Do you ever browse the food porn sites out there on the world wide web? I can sit for hours looking at all of the tasty pictures. I use the sites to search recipes, to check out food styling and post my pictures. There are a couple of sites that can be a little hard to please but that’s ok because there are plenty that are a more forgiving if your picture isn’t perfect. I thought I would compile a list for you guys. If I miss one let know and I will gladly add it. I’m adding the link and their Twitter handle, if they have one.

Tastespotting @tastespotting

Foodgawker @foodgawker

Savory Sighting @savorysightings

Food View

Photograzing

Food Porn Daily

Food Porn @FoodPornNet

Dessert Stalking @DessertStalking

Food and Fizz

Taste Fix

Liqurious

Refrigerator Soup @foodiephotos

Tastestopping @Tastestopping

A few days ago my new blog friend Flavia over at Flavia’s Flavors posted an Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake, as soon as I saw I knew I had to make it.  Really, orange and chocolate, they make a great couple but I haven’t gotten around to it.  I will, I’m afraid of being alone with this cake, afraid of eating the entire thing and we all know that can not happen.

I’m waiting for my husband to go back to work so he can take it with him, he works four days on and four days off, so he needs to go back to work and soon.  I will take giant small slice and he can take the rest, my butt doesn’t need it.  While I wait for him to go back to work I decided to cure my craving for the chocolate/orange combo and make cookies. I’m more of a cake person, I like cookies but prefer a slice of cake.

My kids wanted to do play around with “food styling”. So who am I to say no. Here’s what they came up with. We might have a couple food bloggers in our future.

Ingredients
1 stick of butter (soften)
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
3 tsp orange zest
3 tsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and sugar. Add the egg, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla extract.
2. Sift dry ingredients. Stir dry ingredients and chips into butter and sugar.
3. Using a tablespoon measure or cookie scoop. Scoop dough and place on baking sheet. Using your fingers flatten slightly.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes, remove from oven and cool.

Since I’m sticking around I wanted to share my little photo shoot setup. I think it’s clever and easy to setup and take down and that’s what I need in my life, easy. So everyone has a Rubbermaid bin somewhere around their homes right? Or am I the only one that has about 20 in my house? I like to be organized. Anywho… For my photo shoots I use a clear bin and two shop clip lights, I think that’s what they are called. You can get the bin just about anywhere, Wal-Mart, Target, Family Dollar, anywhere. I bought the shop lights from Lowes, I can’t remember the exact price but I know I didn’t spend more than $5 on each, I bought two but I need a third, you will see why in the picture. I use 100 watt light bulbs, not the energy efficient bulbs. The props, if you want to call them that I buy from Wal-Mart, Target or Family Dollar. When Wal-Mart and Target have their holiday/seasons setups I buy the plastic plates, bowls, cups, one of each and they are no more than $2-3 each. I love when Spring comes around, love Targets stuff! Target is my favorite store. I will buy place mates, dish towels and napkins from the dollar store. This keeps me from having to buy a whole set at Wal-Mart or Target. The dollar store you can just buy one and that’s all I need. There is one thing that I do recommend, use something white on the bottom, I found out today colors do not work well. I might get a white poster board for the bin and see how that works. For right now I think my setup is pretty good. So here’s the picture of my set up. I hope this helps food bloggers out there. I prefer to shoot outside but when I can’t this is trick up my sleeve.

What do you use as a photo shoot? Leave a comment to let me what you use in your photo shoots.