My Cookbook Photo Shoot & What I Made Last Week
Behind the Scenes: Shooting My Cookbook, Shrimp Pad Thai, Grilled Cheese, In-N-Out Double Double
Hi everyone!
I hope you’ve had a great week! Tomorrow is the last day of my cookbook shoot! 🎉 The days have been long (10 to 12 hours), but it’s been such a fun and rewarding experience—I can’t believe it’s almost over. I wanted to share some behind-the-scenes moments and give you a little peek into what goes into shooting a cookbook!
First, here’s a recipe for shrimp pad Thai my mom and I cooked together. We make it with shrimp, shallots, carrots, scallions, bean sprouts, eggs, and crunchy peanuts. It’s fantastic, and we hope you try it!
What I Cooked Last Week! ↓
Shrimp Pad Thai
Few things are more satisfying than homemade pad Thai fresh out of the wok. It’s the perfect balance of savory, sweet, and sour.
You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)
In-N-Out Double Double
I cracked the code on the In-N-Out Double Double so we can all make it at home. It’s so good and tastes just like the original!
Michelin Star Grilled Cheese
I will never make a grilled cheese any other way! You toast the bread in browned butter in a skillet and finish melting the cheese in the oven. I used cheddar and gruyère, but try any cheese you like.
Behind the Scenes: What It’s Like to Shoot a Cookbook!
In honor of tomorrow being my last day of the cookbook shoot, I wanted to share some behind-the-scenes moments, plus a few things that surprised me about the process!
First, choosing a photographer (and team)
A few months ago, I dove into researching cookbook photographers and spoke with a few before deciding to work with Amy Neunsinger. She’s so talented and has an incredible artistic eye—her photos have this gorgeous, natural-light feel (more on that below!).
The photographer usually assembles a team, including a food stylist, prop stylist, and assistants. About a month before the shoot, we all met with my publisher to go over mood boards and shot list. My book has 100 recipes, each getting its own beauty shot, plus some lifestyle shots in my home. The shoot lasts 11 days, so we’ve been packing in at least 10 recipes a day, along with cover tries and close-up beauty shots of ingredients.
Who does what and where we are shooting
We’re shooting at Amy’s place in the Hollywood Hills, where her guest house is set up as a photo studio. She also has this huge prop room filled with every kind of bowl, plate, silverware, and kitchenware you can imagine. (I told her my favorite color is sage green, so you’ll see that woven into the props!)
The food stylist, Frances Boswell, and her assistant, who’s a chef, are cooking all the recipes from start to finish. I’ve been jumping in here and there—especially for some of the family recipes, like folding wontons—but they’re really running the show in the kitchen.
Amy, who also happens to be a prop stylist, is handling all the props. I love how she brings in unexpected details, like a polaroid or a postcard, to make the shots feel natural and lived-in.
And me? I’ve been collaborating closely with Amy and Frances on each shot—making sure everything looks the way I imagined it. I also step in whenever there’s a question about a recipe. We’ve all been working so well as a team!
What a typical day looks like
Since this is my first cookbook, I had no idea what to expect! The food stylist and her assistant arrive at 8 a.m., and I usually get there around 9. By then, they’re already shooting the first recipe. The goal is to get six shots done before lunch. After each recipe, we clear the set and start planning the next one. We look at the chapter it belongs to, which helps us decide on the surface and plating. While Amy works on the props, the food stylist and her assistant finish cooking.
Midday, we all sit down for a family-style lunch, eating the food from the set—which has been so good. There are six people on the crew, and it’s been really nice getting to know everyone. It honestly feels like a little family. (Any extra food goes home with the crew at the end of the day!)
In the afternoon, we power through the rest of the recipes, even after the sun goes down. I had no idea how good photographers are at faking natural light! Amy is a pro—she’ll soften the lights with sheer fabric or even hold up tree branches from her yard to mimic sunlight filtering through leaves.
The days are long and tiring. I thought I’d have more downtime to work, but it’s been so immersive and I’ve had to stay completely focused, making sure every recipe looks exactly how I envisioned it.
Food stylists don’t cheat!
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