Serving Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet Style

Norman Rockwell may have painted Thanksgiving dinner being served family style at a large dining room table, but most of us have too many sides and too little room to be able to pull that off. If Thanksgiving dinner is starting to feel crowded and jam packed, perhaps it would work much better to serve the meal buffet style.

Buffet style entertaining has many advantages, saving the sanity of the hostess and allowing the guests to have a more enjoyable meal. Any warming trays or slow cookers can remain plugged in while arranging the buffet spread, allowing the meal to stay nice and warm for anyone wishing seconds, or even thirds. The table doesn't have to be set with place settings or place cards, and there's plenty of room for everyone's water and wine glasses, without the green bean casserole taking up valuable table real estate.

When choosing a location for the buffet, imagine the flow of traffic around the room, and minimize any of the lines having to cross each other. A separate station for drinks is very helpful, since it allows easy refilling and avoids people having to carry both a full plate and a drinking glass.

After you've planned the location and flow of your buffet setup, use baskets, trays and pretty serving pieces to arrange the dinnerware and the food in an attractive manner. Line baskets with fall themed fabric or clean towels, tuck unobtrusive decorations between the serving trays, and make sure to provide napkins and any other utensils that will be needed. Try to arrange the buffet spread in a logical manner. Putting the gravy first will just cause confusion and traffic problems.

Consider serving some food at the table, such as cranberry sauce, gravy and butter in small serving dishes, and wine or other drinks to be passed around family style. This will make your guests more comfortable, since they won't have to get up too many times while they are enjoying their meal. Rolls, biscuits, or other bread are also some things that won't go amiss being served directly on the table.

Use a large tub to clear the table, much like they use in restaurants, to make the transition from dinner to dessert an easy one. You can simple carry all the used dishes to the kitchen and then scrape and load them into the dishwasher afterward, so your guests won't have to wait or feel awkward while you do kitchen work. You could even station the dirty dish tub on the way to the dessert table, if you're having an informal enough setting that the guests will be clearing their own places.

If you have the room, serve the pre-sliced desserts by arranging them on a separate counter or sideboard along with the dessert plates and forks. Don't forget extra dessert napkins, pie servers, and tongs for cookies and brownies. A few carafes of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate would also be very nice to pass around at dessert time. These can be prepared before dinner and still be plenty warm for after dinner if they are stored in a thermal carafe or thermos jar.

Using elements of buffet style serving will really simplify you big Thanksgiving feast, and allow your guests to feel much more relaxed and comfortable. I hope these tips will be prove useful to you when it comes time for you to set up your buffet spread.