Do you serve from the table or buffet-style for Thanksgiving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a huge family and we do a buffet. The buffet covers the dining table so everyone eats perched on sofas or standing or sometimes outside. It's not only fine but fun.

Thanksgiving with my ILs is smaller so we sit at the table and serve from that table. Which is also fine.

Wow I hate this. Not fun at all. [/quote

Agreed. I don't want to sit on a couch with a plate on my lap. Or try to cut food while standing. You need two hands to cut but one is holding the plate. What's fun about that?

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, buffet is much preferred, even for small gatherings. Passing, passing, passing is not fun when everyone wants to eat! It's particularly hard when you are helping your small kids with their food, and people are getting impatient with the passing. It's also harder for some older adults to hold heavy casserole dishes, etc. I've honestly never understood the appeal of family-style.

I also like the fact that you can fly under the radar with buffet: Aunt Gladys probably won't noticed that you didn't take a big helping of her creamed onion dish, so there's less hurt feelings! I generally hate it when people comment on others' food choices, etc. If I want two helpings of dressing on Thanksgiving, I'm going for it, but it's nicer to just do that without any "commentary" from That Relative.

[Anonymous]

Thanksgiving is definitely buffet. Trying to pass large heavy, often hot dishes is not fun.

[Anonymous]

We only have 8 people and still do buffet style! I host in a condo and the table is too small for all the serving plates.

[Anonymous]

I prefer a buffet. I can see that there are 4 vegetables and choose accordingly (I don’t want creamed corn). Also, have a younger person walk thru the line with an elderly person so they don’t have to manage it all. Prior to serving, set the table with utensils, bread, and butter.

[Anonymous]

We are like a few other posters. We do a formal Thanksgiving dinner with everyone dressed up, crystal, china, linens, the whole enchilada. We generally have 25-35 people. We switch between my house and my sister's house but we do the same type of setup either way.

We always set up a buffet table. It just works so much better because there are so many dishes. It would take forever to serve family style because there are so many side dishes. I would explain the logistics to your MIL. Serving 15-20 dishes family style is very difficult. It is much better to have a buffet. We will put gravy, rolls and butter dishes on the table. I generally carve the turkey in the kitchen and then it is laid out on a platter for easy serving.

Sometimes I think that people don't understand that buffets can be elegant as well as functional. We use beautiful linens, silver serving pieces and decorations on our buffet table. It looks lovely and serves a good purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I prefer a buffet. I can see that there are 4 vegetables and choose accordingly (I don’t want creamed corn). Also, have a younger person walk thru the line with an elderly person so they don’t have to manage it all. Prior to serving, set the table with utensils, bread, and butter.

This is a good point! Also, the poster who talks about Aunt Gladys! A buffet is a great way to avoid hurt feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are like a few other posters. We do a formal Thanksgiving dinner with everyone dressed up, crystal, china, linens, the whole enchilada. We generally have 25-35 people. We switch between my house and my sister's house but we do the same type of setup either way.

We always set up a buffet table. It just works so much better because there are so many dishes. It would take forever to serve family style because there are so many side dishes. I would explain the logistics to your MIL. Serving 15-20 dishes family style is very difficult. It is much better to have a buffet. We will put gravy, rolls and butter dishes on the table. I generally carve the turkey in the kitchen and then it is laid out on a platter for easy serving.

Sometimes I think that people don't understand that buffets can be elegant as well as functional. We use beautiful linens, silver serving pieces and decorations on our buffet table. It looks lovely and serves a good purpose.

Thank you, PP. We generally dress up a bit and use nice linens, servingware, etc. I’ll just have to stay confident that it’s the best choice to keep the food warm and let everyone eat easily, AND it can look really nice! -OP