Family Thanksgiving Buffet Organizing a Buffet
Long gone are the houses with the huge country kitchen with the equally large table at one end, around which families with a dozen or more members would gather to enjoy the simple daily meals and those special holiday meals as well. Not only have houses gotten smaller but so have families, or at least it seems that way until they all arrive for Thanksgiving dinner.By the time you have mom and dad, the siblings, their spouses, various aunts, uncles, friends, and all their offspring gathered together, it turns out to be quite an assembly for most families. You are usually lucky that after begging and borrowing extra card tables and chairs you have a place for all of them to sit to enjoy the dinner you have cooked without trying to crowd, all the food and various dishes on the table too.Perhaps that is why the family Thanksgiving buffet has become as much of a tradition as Thanksgiving dinner itself. Your guests can fill their own plates with whatever they want, take a seat and enjoy the meal with a little elbow room and not having to worry about putting their elbows in the mashed potatoes, or tipping over the gravy boat when they reach for their coffee cup.A family buffet makes sense, but setting up a buffet is not as easy as it looks, and many people feel frustrated as to how to organize a buffet table so that it is a simple affair for guests to serve themselves.For those of you who are planning to serve Thanksgiving dinner buffet style for the first time the hints in this article may help you avoid the more common mistakes. For old hands at buffet style family dinners you just may find a hint or two that makes setting up this years buffet a bit easier than those in the past.The first thing you have to decide is where you are going to sit up the buffet table. Will it be in a separate room from where the dinners will be actually eating? Will it be in the middle of the floor or against a wall? Planning where your buffet table will go and then setting it up a couple of days in advance will allow you to actually see how accessible your table will be for your guests.If at all possible try and make sure that once your guests are through the buffet line, they do not have to thread their way back through it again to find a seat. There should be room for those exiting the buffet and those still going to it to pass each other without running one another over.Once you have the table placed to your liking the next step is to decide where all the dishes should go. The very first thing on the buffet should be the stack of plates. This only makes sense as not only are the plates what guests will put their food on but it also tells the guests where the start of the buffet is.The last thing on the buffet should be your glasses and silverware. The silverware should be rolled in the napkin and tied with a ribbon. Placing the silverware and glasses last makes it easier for your guests to fill their plates without having to hang onto and jostle the glasses and silverware as they go through the line. They can simply pick them up and go.If you have prearranged seating arrangements, and a small table on which to set up the buffet itself, you can place the entire table setting on the tables, have the guests sit before the start of the buffet for the family prayer, then simply take their plates with them when they go to the buffet. This will avoid the jostling of glasses and silverware completely while allocating all the space on your buffet table itself for the food.Once you know exactly how you are going to set up your dishes for the buffet you reach the most important part of organizing your buffet. Placing the food dishes. Charlie Scola, a professional event and party planner states that the food on the buffet should be set up in this order. Rolls, salad, vegetable, starch, entree, dessert.Other experts agree saying that the cold food should be first and the hot foods last, so the hot food does not cool while the guests are filling their plates.Experts also suggest that you decide what serving dishes you are going to use for which foods and set the empty dishes on the buffet in advance so you know exactly where each dish will be placed. They also suggest placing a note in each dish so you can recall which dish you plan on using for which food, and that if you will be filling the dishes in the kitchen and placing them back on the buffet, you tape a corresponding note to the table so you know the exact spot to place the dish back on once it is filled.Using the note method, not only simplifies things for you, but also makes it simple for anyone who volunteers to help you set up the buffet to know where things go.Make sure when you set up your serving dishes, that you also include the proper serving utensils so that you won't have any last minute scrounging to find just the right slotted spoon. Also setting up salt and pepper shakes and making places for salad dressings will help you remember to place these on the buffet when things get hectic.Arranging the dish placement the night before, will save a lot of stress Thanksgiving day and allow you to concentrate on the dinner itself. Making things go much more smoothly when it is time to dish up all the wonderful food you have prepared.One last thing to consider is your buffet decoration. A simply decoration will add charm and beauty to your buffet, but you want to keep your decoration simple and you want it to be something that does not interfere with the guests filling their plates.While a tall delicate candle holder may look beautiful on the buffet table, unless you can set it away from the serving dishes it just might cause a mishap from a loose sleeve. If your buffet is going to sit against the wall, a wreath or a couple small Thanksgiving wreaths on the wall over the table might prove to be the best solution. Otherwise try and keep a small space around your decorations free of dishes so that your guests can enjoy the decorations free of mishaps.By following these few simple hints, you just might find that planning and setting up your Thanksgiving buffet table is a lot simpler and stressful than you thought it would be, making both your guests and your Thanksgiving more enjoyable.Tweet
Long gone are the houses with the huge country kitchen with the equally large table at one end, around which families with a dozen or more members would gather to enjoy the simple daily meals and those special holiday meals as well. Not only have houses gotten smaller but so have families, or at least it seems that way until they all arrive for Thanksgiving dinner.
By the time you have mom and dad, the siblings, their spouses, various aunts, uncles, friends, and all their offspring gathered together, it turns out to be quite an assembly for most families. You are usually lucky that after begging and borrowing extra card tables and chairs you have a place for all of them to sit to enjoy the dinner you have cooked without trying to crowd, all the food and various dishes on the table too.
Perhaps that is why the family Thanksgiving buffet has become as much of a tradition as Thanksgiving dinner itself. Your guests can fill their own plates with whatever they want, take a seat and enjoy the meal with a little elbow room and not having to worry about putting their elbows in the mashed potatoes, or tipping over the gravy boat when they reach for their coffee cup.
A family buffet makes sense, but setting up a buffet is not as easy as it looks, and many people feel frustrated as to how to organize a buffet table so that it is a simple affair for guests to serve themselves.
For those of you who are planning to serve Thanksgiving dinner buffet style for the first time the hints in this article may help you avoid the more common mistakes. For old hands at buffet style family dinners you just may find a hint or two that makes setting up this years buffet a bit easier than those in the past.
The first thing you have to decide is where you are going to sit up the buffet table. Will it be in a separate room from where the dinners will be actually eating? Will it be in the middle of the floor or against a wall? Planning where your buffet table will go and then setting it up a couple of days in advance will allow you to actually see how accessible your table will be for your guests.
If at all possible try and make sure that once your guests are through the buffet line, they do not have to thread their way back through it again to find a seat. There should be room for those exiting the buffet and those still going to it to pass each other without running one another over.
Once you have the table placed to your liking the next step is to decide where all the dishes should go. The very first thing on the buffet should be the stack of plates. This only makes sense as not only are the plates what guests will put their food on but it also tells the guests where the start of the buffet is.
The last thing on the buffet should be your glasses and silverware. The silverware should be rolled in the napkin and tied with a ribbon. Placing the silverware and glasses last makes it easier for your guests to fill their plates without having to hang onto and jostle the glasses and silverware as they go through the line. They can simply pick them up and go.
If you have prearranged seating arrangements, and a small table on which to set up the buffet itself, you can place the entire table setting on the tables, have the guests sit before the start of the buffet for the family prayer, then simply take their plates with them when they go to the buffet. This will avoid the jostling of glasses and silverware completely while allocating all the space on your buffet table itself for the food.
Once you know exactly how you are going to set up your dishes for the buffet you reach the most important part of organizing your buffet. Placing the food dishes. Charlie Scola, a professional event and party planner states that the food on the buffet should be set up in this order. Rolls, salad, vegetable, starch, entree, dessert.
Other experts agree saying that the cold food should be first and the hot foods last, so the hot food does not cool while the guests are filling their plates.
Experts also suggest that you decide what serving dishes you are going to use for which foods and set the empty dishes on the buffet in advance so you know exactly where each dish will be placed. They also suggest placing a note in each dish so you can recall which dish you plan on using for which food, and that if you will be filling the dishes in the kitchen and placing them back on the buffet, you tape a corresponding note to the table so you know the exact spot to place the dish back on once it is filled.
Using the note method, not only simplifies things for you, but also makes it simple for anyone who volunteers to help you set up the buffet to know where things go.
Make sure when you set up your serving dishes, that you also include the proper serving utensils so that you won't have any last minute scrounging to find just the right slotted spoon. Also setting up salt and pepper shakes and making places for salad dressings will help you remember to place these on the buffet when things get hectic.
Arranging the dish placement the night before, will save a lot of stress Thanksgiving day and allow you to concentrate on the dinner itself. Making things go much more smoothly when it is time to dish up all the wonderful food you have prepared.
One last thing to consider is your buffet decoration. A simply decoration will add charm and beauty to your buffet, but you want to keep your decoration simple and you want it to be something that does not interfere with the guests filling their plates.
While a tall delicate candle holder may look beautiful on the buffet table, unless you can set it away from the serving dishes it just might cause a mishap from a loose sleeve. If your buffet is going to sit against the wall, a wreath or a couple small Thanksgiving wreaths on the wall over the table might prove to be the best solution. Otherwise try and keep a small space around your decorations free of dishes so that your guests can enjoy the decorations free of mishaps.
By following these few simple hints, you just might find that planning and setting up your Thanksgiving buffet table is a lot simpler and stressful than you thought it would be, making both your guests and your Thanksgiving more enjoyable.
