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Winter Food Styling and Props Guide
Hey fellow food artists, photographers, and stylists!
I absolutely love props when it comes to food styling, it’s my favorite part of the process. It allows me to be creative and think outside the box while elevating a photo. Now that we are in full blown holiday season content creation, here’s a list of some of my picks for props for food styling all of your winter themed content.
Holly Plant - Got this at my local farm for $5. This just screams holidays for me, I can’t wait to use it in a photo.
Michael’s: Reindeer Pick Topper Set and Merry Christmas Topper Set - Both were $1.19/each. Think these would be great for a cheese board photo and really easy for guests to pick up their favorite cheeses, meats, or olive snacks.
Michael’s: Dried Orange Slices - On Sale for $5. I feel like I could use these for food styling all year round.
Trader Joe’s Cookie Mug Hangers - $2.49 each
Trader Joe’s Decked Out Tree Cookies - $2.49 each
Fancy Mug Marshmallows: I got these from Target but have also seen them at Sur la Table and Starbucks. Great for a hot chocolate photo shot.
Fresh Herbs: Sage and Rosemary
Foliage: Twigs and pine from a Christmas Tree/Christmas Tree Farm, Pinecones
Spices:
Star Anise: (Got this small packet at Shoprite for $1, they also have cinnamon sticks for a $1).
Cinnamon Sticks: I had already picked up some cinnamon sticks from Trader Joe’s but think they were a few dollars. Always great in drinks or to style.
Holiday Sprinkles… always…. Can find fun ones at Target, Home Goods, Walmart.
Fruits: Whole Cranberries, Pomegranate Seeds
Twinkle Lights: Can find these cheap at Michael’s or Target adds a bit of sparkle to your photos.
Food Tour: Nashville, Tennessee - 12th Street South
On another adventure with Secret Food Tours, we took to the 12th Street South area of Nashville, Tennessee. This area is about a 10 minute drive from downtown and was even more up and coming then when I had visited 6 years ago.
Our first stop on our food tour was Taqueria Del Sol where we had their Memphis Taco with pulled pork, bbq sauce and jalapeño coleslaw. Here our guide explained a few of the regional differences in BBQ. Memphis has more of a tomato based sauce. Rest of Tennessee has more of a vinegar tomato base. Texas more of a dry rub where meat is king and sauces are secondary. Kansas City doing their own thing where they have a thick, sweet molasses and tomato based sauces.
Memphis Taco at Taqueria Del Sol
Our next stop on the tour was to visit Christie’s Cookies. Home of the famous Doubletree Cookies. Obsessed with their flavors and napkins y’all!
Next was a local Tennessee specialty dish, Hot Chicken at Edley’s BBQ. Made of fried chicken breast, thigh, or wings that has been marinated in assortment of spices and heat. I don’t tend to like spicy things but this was delicious! Our tour guide also told us the secret to controling your taste buds and it isn’t milk… Milk has acidity to it and can actually make the heat worse. Soda is too sweet and carbonated. The best way to beat the heat is with… Southern Sweet Tea! I can vouch for this, because it really did help my mouth out instantly.
While we walked from one spot to the next we also stopped and the “I Believe in Nashville” mural and a mural of all the TN state wildlife native to the area including the construction cranes.
BurgerUp was the next stop for some mac and cheese balls, fried pickles, and potato skins. We did not have a burger, but this restaurant sources their menu from local farms practicing sustainability and humane treatment of animals. Much of their beef comes from local farmers in Franklin, TN.
We were then off to Las Paletas, a frozen treat similar to an ice pop, made with fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts. Our tour guide said the sisters and owners moved to Nashville and couldn’t find the same tasty treat from Mexico and wanted to share a bit of their culture with the community, causing them to build a business here in 12th Street South.
Finally we took a long walk over to Martin’s BBQ and on the way got to pass by Sun Records.
At Martin’s we have smoked turkey and broccoli salad. My husband and I had gone to another Martin’s location closer to Vanderbilt and was a little underwhelmed with the hype of their BBQ. What I do like about this place is they give you free mini chocolate Moon Pies and the turkey was very juicy.
Overall, our tour guide was incredible and very knowledgeable about the area and cuisine. We tried a lot of things I wouldn’t have known about or would have gone to on my own. I learned a ton about BBQ, sweet tea is the cure, my favorite hotel cookie came from Nashville, and construction cranes are Nashville’s state bird. (The more you know… 🌈)
As usual Secret Food Tours did not disappoint!
Food Tour in France with Secret Food Tours, Montmartre
Food Tour in Montmartre, France
While in France on my honeymoon, wanting to do a little something different we chose a food tour in a part of Paris called Montmarte.
Montmarte is a district of Paris that sits on a hilltop that housed some of the greatest artists in history, Picasso Dalí, Vincent van Gogh, Renior, Monet. This district still has two remaining historic windmills: Moulin Radet and Moulin de Blute-Fin, and is not too far from the nightlife and the Moulin Rouge.
After arriving to Montmarte by metro, we were greeted by our guide right outside the Montmartre metro station. From there we started walking on a main road where our first stop was:
La Butte Fromagère, 32 rue des Abbesses
Cheese shop/fromagerie:
Here we picked up the following
- Tome Caussonard (sheep cheese sampled at the shop)
- Brillat-Savarin truffé (triple cream brie with truffles)
- Comté 18 mois (hard cheese)
- Roquefort Vernières (blue cheese)
- Rouelle du Tarn (5 week old goat cheese)
- Picodon (3 month old goat cheese)
- Beurre Bordier demi-sel (salted butter)
Next Stop was Jacky Gaudin, a butcher. Here we learned that the more medals a piece of meat had the better the farm and quality. Next to the door we were shown that the butcher displayed photos of the cows and where the meat was sourced.
Butcher/boucher:
Jacky Gaudin, 50 rue des Abbesses
- Saucisson à l'ail (garlic sausage sampled at the shop)
- Paté de canard aux pistaches (duck paté with pistachios)
- Paté de campagne (pork paté)
- Jambon de pays (French prosciutto)
- Rosette de Lyon (saucisson - cured sausage with black pepper)
Ladurée in Paris
After the butcher our tour guide dropped us off at a chocolate shop while our guide continued to run around and buy baguettes, grapes and strawberries and some special treats for later. Meanwhile, we were at the chocolate shop sampling a few of their chocolates as the store owners told us the history about how french macarons originated. . .
It’s believed that the marcaron was born in Italy and came to France by the true hero, Catherine di Medici, a noblewoman from Florence who married the future King of France, Henri II. The first macarons were very simple cookies made of sugar, almond flour and egg whites. The macaron we know today was adapted by Parisian confectioner La Maison Ladurée, who sandwiched buttercream, jam, and ganache between the cookies. Whether it’s Paris or NYC - Ladurée has many locations and is definitely the holy grail of macarons.
Chocolate shop/Maracon shop on Tour:
Illèné, 4 rue Tholozé
We got to pick two chocolates and two macaroons as a take away treat.
Bakery/boulangerie:
Alexine, 40 rue Lepic
- Financiers (small almond madeleines we had at the beginning of the tour)
- Eclairs (chocolate and coffee)
- Baguette
- Baguette tradition
Wines:
- White wine: Bourgogne Petit Chablis, by Jean Pierre and Alexandre Ellevin (chardonnay)
- Red wine: Bourgogne Poulleau Père et Fils (pinot noir)
- Sparkling wine: Vouvray du vignoble Brisebarre, brut
Once our guide returned to the chocolate shop to pick us up we continued walking to their Secret Food Tour office. Down in the basement of their office was a cellar set up for us to casually eat everything we had picked up along the way. Our tour guide shared her favorite things and origins of wines/regions.
I absolutely loved this take on a food tour, where you could sit down and eat as a group. Get to really know the country and foods with a personalized experience with your tour guide.
Highly recommend Secret Food Tours.
