I never plate food at home. I have serving plates and bowls. My family sits at the table and serves themselves. Of course when the kids were little their plates were fixed for them. It saves trips to the kitchen having the entire meal on the table.
It's nice to hear everyone requesting something to be passed to them while sitting there being part of the meal. Please pass the biscuits or the gravy or the chicken or mashed potatoes is good to hear and to see everyone enjoying the meal. If the plates were prepped in advance, it to me wouldn't be a family dinner.

I kept this thread in mind a few days ago when I was picking up some canned tomato products. Thank you for sharing it.

RE: "It saves trips to the kitchen having the entire meal on the table."

Speaking of this... how many of you take your meals at table in an eat-in kitchen, versus a seperate dining room?

At my condo, my kitchen is eat-in and I have no seperate dining room. Many homes have a formal dining room unconnected, or out of view of the kitchen. I personally don't like a table right smack dab in the middle of the kitchen like I have now. But I think I do tend to prefer a dining table say- on the other side of a counter/bar or island, within view of the kitchen- just not smack dab in the center of all the appliances and the action. I think I like my guests to have some connection to what's going on in the kitchen, even if they themselves have no desire to be directly involved. Yet I don't want that dining table/chairs/sitting guests to necessarily be under-foot as I make my way 'round the stove, sink and fridge...

Hi Kev!
When it is just the two of us, we may sit down in the kitchen. We did last night, and then played a rousing game of rummy500 (I lost). Otherwise, with guests, we move to the dining room, which is just off the kitchen via a large arched doorway. Everyone can still see what is going on in the kitchen, and I still feel like I am part of the conversation in the dining room.

We have ours set up exactly as you describe. The kitchen is for cooking at my house. We don't have a table there. We do have a bar which looks into the kitchen. This is where I eat my breakfast or lunch if I'm home alone. Then on the other side is the dining room where we always eat if it's my husband and I or guests. Our table sits 10 comfortably so we have some good parties.

Then in the summer we have a 6 person table on the deck. If the weather is good we would always rather eat outside.