because then people can choose from a range of options.

[hunter4]

definitely serve yourself for me. I don't know people preferences and would prefer that they chose than be handed something they don't like. Last time I went somewhere and they served out the dinner they gave me half a place of mashed potatoes which I hate. So to avoid being rude I'm forced to eat a heap of potato I didn't want. Allowing people to serve themselves removes all those hassels.

[HollyOllyOxenfre...]

I much prefer the serve yourself idea, and that's what we do when we have people over. I always have too much food too, but there's no harm in leftovers.

That said, I've never done a formal dinner party type thing, so if I were to do that I'd probably serve up individual plates.

Your MIL sounds a bit strange