Live + Love + Teach = "Art": so i prop styled my first cookbook...

Like I said in my first blog post, now almost 2 months ago, my worlds are forever overlapping. This past week the first cookbook I have ever prop styled for was released, The Divvies Bakery Cookbook. Back in October of 2009 I was asked to work on a cookbook, while I was still in graduate school. Now this wasn't just any cookbook, and this wasn't just any random job that just fell into my lap. Let me see if I can explain.

Lori Sandler, (the author), and her family, are owners of Divvies Bakery. Lori, and her son Benjamin, (who has food allergies), were past guests on the Martha show. The bakery specializes in foods made without peanuts, tree nuts, milk, or eggs. Lori, and her producer Lenore from the Martha Show, stayed in touch after the shoot. As it turned out, Lenore has a daughter who also shares similar food allergies as Benjamin, and they became a huge fans of the Divvies products and vision. When Lori was looking for a photographer in the area to shoot her book, Lenore recommended my husband Tom, who is a professional photographer. So the chain began. Lori and Tom asked me to do the prop and set styling for the book. When Lori and Benjamin were on the Martha show, I was actually their tv prop stylist then as well! Since the shoot was close to home, we worked the schedule around my class schedule and it became do-able. The food styling was done by another friend and colleague of ours, Justine Poldino. She worked with Lori to perfect her vision in the kitchen on each one the recipes; making them picture perfect for the camera. Together as a team, we were able to create some pretty beautiful images. Next time you are browsing through the bookstore, stop by the cooking section and take a look! The book is also available for purchase online.

Some prop options for fudge and lemon squares as presented to my client...