I will 'plate' the food when I have the time or for some reason whenever I make asparagus (I'll arrange it cross hatched over the potates, meat etc). The other time I'll do it is when I'm cooking for myself only (hubby has already eaten and is sitting near by)-- I'll make my 'plate' look really pretty just to annoy him

Also sometimes when I'm following a recipe from a cookbook with a picture, I will try to duplicate the 'look'. Since we rarely entertain, all the plating is for my/hubbys benefit only.