Having four children I throw a lot of birthday parties; add to this the fact that over the years I've got into the habit of doing a buffet at my house for various other family birthdays, and I have people eating (and dropping) food around the house around once every eight weeks.

I always provide paper plates for two reasons: a) I wouldn't trust certain members of my family with the proper plates and b) I'm usually using all my crock plates for the buffet. I bought these Extra Strength Plates from Tesco for Alice's party in March and was so impressed I went back and got another set for Hollie's birthday last month.

There are twenty five plates in a pack, which is just right for me as this is roughly how many I'd need for an average gathering. I also bought a pack of decorated Barbie plates for Hollie to give out to a select few, these Extra Strength plates are available only in white so if buying for a kids' party you may need to do the same and top up with some prettied up versions.

The plates are visibly different to standard paper plates, the lip is definitely more pronounced than the standard Tesco variety I've bought in the past and the plates do have a stronger look about them. The raised lip is an excellent idea as it (usually) prevents food from sliding off the edge of the plate when being carried around.

The plates have a stiffer than usual cardboard feel; while most paper plates you buy will feel fairly flimsy and bendy, these need you to get slightly physical to bend them in half. They feel more substantial in my hand, and watching how much food Mark's mum put on hers I can tell you they're definitely strong enough to hold plenty! Joking aside, they really are surprisingly strong. Mark made one of his *fabulous* curries to go with Hollie's buffet and despite serving a normal sized portion along with rice, the plates hardly bent at all. In hindsight I'm glad the plates have the shiny coating that all paper plates tend to have as imagine the mess if they soaked up the curry sauce and disintegrated!

Twice I've used these plates now, and twice I've been impressed by the lack of mess in the house when everyone has gone home. I have, in the past, watched helplessly as paper plates flipped themselves over under the weight of a chicken drumstick or two - this simply doesn't happen with these.

Obviously they're disposable, so after everyone's finished eating it's simply a case of throwing the plates in the bin along with the leftovers. Again the strength of the plates struck me at this point as they need more squishing down than the standard variety to put them in the bin, they are also recyclable for all you green types - although maybe not if they're covered in food!

A pack of 25 Extra Strength plates costs £1.98 in Tesco, which is more than their standard plates, but personally I don't mind paying the extra as they're worth their weight in gold thanks to the distinct lack of floor cleaning required after each of my parties.