When NoMU approached me to contribute to their July recipe cards, I thought they were sort of silly / delusional. While I have a few set meals that I make for the boys – I have never documented any of them in to a recipe format or really shared them with anyone else. I have also never put our family favorites in to a professional format or food styled and photographed any of it. I’m no Alida Ryder / Vanessa Lewis so it was daunting but exciting. I’d never been commissioned for any recipes or photographs evarrrr. Everything about all of this was completely brand new. And awesome.
It wasn’t easy. I had to do a re-shoot, I almost missed deadline and my kitchen was a disaster. Honestly, it was harder than I thought and I respect the socks out of all food stylists, chefs and photographers that work in the food industry because jasie. It really was so much fun and I feel like I have learned a LOT. Shooting in natural light is real scary and prepping your recipes is key. You cannot let a mac n cheese portion just stand on the counter for ten minutes because you won’t get a good photo unless that cheese is hot and melted. You know? I didn’t know. Your timing is so important and it’s really hard to get food to look as good as it tastes sometimes.
In the end, I think we rocked it. I got by with a little help with my friends. Thank you so much to Jacqui van Staden for taking the pictures for me. Graeme helped with the styling and cooking too! The decor is mostly from the Milnerton Market, Love Milo, In Good Company and my long-standing crockery collection. I’ll state what was used where if you think any of this is really purdy. I sure do.
Vintage cutlery is from Milnerton Market. You pay about R4 – R15 per utensil and they have gorgeous things.
Cutlery, napkin and plated silver dish – Milnerton Market. Wooden side plate – Love Milo. Heart bowl – Mr Price
Fish plate , plated jug & fish knife – Milnerton Market. Napkin – In Good Company (comes on a roll with loads)
Lace tablecloth – Milnerton Market. Wrought iron tray – no idea, I’ve had it forever.
Wooden cutlery & grey napkin – In Good Company. Large wooden plate – Love Milo. Lace – Milnerton Market
Awesome photographer – Jacqui van Staden
Hands – Noah Bettles (made by Natasha Clark) & candy striped paper straws – In Good Company. Crochet doily – Milnerton
Cup cake stand, heart confetti, birdie cupcake wraps and ‘delish, yum, pick me’ picks – all In Good Company
Thank you so much to NoMU for the amazing opportunity. I had so much fun with this. Thanks Vanessa for all your advice, you are obviously the best food photographer & stylist I know. You can subscribe to NoMU’s recipe mailer to receive 8 great, easy and delicious recipes in your inbox every month. To view their archive recipes, go here on the website and you can search recipes according to NoMU products, ingredients or courses etc main, dessert etc. It’s a great little resource for those emergency fancy dinner situations. Or those impress my family / bf / mother situations.
Since this project, I’ve taken on two other jobs to do recipes for other brands and I’m doing food & recipe contributions for the Ackermans blog, but more on that later as we publish. I am NOT a foodie or even an incredibly amazing cook, but I like sharing and creating easy, cost-effective and quick meals and treats for busy families with a huge focus on health and flavor. I want my recipes to be accessible with ‘regular’ ingredients that you can easily find and keep to incorporate in to many other meals too. So here’s to a new passion & side project! I’m really having so much fun with this and will share my progress as I go!
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