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Summer means grilling! When warm weather arrives, we are always happy to move our cooking and dining outdoors. Marty is really looking forward to firing up his Big Green Egg again this year, so we can enjoy our grilled favorites and maybe even try some new recipes.

For several years, I’ve been happy to shoot summer grilling features for USA Weekend Magazine (with styling by Lisa Cherkasky). This year, they spotlight Chef Bobby Flay, who offers grilling tips in “All Fired Up!”. Our photos help to feature these recipes from his cookbook, Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction: “Nectarine, Black Pepper and Blue Cheese Salad” (above), and “Fire-Roasted Baby Lamb Chops with Smoked Paprika-Orange BBQ Sauce” (below). This book is offered as part of USA Weekend’s weekly cookbook-giveaway sweepstakes.

In the interview, Flay says he loves his Big Green Egg grill, too—just like Marty, my favorite chef. Maybe one of these recipes will inspire new summer favorites for you, too. Happy grilling!

It’s so exciting to stroll grocery-store aisles and suddenly see packages featuring my photographs! Glutino is a major gluten-free product line, and I get the pleasure of seeing them often, as many stores carry their goods. For Glutino’s extensive rebranding campaign, my images are being used in their simple, elegant new packaging as well as on their terrific new website. I shot 75 of their delicious products, in many categories, from snack-foods to frozen meals to baking mixes.

Creating images that help to redefine an established brand is a satisfying project. Part of that challenge is to convey an impression of a simple, casual world—one that I want to hang out in. I start out with testing alone in the studio, taking the clients’ descriptions and layouts and interpreting them into  something remarkable. Lighting is my way into that world—the most important aspect for me. It is a language all on its own that communicates so much depth and feeling.

Next come the props and textures—the addition of something tactile that invites you into the scene. Then, the foundation is ready for the main course. I collaborated with expert food stylists Lisa Cherkasky and Debbie Wahl. Their casual styling perfectly complements Glutino’s foods, as well as the details in the fresh lighting and layering of textures—and you want to eat what is on set.

When the set is lit, props are selected, food is placed, details are scrutinized, adjusted and scrutinized again…finally, the camera captures that image. Then, the creative contributors step over to the monitor to see the results of their efforts pop up on the screen, in a moment of shared anticipation that Lisa Cherkasky calls, “waiting to be dazzled.”  I am dazzled everyday!

Thank you to Creative Director Eric Donsky and the rest of the talented group at Glutino for such a beautiful  project.

I love cookbooks! We have a great collection at the studio and at home, but always seem to be adding more. For people who love growing their cookbook collections, USA Weekend Magazine is running a great sweepstakes until the end of this year. In this contest, very week brings a new chance to win a featured cookbook—and the chance to be automatically entered into a drawing to win the grand prize at the end of 2013: all 52 featured cookbooks!

Having shot last year’s series of tasty, health-minded recipes by registered dietician Ellie Kreiger for USA Weekend (always along w/stylist Lisa Cherkasky), this year’s new scheme of shooting recipes from all different sources is a fun change for us. Some of the rich treats in the new cookbooks we are helping to show off include the adorable and just plain delicious “Brownie Roll-Out Cookies” from the very popular The Smitten Kitchen, above; and, The Liddabits Sweets Cookbook Chocolate Nonpariels, which I featured in my Valentine’s Day post.

Another highly popular cookbook featured is Ina Garten’s Barefoot Countessa Foolproof. My shot of her recipe for “Endive, Orange and Roquefort Salad” is above. Refreshing any time of year, the fresh, colorful combination of ingredients suggested Summer to me.

I shot “Baked Potato Soup” from Unbelievably Gluten-Free!—a hearty recipe, perfect for supper on a chilly night, below.

The range of specialities in the cookbooks featured is diverse—from Tequila Mockingbird “literature-inspired cocktails” to The Food Truck Cookbook Waffle Breakfast Tacos. Check the USA Weekend website weekly for new recipes—and enter for chances to win one—or 52—cookbooks!

“Knock the salt shaker off the table”! That’s the aim (and back cover blurb) of this lovely cookbook, You Won’t Believe It’s Salt-Free. I worked with a really talented group on this project: author/nutritionist Robyn Webb, culinary literary agent Beth Shepard, food stylist Lisa Cherkasky and prop stylist Audrey Weppler. We created simple soothing photos of delicious low-sodium or no-sodium recipes offering flavorful alternatives to salt, including the images in the collage below. Bon appetit—salt-free!

I tend to E-A-T  A-L-O-T during the holidays! While sharing tons of treats with family and friends is indulgent fun, it’s good to learn that many tempting, colorful foods may have even more goodness than we knew. According to recent studies discussed in AARP Bulletin, they may also help to prevent some cancers. It was fun shooting the illustrations for this story. All of these photos appeared in the AARP Bulletin print edition, as shown here, and on their website. Read the full article here, or view it in condensed form as a slide presentation here.

Lisa Cherkasky styled the beautiful “E-A-T” image, and Jenn Crovato styled the tasty hotdog and veggie kabob shots. I recently enjoyed shooting Jenn’s upcoming book, Olive Oil, Sea Salt & Pepper: Healing With Fresh Foods. Due for release in February, 2013, it will be a good resource for more info on how to cook and E-A-T delicious A-N-D healthful foods. I’ll be sharing more info and photos from it here soon.

The AARP Bulletin article shares this dietary recommendation—easy for an artist to remember: “…look at the big picture and consider your total diet. The easiest way to do this is to think colors. Your plate of food should have a rainbow of them — deep-coral baked salmon with a mix of dark green lettuces studded with ruby-red cranberries and a scoop of orange mashed sweet potatoes. The more colors, the more nutrients.” I can do that (especially after the holidays, when we all resolve to rein in our appetites)!

I wish all a happy, healthy—and colorful–2013!

Onion soup is a perfect cozy, comfort food for chilly weather—hot, savory onion and beef broth to warm you from the inside, with rich, gooey gruyere cheese and hearty bread to carry the oniony goodness… The idea for this unique take on an old favorite is by food writer and stylist Lisa Cherkasky. Her recipe practically turns the old classic inside-out: It’s served inside (and outside) of a cheese-topped bread bowl. I shot “Onion Soup Gratinée in a Bread Bowl,” and Lisa styled it for the cover of Kernels, an e-magazine for The Wheat Foods Council, which features Lisa’s clever recipe inside.

I love Halloween and Fall colors. So, it was fun to get a jump on the season a little while back, when food stylist Lisa Cherkasky and I shot Ellie Krieger’s “Frightfully Good Black Bean Dip” recipe for USA Weekend magazine.

To complement the effect of the fun web motif we had in mind, we had to special order the creepy little spiders. When I was purging my prop collection recently, I had made the decision to toss out that pesky, useless nest of tiny plastic spiders that was just hanging around for no good reason. That choice soon came back to, you know…haunt me.

“Put on your bunny slippers and pour yourself a glass of wine, and cook.” Sounds good to me! That is the motto of Barbara Seelig-Brown, culinary educator, television host and author of numerous cookbooks, including this one, The Stress Free Diabetes Kitchen. Barbara is a vivacious, energetic pro who brings her welcome, laid-back, straightforward approach to the solid information and the collection of recipes she adapted for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). We have both worked with ADA, but had never worked with each other, so it was fun to collaborate on this project, along with food stylist Lisa Cherkasky.

A balanced diet for all of us should include a wide range of choices, and the delicious recipes in this book includes desserts, such as “Fresh Picked Apple Crunch Cake” (at top). Also included are “Open Face Egg & Spinach Salad Sandwich” (above) and “Purple Potato Salad with Green Beans & Tear Drop Tomatoes” (below).

I have now shot images for The Stress Free Diabetes Kitchen, The Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook and Control Your Diabetes One Recipe At a Time. I also shoot regularly for the Association’s monthly magazine, Diabetes Forecast. Working with ADA has really raised my consciousness about the serious need for quality information on nutrition, cooking and health for the community of people with diabetes. So, when Greg Guthrie, managing editor of book publishing at ADA asked me to support his participation in Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, I was grateful for the opportunity.

Being held on Saturday, October 20, 2012, Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes is an annual event that raises funds and awareness. As Greg expressed it on his own Step-Out page: “…join me in my quest to prevent and cure diabetes….Chances are, you also know someone who has been affected by diabetes and you already know how important it is to stop this disease. By making a donation on my behalf, you will be helping the Association provide community-based education programs, protect the rights of people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure.” I hope you will also consider participating in this campaign or supporting Greg in this important work. Go, Greg!

I love a good crab cake! I shot this one for The American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook. It is always fun working with everyone at ADA, but it’s rewarding, too, because they help so many people with much-needed expert advice and nutritional information.

I recently got a personal email from Greg Guthrie, ADA’s managing editor of book publishing, letting me know that he is participating in the their annual fundraising/awareness event, “Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes.” He said, “You’ve helped us produce a lot of beautiful cookbooks, but right now, I’m asking for your support rather than beautiful food photography. For the first time in my 10 years with the American Diabetes Association, I’m walking to help raise funds to support our mission. I used to think that simply putting out great books for people with diabetes was enough of a contribution to our association’s goals, but this year…I realized that I personally have to do more to help solve this growing health crisis.”

I am happy to support his participation and want to share the info with my friends, too. As Greg says, “By making a donation on my behalf, you will be helping the Association provide community-based education programs, protect the rights of people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure.”

Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes happens on October 20, 2012. If you want to learn more about this campaign, and will consider contributing, as I did, please visit Greg Guthrie’s Step Out Page.

Thanks!

Photo at top, with styling by Lisa Cherkasky, is from The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook, by Robyn Webb. Published by the American Diabetes Association, it was recognized with the “2011 International Gourmand Award: Best Nutrition and Health Cookbook in USA.” It is available at bookstores nationwide and at www.ShopDiabetes.org.

We all need motivation to make mindful, positive food choices—and colorful, appetizing recipes with distinctive flavors can be a big help. I enjoy presenting the creative recipes of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Their readers have specific dietary needs and often need resources to learn different ways of cooking and eating to promote and maintain good health—but, their recipes are always tempting and appealing to a general audience.

Recently, I collaborated with ADA on this Spanish-language cookbook, Controle su Diabetes una Receta a la Vez, or, Controlling Your Diabetes One Recipe at a Time.

As in other ADA cookbooks, recipes conform to all ADA nutritional guidelines. This book also includes several recipes for favorite Latin dishes and flavors, including the dish on the cover, “Camarones con Salsa de Tomate y Pimiento” and the recipe above, “Sopa de Elote.”

This “kitchen-friendly” book is wire-bound with an easel-back for easy recipe-reading while cooking. Co-sponsored by CanolaInfo, it also includes the recipe above, “Tortillas de Frijoles Negros con Salsa de Mango” and the one below, “Torta de Pollo.”

Along with food stylist Lisa Cherkasky, I have collaborated with the American Diabetes Association on several projects, including Robyn Webb’s award-winning Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook. I’m looking forward to more!