z z wrote:
> Presentation is an art form separate from the quality of your cooking.
> Watching cooking shows, you will often see them tucking a sprig of
> something for presentation. You can tell who has talent and who doesn't.
> What have you done for presentation?
>
> I like my crisply white Corelle dishware-there is something about
> print/pattern/colored dishware that just throws off the food for me. I
> like to take large grain black pepper and sprinkle quite a bit around
> the food on the plate. Serves two purposes-extra pepper for those who
> like it, and decoration.
>
> I have one of those 3 tier graduated trays. Once (for someone who had
> just married) I filled it with frosted cupcakes and then took long thin
> curling ribbons, tied them to the top center point, and curled them to
> fall down the sides. However, I skimped on the cupcakes, and learned
> that presentation should never outdo the food.
>
When eating by myself, I am apt to use that Corelle, but that is
partially because I love my Arabia (dark brown verging into black;
I got the blackest pieces I could find). I think about getting
other solid colors and glass for that possibly mythical day when I
start photographing food. I learned the lesson of decorated
plates when I was a kid. My mother got a set of dishes with
leaves and things painted on them. We nicknamed them "the poison
ivy plates". Things just don't great on such things, unless you
plan your meal around how the dishes look.

So, in addition to the aforementioned, I have my mom's (later)
very fine white china, some glass, some off-white pieces made by a
craftsperson. Some black on black speckled items. I like very
simple dishes.

--
Jean B.