When dining at home do you"plate"the food?
 

My parents(or most people) would never think of this.Food goes on the plate with no thought of how it looks.No effort is made to present the food in a way that pleases the eye.
At home,when cooking for yourself or for your family/company do you"plate"your food?

When cooking for myself....or something plain for the family I will not bother. If it is a dish that required more work...or if we have guests, I will plate the food. You will see the garnishes...and the whimsical presentations !
One thing: if you do "plate" your food, it really needs to live up to the presentation in terms of taste.

Not on an everyday basis, but certainly on special occassions and every once in a while when I just feel like making a special dinner. I think small things like that helps keep the romance alive.

If guests or my gf are over, I'll do what I can to make the presentation "nice". Otherwise, no, certainly don't worry about it.

Yes, but none of that wiping down the plate.

Like others, if there is somebody else eating, I'll put some work in the presentation. Otherwise, I can typically be found eating right out of the Calphalon! :D

Every day, no, but many days I do.

Sometimes it may be as simple as molding the rice with a small bowl, others it could be more elaborate.

Tonight is roast chicken and veggies, that won't be plated, but the chicken will be whole so it can be cut at the table.

Interesting you should ask this.
 

We come out of the country/rural tradition of putting food on the table in serving pieces, not plating the food. Each person can take as much or as little as he or she pleases.

When there is too much food to put it on the table, it goes on the side board.

I try to make the food look as desirable as possible, but each person has to fix his or her own plate.

We eat in the dining room every day and use real plates and settings of flatware.

Very old fashioned!

I'm having the same exact dinner tonight ! It must be Sunday !

I rarely, if ever do.

Especially if my wife and I are dining traditional Chinese style, normally all the food is laid out in the center of the table, almost buffet style.

I do all the cooking/serving and we eat most meals at home if we're not traveling.

And, yes, I do plate the food so it looks appetizing and not just like something dished up from the slop bucket.

Takes a few more seconds and a bit of thought, perhaps, but it's not something I've even thought about until I read this thread. :)

This sounds very similar to what I had at home and now try to continue with my GF. That goes both for "Eastern" and "Western" dining.

Breakfast is up to me and I'll fix her a nice plate to eat in bed.

Another 'yes' to presenting meals on a plate, unless the food is cooked or served whole, such as large baked fish or a pizza.

Whenever possible, it's good to do like oldpenny does - hopefully with a nice glass of wine too. ^

I will occasionally do this as I tend to eat slower when food is presented. Makes you want to admire the food instead of wolfing it down.

It dedends. We will usually plate the food, but if I'm feeling good we'll sometimes go family style.

We are sometimes guilty of serving a meal that all the same color...usually not reailized until it gets plated (chicken/corn/saffron rice or pork/mashed potatoes/cauliflower)