THE PLATE MAKES THE DISH

With so much talk about New Year's Diets, 

my plan is to use fancier plates.

The only tip I have gained from watching countless  hours of  Top Chef, other than the realization that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to enroll at  The French Culinary Institute,  is that the plating of the food - makes the dish.  I admit I can't  pronounce the techniques the chefs use to prepare the food I can't recognize, but I did figure out that the final creations  presented to the judges are either stacked on a nice plate, or in a cool bowl.   It makes sense because one of the many criteria the judges use to pick a winner, is the presentation.

When I eat a meal at home, I don't judge myself .  I'm just proud I had time to get to the market + put something on the table. Last week, with most of my white Block Spal everyday dishes in the dishwasher, I was forced to use a plate from the bottom of the stack.  I had gotten it a while back at Sur La Table, but it seems they don't carry it anymore.  It's colorful with a somewhat fancy Spanish design, reminiscent of something you would find at  Rosa Mexicano.

My meal, a chipotle black bean burger over salad, was really delicious.  I've had similar veggie patties before but this time credit is due to the presentation!   The swirly designs on the plate made me think that more food was there,  than actually was.  The embellished ceramic looked like many of the drippings you see around that plates on the tv show.  True I was really hungry, but the presentation was simply spectacular.  And you wonder, why I'm giving so much credit to a plate?  I liked it so much I've been having the same exact meal every night since.

Moral of the  story: Spicing-up my diet was as easy as changing the presentation!

This concept holds true for the furniture arrangement in a home, also.  Moving around possessions + re-purposing furniture is the surest way to give a living space a boost.

Any room can be spiced-up with some of the re-design tricks I invented during my 5 year gig on Home + Garden TV.

If  you invite me over to move your furniture around  + refresh your rooms, don't stress.

We can eat pizza out of the box.  Your secret is safe with me.

Images 1-4  BLOOMINGDALE'S, Images 5-6   GUMPS, Images 7-10  FISHES EDDY