What do you serve your food in?

The only time I usually have anyone over for dinner is for Thanksgiving and I don't have a very big kitchen so I just leave the stuff in the pots and pans and they can help themselves out of those.

Right now, we only have a small kitchen and no dining room, so if we have people over to eat, I dish up their plates in the kitchen and serve them "restaurant-style". We do the same thing day-to-day for the family. However, in the past (and hopefully again in the future), when I have company over, I put most, if not all, of the food out in dishes. For every day meals, I usually serve right out of the pots and pans, but that is because my kids are still too young to serve themselves. As they grow, I will probably set things out for them, at least occasionally, just because it makes the meal special. I figure, if I do it for company, then I should at least do it once in a while for my family, who mean more to me than anyone I could invite over.

I love to have friends over for dinner!!

It's so much fun. When company comes over I put everything into serving bowls/dishes and set them on the table along with the eating dishes, glass and silverware.

When it's just the family here during the week I serve the food right onto the dish in the kitchen and then bring it to the table. We always eat at the dining room table (we do not have a table in the kitchen), it's important to us as family to sit together and eat and talk about our day!

for company it is special serving pieces, just as it is at holy days in our house - out comes the china, the matching place settings, gravy boat, serving dishes etc.... but everyday at home - it is slopped from the pot at the stove for the most part.

it is a shame that we do not consider our immediate family important enough for the company dishes... maybe I will start serving us on nice dishes on Sundays to make that day even more celebrated.

For company I always drag out the serving dishes, nice corning ware bowls and trays. Now for family, I have to admit we serve everything out of the pots and pans for dinner. We'll set the table occasionally, but still serve off the stove. Years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this, but I guess we change. The kids at least grew up with the table set and serving dishes and I think that's nice, if they will ever do it themselves, we'll see.

When I have company over for dinner I always put everything into nice bowls, never put a pot on the table. But when it is just me or just me and my daugher, I don't set the table and just leave the food in the pots and serve our plates right from the stove. Why make moe firty dishes than is neccessary, although I do have a dish washer.