What do you serve your food in?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!