It does to me also. It just drives me nuts when DH does that same kind of thing: I like the food to look aesthetically pleasing as much as I like it to taste divine. And to cut a piece of cake, pick it up with his hands and eat it, spilling crumbles all over everything...AAAACCCC. That is the reason I am finally glad to have good knives: to cut off his fingers when he does things like that.

Sometimes it matters to me, sometimes not. It does drive me crazy to find one piece of cake cut right out of the middle, it's Ashley's favorite part. Sigh. I also like it when she uses a glass to drink chocolate milk instead of right out of the container (but Mom, I'm the ONLY ONE that drinks it!) True, she IS the only one that drinks it, but still.....

when I have anyone else to cook for I like to set the table, use serving dishes. When it's just Ashley and/or me, we'll probably serve ourselves out of the cooking utensils onto a plate but I prohibit Ashley from eating directly from the pan.

Sherry, I can't believe Roger would do that. LOLOLOL.

Annie

oh Sherry - to cut off his fingers when he does things like that
hahahaha!!!

and Annie - but I prohibit Ashley from eating directly from the pan
hee hee hee!!

Maybe I just need a good laugh but you guys are crackin me up!

Funny it does matter to me, but I still don't do it. I would love to have everything look just so - but I just can't seem to get the knack. I do OK when I have to, I guess - but Sol or Ann? I'm not. (sorry, I just left WFD and those two are the last two gorgeous photos on the thread...)

Stacy

I forget who said it--I thought it was Julia Child, but I can't find the quotation right now--when asked about the nouvelle cuisine with everything presented just perfectly on the plate, they remarked something to the effect that "Yes, it's beautiful. You just can see them in the kitchen with their fingers all over it to get it that way."

Presentation is a pleasant luxury, but I'd rather eat good food off a paper plate than mediocre food off Royal Doulton.

I am not an "anal" person....not a fuss budget....not a neat freak....but I would go ballistic if and when I was someone doing that!
I think my DH did the squash the bread down thing only once. I told him...OK that loaf was his, because I dodn't want my bread all mashed flat, and went and got the other loaf and cut it properly...and and for breakfast he got a mashed loaf and I got nice slices of home made bread, toasted.
And then there was the time a child old enough to know better scraped extra frosting off the cake to smear on their piece...leaving a naked part of a cake....again I went ballistic!! I said you will not be eating any cake with frosting for dinner!
And another time my DH refused a 2nd helping of oyster stew...and I caught him in the kitchen eating all the oysters out of the leftovers in the pan. I told him he had just earned himself a lunch tomorrow of oyster stew with no oysters in it.
Drives me crazy when someone spoils food for others by mangling it or eating "the best part" without regard to the rest of the people.
Yes presentation matters....and the condition of what's left on the plate does too!
Linda C

Well, my husband also doesn't get the pictures on this forum either. He calls us all crazy for taking pictures of food. I felt like a crazy person when he found 15 pictures of Christmas cookies on the camera. As hard as I try, the camera thing isn't my thing. It makes everything I made look bad so I don't bother. I guess it's the angles I used because everything looks like someone got sick on it (sorry for you visuals people). Oh yeah, he also doesn't know it drives me crazy how he cuts the cake/bread/serves food, etc. I pick my battles and this really isn't one of them! Just a pet peeve I keep to myself.

I do the serving up and washing up so I can't complain about that. Ex used to rip the heck out of all packaging that was designed to be re-closed: cracker boxes, cereal boxes and the inner bags, ziplock closures (he'd rip open the wrong end). And frozen veggies, he'd rip a hole in the bag with his fingers, leaving a zagged little opening and put the bag back in the freezer with no twist-tie or clip. Everything would either acquire weird flavors, dry out, or both. But I think it was the cereal box thing that bugged me most. No it was the frozen veggies...tough one! They both drove me crazy.

It matters. By different degrees at different times, though. When I'm alone, it doesn't matter quite as much as when DH is home or I'm serving others. I'm happy with a sandwich on a paper towel for myself. For someone else, I'll do it "right".

LOL Yes, presentation matters to me. My DH just wants food, it doesn't matter how it looks! I'm trying to teach our two sons (in their 20's) about this when they are helping me cook. I don't know what they do when I'm not around! :-)
Cameron

I'm getting pretty fussy about presentation but I am a total neat freak in my kitchen and being I have soap stone countertops which are black, every teeny tiny crumb shows.

DH is very conscience of color for presentation and will use parsley and even fan a thinly sliced sweet pickle for a side. But he is so sloppy in the kitchen. The problem is he does not wash his hands enough and gets crud all over everything...the bottom of plates, frig and DW handles and even the hardware to my kitchen cabinets. My Mom was a real fuss budget about washing hands, maybe why I've never had a head cold in my life. I'm sure I picked up my washing obsessions, which includes the laundry, from her.

For example for Christmas I wanted ham and DH wanted turkey. I told DH if he wanted turkey he had to cook it and I wish I'd not have said that as it took me 3 hours to clean my kitchen!

DH also does some pretty stange stuff in the refrigerator too, but we're "working" on this. And his learning curve has some right angles now!

Michelle

No not really. It's gotta taste good..and generally look good. But I don't have time to "present" things as lovely as Sol or sometimes Ann T..Dinner time is usually just a step in between homework and an event..no time for decorations..just get the food down hot! LOL

It's my job to clean up after them...I do ask only a few things from them occasionally, the boys are much better trained than hubby...

Nope, When I'm plating I try and make it look nice but I really care more about flavour than I do presentation. So if someone else is serving me something that tastes wonderful, I don't care how it is presented. Can be on chipped plates or even paper plates for that matter. Tasting great trumps presentation.

Ann

When we have people for dinner, then yes, I am all for presentation. I do the "fluff" with linens, to cover things I have used to raise certain things. Nothing is ever just set flat on a table for serving. But I don't think I can ever present food the way it is in some of the photos here. Might be my photography! :) When it is just us, we usually serve out of the pans and eat on paper plates. By the time I get home, I don't want all the fuss.

And please...do not smoosh my bread. Do not drink out of a carton, even if I don't drink milk. Do not come into my kitchen and use the utensil I am cooking with to "have a taste". Do not come into my kitchen when I am cooking to make yourself something. Don't eat out of any container that someone else is going to take a serving from. If I see anyone do that in my kitchen...it immediately goes in the trash. I am a real stickler about that. All that bacteria being put back into something someone else might eat (that didn't see you eat out of it)!! Sorry...got on a rant there. :)

It is a lovely luxury at the proper time. As a working mom of two who cooks lovely meals [as best I can] I sometimes find it boggling that people here find the time to plate food and take pictures when I frequently fall into bed with a sink full of pans.

I generally start cooking at 5 and rarely leave the kitchen until after 9 or 10. Granted I cook in shifts first for the boys and then for whenever in the 7-12pm range that dh makes it home but by then he's generally enchanted by the quality of the sustenance not the presentation - well unless you count the waitress ;-)

I did take a pic of the sliced apricot and pistachio rolled pork roast I made for a dinner party this Sunday but it was on my cell phone as an after thought as leftovers and you all take such gorgeous pix i doubt anyone would care to see it. Honestly i took it for my boss who loves hearing about my cuilinary adventures and goes bonkers for my soups [he's so cool, he bought me a stick blender for Christmas and keeps telling me I shouldn't go back to engineering when the kids get older, I should open a gourmet deli, very sweet]

Presentation does matter to me. But I am not talking about rosette radishes. Just simple presentation that heightens the anticipation of eating. Quick example, I just made scrambled eggs for my son and grabbed a white plate vs. a gold/black one. The eggs simply look more appetizing on white vs. gold.
For me, presentation usually means presenting food with few distractions in a clean manner.
Make sense?
Jo

I really think that the answer here may depend upon some of our backgrounds. Presentation is JUST as important as taste to me (not more important, both are vital).

It's just second nature to me to present all the food I serve in an attractive way. But then, even when I'm not preparing recipes for competition, I consider all cooking 'practice' for those times when my results count. And DH has been to enough cooking contests with me, that 'gets it'.

And I'm happy to report that my homemade bread--made yesterday--was NOT squished when I came down for breakfast, even though DH cut himself a slice earlier. I find, that leaving stuff like that, with the correct equipment helps (last night, before I went to bed, I put the bread on a cutting board, with a good serrated knife)--easier for him, and less likely to damage the bread.

Not particularly. If I want "pretty" I go out....it's rare.

It's gotta taste good. Many work nights we serve from the cooking vessel and eat at the coffee table, sitting on the floor. It's a.....uh..........CASUAL theme!! :+)

Deanna

NOW we've reached a subject which is near and dear to my heart.

I go practically bats#@t when my seven-year-old daughter rips open packages jaggedly! Or tears the cereal bag open down the side.

Dang - it's soooooo good to know I'm not the only one!

But tearing open bags badly isn't really about presentation to me - it is a matter of wanting the bag in good enough shape to hold the remaining food and make it easy to get out. Also, I hate having to clean-up when the bag finally tears and sends food everywhere. If it is a tough bag I'll use scissors.

Presentation is a "nice to have" to me but not always required. Usually when we have family dinners (a few times a week) the food will be moved to serving dishes and served around the table in a civilized manner. But other times I'm fine with serving out of the cooking pans. Last night I made aloo gobi and it was easier to leave the big batch in the wok on the rangetop and serve ourselves buffet style before coming to the table.

My husband is a real neatnik when it comes to things like cutting bread. When he does it, you might think it came from a bread slicer. But it annoys me when he slices up the whole loaf. Sometimes I want a thinner or thicker slice so I prefer to slice as I go. Or he will slice a pie or pan of brownies up into even pieces. I'd rather be able to get the size slice I'm in the mood for.

When you say serve out of the cooking pans....do you mean you put the pans on the table...or plate in the kitchen rather than serving family style?
I guess when I say I am not a fuss budget...I really am. When alone, I often eat in my lat, or at the computer or at the coffee table. But when I have someone to eat with, I always set the table properly...always have candles, unless it's summer and still daylight at dinner. And I never put a pot on the table, nor a milk carton, nor package of chips....but for some reason a bottle of catsup or steak sauce is OK by me. I don't like a 2 liter bottle of soda on the table...but a can of Coke is fine....go figure!!
Linda C