Turning the calendar to December in my shop always brings the question of what to do for the Christmas holiday. In the past, we've always followed the "Everybody bring something" format where we set up tables in the shop and enjoy a nice feast together. Last year, we tried something different in the form of UGA's Cook's Holiday buffet. The results were so overwhelmingly positive that we decided to do it again this year.

This year's feast was held at the Village Summit inside the Joe Frank Harris Commons on campus.

The Village Summit is a large open dining area on the second floor of the building.

I've always liked the details in the woodwork in the ceiling.

We made our way to the Joe Frank Harris Commons for the Friday lunch buffet.

The Village Summit staff wants everyone in the group to be present before we are seated.

So we spent a few minutes waiting for everyone in our group to arrive.

Waiting for everyone to arrive.

With everyone present, we made our way to the entrance so we could be seated.

The buffet is held on the second floor of the Joe Frank Harris Commons.

The Village Summit staff went crazy with the Christmas decorations just like they did last year.

"Let the Big Dawg Eat" is Dining Service's slogan.

The Christmas decorations continued once we arrived at the entrance.

Live music was featured again like last year.

The Village Summit staff did a great job with the decor.

Last year, our group was seated at several tables in one corner of the room. This year, we were seated at one long table in the center of the dining area. The drawback to this was that it was more challenging to get to the buffet due to how close nearby table were. But this was more than offset by a number of positives, the most obvious of which was the fact that we were all seated together.

Another positive aspect of our table was it's proximity to the dessert tables, both of which were next to the section where we were seated.

Diners were able to spike their sugar levels in a variety of ways. Three chocolate fountains were featured this year.

A traditional chocolate fountain.

A caramel fountain.

A white chocolate fountain.

Another dessert table sat across the isle from the chocolate fountains.

The second of two dessert tables.

The other plus for our table was its proximity to the buffet entrance, which sat just beyond a row of Christmas decorations.

Christmas decorations at the buffet entrance.

The buffet setup was the same as last year. Two identical buffets could be accessed from either side of the tables on which they sat. In other words, four lines of diners could pass through the buffet at once, which was great ! Congestion was never a problem.

The first set of tables held various side dishes.

Prime rib was one of the featured entrees this year.

Prime rib is always a favorite !

Just past the prime rib tables sat the shrimp & grits tables.

Shrimp & grits tables.

Next in line were the turkey and dressing tables.

The Praline chicken and rolls sat next to the buffet exit.

With the buffet exit being separate from the entrance, congestion was always kept to a minimum.

This was a wonderful event ! Just like last year, the goal for this year's Holiday feast was to stuff yourself to the point where you are unable to be productive in any manner when you return to work, something that our group has learned to do very well.