The making of our Food & Drink chapter

By Michelle McHugh

The making of our Food & Drink chapter
MiNDFOOD's Food director Michelle McHugh lets us in on the making of our food and drink pages.

Many MiNDFOOD readers will tell you that one of their favourite sections of the magazine is the food & drink chapter. From our beautiful in season recipes, to our ever-popular Four of the Best, to the Weekly Menu, these are undoubtedly some of our most signature pages.

Planning the food pages always begins with checking what is in season. Using only seasonal ingredients is core to our food philosophy at MiNDFOOD. My foodie diary and a stack of Post-it®  flags from 3M helps here. Having my gorgeous red apple Pop-Up® Note Dispenser on hand  means I can keep track of any last-minute thoughts or inspirational recipes I may stumble upon.

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Next, I think about what I have eaten recently, be it out and about, on my recent travels, or at home. I’ve often scribbled down notes on my outings or travels, on some brightly-coloured Post-it® Notes from 3M.

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I also draw inspiration from cookbooks (I have a whole cupboard of beautiful cookbooks behind my desk), food blogs, Pinterest, and what has been trending recently.

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For larger issues, such as our Christmas issue, we will often brainstorm as a group using the Post-it® Easel Pad.

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Then it’s time to email the rest of the MiNDFOOD Food team, including the food stylist and recipe writers, and commission the recipes and food shoots for the next issue. The brief has to be tight, with details as to how I would like the various in season fruits shot (cut, raw, cooked). I always need to consider the balance and variety of nationality of dishes, and make sure a mix of proteins and vegetarian dishes have been included.

The final read and approvals follow, before the pages go to print, and we start it all over again for the next issue.

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