Food & Prop Styling for “Big Batch Recipes” Story in TABLE Magazine

What goes into styling a spread like this?

For starters, I found this GORGEOUS tray in someone’s trash! As they say, one woman’s trash is a hoarder’s treasure…or something like that! Secondly, I was in a pinch for vintage wallpaper and happened to find a local etsy dealer with a roll of the paper you see here. We met in a Wendy’s parking lot, so I could buy the roll from her. I proceeded to use shoe polish to tarnish its pristine condition, so we’d have the weathered look you see here. Then there was the process of transporting rose hips! I’m still finding berries in my car!

As we put together these sets, I imagined a large farmhouse where these types of gatherings would take place and put common threads between the shots. The wallpaper that decorated the buffet later appears on the wall of a more formal gathering. I envisioned the rustic wooden surface we used as a side buffet table in a dining room, so it appears in multiple shots, where food would be offered to guests.

All of these images were part of a story on Big Batch cooking for the holidays. I also like this approach for entertaining. I often look for a simpler, big batch recipe to offset a more complicated dish that will require more of my attention.