Behind the Holiday Scenes at Food52

The holiday food season at a food startup are wonderful. Our fridge is packed with cookie dough, and pies nestle together in our toasty oven. The air is permanently scented with spices and sugar. Someone is always proffering a spoonful of pudding or a bite of crispy latke. And really, it would be impolite to turn that down. We do it all in the spirit of the holidays.

Our Instagram feed might be all carefully plated cakes and prettily wrapped gifts, but behind the scenes, it can be a little, shall we say, less polished. Here's a peek at what it takes to pull off a holiday season at Food52:

Marian builds a gingerbread trifle on camera (read up on her technique here)

Hudson (our VP of sales' son) helps Tim design some holiday graphics

Bobbi Lin working some photography magic; Piles of presents from our shop

Alison, our test kitchen manager, cooks brussels sprouts in our test kitchen

Kristen, our executive editor, contemplates how to turn carrots into something festive

We've done all this work -- like testing the best eggnog recipes and finding the perfect last-minute gifts -- in order to share them with you, so we hope every detail helps to make your holidays cheerier and more delicious!