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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Do you serve meals family-style?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On our recent vacation, my husband and I had a cookout with some friends with teenage children. When the food was ready my friend, Andy, offered his kids the option of plating the food for them or serving it family-style. Both kids enthusiastically voted for plating.
I was really surprised. With the exception of some dinner parties when I prepared something in individual portions or packets, I’ve always put everything on the table for people to help themselves. I felt it let people chose what they want to eat and how much of it. I guess it’s also how I grew up eating and never really thought otherwise.
On one hand, serving family-style prevents waste from putting too much of something on a plate which ends up uneaten (I am not a member of the clean-your-plate club) but on the other hand, plating keeps portion sizes under control and keeps me from telling my son, Alex, “That’s enough mashed potatoes!”
It got me wondering which is a better approach. It’s definitely an easier cleanup with no serving plates and bowls. Health-wise there are pros and cons. Plating food allows you to control what goes on the plate, but open serving can help kids learn to monitor for themselves and might encourage them to take more healthy stuff, like veggies, if it’s right in front of them.
How do you serve food in your home? Do you watch portions by plating food for your family? What do you see as the pros and cons?
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