My family is quite a large one and we are split around the country these days. Because of this we meet up a few times a year and we like to have a nice big gathering with lots of food and drink for everyone. Quite often I host these gatherings in my home as where my husband and I live is quite central to other members of the family and so I often end up doing the majority of the food from scratch and buying in many litres of spirits and soft drinks for the kids. I love these gatherings (despite them being expensive) as it means we all get to be together, take some photographs, share some stories and have a jolly time.

I do have quite a few lovely serving dishes that I use but sometimes I just don't have enough and rather than spend huge sums of money on beautiful serving dishes I tend to use these Tesco value platters. They are easy to pick up when doing my weekly shop or shopping online and so I know I can have a couple of packets on top of my kitchen cupboard for whenever I may need to use them. I also use them if some family may be taking items home for the car journey so that I can just wrap cling-film around one and the whole family has some nice nibbles to enjoy on the way home too.

These platters currently cost around the £2.00 mark for 5 but I stock up on the rare occasion that they go on special offer (usually 3 for 2) and so I'm happy enough with the price that I pay.

These trays really are quite simple to look at. There are 5 trays within the cellophane wrapping and they are just stacked on top of each other. They are easy to separate and they are quite simple looking in appearance. These platters have a pattern all over them and they are silver in colour, they remind me of some posh cutlery that my family used for best when growing up because of the swirly designs all over them and they look quite nice. There is a raised edge all the way around this platter and the two ends are squared off so that they are nice and easy to carry over to the table. These are quite thin and can feel a little flimsy, however, I always use two hands when carrying them and never overload them so I've not had a problem before with dropping these (so far anyway!).

These platters are ideal for all the usual party food, quiches, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, chunky chopped vegetables, houmous pots etc. I tend to lay out several of these along with the serving dishes that I already own. I don't worry about the food rolling off because of the raised edges and they look quite nice, although a little cheap (which they are of course). Because these have a dip in the middle they sit with ease on my dining table and I do not worry about them moving around or falling off the table if the kids knock them slightly. They are not wobbly so no food is being constantly moved around unless someone is touching it either.

These are designed to be used as disposable platters however I tend to wash mine carefully, give them a thorough dry and then store them in my kitchen cupboard. I always wipe them back over before I re-use them and then I discard them after they have been re-used once. I find this saves me a nice amount of money and also means that I'm reducing wastage where possible although I do know that just buying more long term serving platters or dishes would be better still.

In all I am quite pleased with these platters. They are not the thickest or best quality disposable platters ever, however, they stand up well for the purpose they're required, they do not get red hot the second hot food goes on to them and they are easy to carry and move around as the evening progresses and there is less and less food that can be left out. The price for 5 platters is very reasonable making them around 40p each and this is just a fantastic bargain when it comes to Christmas time or the school holidays where I can re-use them within a short space of time and use the money I saved on more exciting things! 4/5 from me!