My friend Leslie gave me this beautiful stitched indigo blue Japanese fabric as a gift recently. It is one of the things I treasure.

As a stylist, I have loads of collections of objects. One of the things I have in abundance are small salt and dipping plates. Whether they are metal, glass, tin, enamel, ceramic,porcelain or pewter, they each serve a purpose when I'm styling tabletop food shoots.

I bring a small grouping with me each time I am shooting, carefully choosing the material or color needed for each project. These came from the cookbook I just finished shooting for Gail Simmons. A great crew, great project and inspiration all around. I cannot wait to share the photos with you next Fall when Gail's book comes out.

Steve has been away shooting for the past few weeks. I am excited to see the work he has been doing and to share mine with him.