The porcelain plates above were made in Limoges, France, in the 1870s.  They were considered high style at the time and remain so over 100 years later.
The large platter and plates were made to serve an easily available food source.  You will notice one plate features the image of an eel which was a wildly popular dish in Europe in the 1850s onward.
With the ocean a short drive away and Lake Murray just outside the door along with countless ponds and other bodies of water, I find endless opportunities to use this platter and these plates.
The platter is large and perfect to showcase an entire prepared fish such as a salmon. There are 10 of the smaller plates which feature an unusual shape, making them all the more fascinating.  I have used a large fish platter for sushi and it looks beautiful.  A platter like this creates an instant centerpiece, as beautiful empty as is when in use.
Porcelain such as this also can be displayed hanging on the wall as the images are so eye catching that they can easily replace more traditional forms of wall art.
The outer images are transferred, first to vellum and them to unfired porcelain. Once the outer image is transferred, the colors were then added as washes of color to give the idea of hand painting throughout. 
Transferware has become harder to find.  Most collectible are pieces with mistakes where the vellum image clearly overlaps or slips leaving a less than perfect image. 
Perhaps taking a little inspiration from the past will allow you to make the most of what you may consider an ordinary meal.