Step up to the plate

I wanted to share a trend I'm hearing from more and more hostesses: For big family gatherings such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, they're switching to paper plates to make clean up less stressful.

I'm not talking about paper plates from the grocery store - they're buying beautiful, sturdy ones that are anything but white and flimsy.

But still, for many of them, it's something they thought they would never do. But they've embraced it because it minimizes the time they have to stand over the sink hand washing china. For some it's due to their super busy lives and the fact that there are some really elegant paper plate options out there. For others, they're being practical and facing facts that they're getting older and are no longer able to stand and wash dishes for extended periods of time.

Many of them would normally hire servers to help with clean-up when they're overwhelmed, but for gatherings at the holidays, they want to keep it intimate with family and friends only. But it's not their hostessing style to ever ask guests, even family members, to wash dishes.

I don't believe in problems, only solutions, so if elegant paper plates make your entertaining life easier, don't let old fashioned notions of that being tacky hold you back from giving yourself a bit of a break.

Follow Olivia on Twitter @oliviafortson