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The holidays may be over, but we still are enjoying these pretty gift boxes from The Dirty Apron. Gourmet food, fresh ingredients, and cute packaging - what's not to like?

Click here to visit The Dirty Apron blog.

Images and article via The Dieline

Recently, we've become kind of obsessed with Bon Appetit. Everything always looks amazing, and there are good articles to read while perusing the tantalizing recipe options. With Christmas next week already (yikes!), we've been craving cookies. Here are our picks from the "Holiday Cookie-a-Day" slideshow from Bon Appetit. (Click here to see it for yourself!)

Cookies, from top (click for the recipe):

1. Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

2. Almond-Oat Lace Cookies

3. Lemony Slice-and-Bakes

4. Chewy Ginger Cookies

5. Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

All images via Bon Appetit

Thanksgiving is only a few days away and we've already got cravings for pumpkin pie! There are hundreds of recipes that claim to make that perfect pumpkin pie for your Turkey Day, but we've put together a list of delicious looking pie recipes that not only look delicious, but meet different Thanksgiving dinner needs depending on what kind of cook you are (or aren't...).

1. Easy - The Impossibly Easy Pumpkin Pie from Betty Crocker is perfect for the cook whose strengths lie outside the kitchen, but who wants to try out a homemade pie instead of the usual store bought kind. It takes only 10 minutes to prepare, 40 minutes to bake, and really boils down to pouring, stirring, and putting in the oven. Since it has no crust, It's the closest to being mistake proof we've seen!

2. Clever - The Pecan Pumpkin Pie from Gourmet.com is a clever find because it kills two pies with one recipe. Instead of needing two kinds of pie at your Thanksgiving dinner (because you know not everyone can agree on just one kind), this crafty pie combines the tradition of pumpkin with the deliciousness of pecan, thus saving you time and money.

3. Deceptive - The Maple-Candied Pistachio Pumpkin Pie from Gilt Taste is the go-to choice for a host that doesn't have much time to prepare, but still wants to impress the guests. This recipe calls for a store bought pie  - all you need to do is dress it up with baked pistachios, and finish it off with a deliciously rich mascarpone and bourbon concoction. You'll fool everyone into thinking you put a lot of effort into making this fancy schmancy pie, even though it only took you about 15 minutes in the kitchen. Win, win!

4. Chocolate - The Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie from Martha Stewart Living is a foolproof choice for those families that really just can't get enough of anything chocolate. Remember all those years you ended up with almost an entire pumpkin pie leftover because everyone chose to devour the chocolate pie instead? Look no further - the answer is here: one pie that satisfies your family's need for all things chocolate, while still respecting the tradition of the all -powerful pumpkin.

5. Adventurous - The Texas Hill Country Spiced Pumpkin Pie from Martha Stewart Living is the perfect way for more adventurous cooks to spice up this year's Thanksgiving meal (pun completely intended). The secret ingredient? Just a bit of chipotle-chile powder added into the mix will surprise and delight your taste buds, and your more adventurous guests will be excited by the break from tradition.

6. Non-Traditional - The Pumpkin Parfaits from Gourmet.com are the answer that those of you who are completely bored with traditional pumpkin pie have been looking for. These parfaits can be made in advance, and combine the tastes of pumpkin pie and gingersnaps into one tasty dessert that's more of a mousse than a pie. And what's even better? Prep time for this delight-in-a-glass is about 30 minutes for 8 desserts, meaning you have more time to spend outside the kitchen arguing about Occupy Wallstreet with your family. Amazing!

Halloween is just around the corner, so we scoured our favorite food websites for some recipe inspiration. See our picks below!

From top:

1. Spiced Pumpkin Souffles with Bourbon Molasses Sauce - Gourmet

2. The Perfect Fall Cocktail Recipe: Brandy, Apple, Maple and Beer - Gilt Taste

3. Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream - Gourmet

4. Brandied Hot Chocolate - Gourmet

5. Red Wine Carmel Apples - Gourmet

6. Pumpkin Stuffed With Vegetable Stew - Gourmet

7. Grown-up Peanut Butter Cups - Gilt Taste

The guys who are in charge of "tabletop directing" (shooting photos and commercials for big name food chains) would call it "enhanced" photography and video, not straight up falsification. In a $4 billion industry - yes, that's how much is spent on advertising by restaurants and food conglomerates every year - it's essential to make the food in the ads look perfect, by absolutely any means necessary. Or is it?

Tabletop directors will spend hours or even days trying to perfect exactly the right shot to satisfy a client. In an article by the New York Times, writer David Segal explains the extraordinary measures that are taken to achieve so-called "perfection" in food commercials. Tubes (that look like large needles), sauce injectors, clothes steamers, marbles, glue, acrylic ice cubes, silicone gel, and lard were all mentioned as "necessary" equipment to get that "perfect" shot by industry standards (as seen below).

Personally, we find this all to be a little too much. To us, a little imperfection IS perfection. We prefer food photography that is real and looks real: crumbs, drips, and all. Maybe it's because we're designers, but the imperfections of "real" food photographed in a natural setting (like these photos below by Gentl and Hyers Photography) is much more appealing to us than traditional chain photography and video. Don't get us wrong - we'll go to great lengths to get the shot we need for a client, but as far as food goes: why spend a whole lot of time and money trying to fix something that isn't broken in the first place?

Gilt Taste (www.gilttaste.com)  is the first website in our brand new post category: Website of The Week. Created by the original guilty pleasure (for less) fashion site, Gilt Groupe, the new Gilt Taste spin-off is exclusively for gourmet food, wine, gifts, and recipes. In addition to daily stories about everything food, Gilt Taste also sells an eclectic mix of food and wine, as well as a small offering of  "Daily Specials". Each special is only good for a short amount of time (usually about 2 days), and offers 20-25% off the regular price of the item. 

The specials are good, but it's the design aesthetic of the site that brings us back here again and again. The photography is what really sets this site apart from other traditional "deal" websites like Groupon - every item is artfully and professionally photographed to look as appetizing and enticing as possible. We couldn't find the name of the company or person that designed the site, but we give a major shout  out to the creative team of Gilt Taste for keeping this site looking amazing.

Another thing we love about Gilt Taste is the subtle animations. When you click on a header category, the banner on the category page has a small touch of animation. Below, the knife spreads frosting on the cake, the champagne bubbles, and the grill flames up. It's subtle, but it adds a lot of character and gives life to the site.

The Gifts section is also a stand out for us. It's separated by category, so you can shop by price or a specific attribute (we personally love "For the Chocolate Fiend").

Finally, we also really enjoy the Recipes and Stories sections. Gilt Taste regularly posts stories about food (like the story shown below) as well as amazing looking recipes, complete with step-by-step directions and photography that's good enough to eat. Overall, we love you, Gilt Taste. Please, keep doing what you're doing - we'll be back for more!

A site we're loving lately is Kinfolk Magazine (www.kinfolkmag.com). According to their manifesto, Kinfolk is: "the marriage of our appreciation for art and design and our love for spending time with family and friends" - we can relate. Kinfolk produces a quarterly print and tablet magazine, shown below. We love how they communicate primarily through the use of beautiful, understated images. The mood created by the videos on their website is one of nostalgia, longing, and love for those close to our hearts.

Images via Kinfolk Magazine

September is just around the corner, and we're feeling nostalgic for our favorite fairs! 

The Tunbridge World's Fair has been in existence since 1857, and has remained largely unchanged since its debut over 150 years ago. This year, it runs from September 15-18 in the tiny town of Tunbridge, VT, and features mainly old-world attractions like pony pulling, sheepdog trials, and harness racing.





The Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair celebrated its 150th anniversary this year. A little more old-world meets new-world, the fair is an attraction that can please all with its farm animals, fried foods, traditional crafts, and plenty of rides. Our friend from RISD owns the local smoke pig roast stand, below.





Images via

1.  Benedetta Falugi (flickr)   2. ozfan22 (flickr)   3&4. SixBurnerSue  5. mvol.com  6. MV Best Read Guide

We photographed these delicious macaroons in Pantone 501 C from neighborhood patisserie Bottega Louie for a colorful package design product.

Photo © JW

While in  Zambia, I was lucky enough to stumble upon this amazing pile of wild mushrooms in Pantone 1595.
Photo © JW