“Keeping a photographic food diary is a growing phenomenon with everything from truffle-stuffed suckling pig to humble bowls of Cheerios being captured and offered for public consumption.” — excerpt from The New York Times’ article about people who photograph their food (April 6, 2010): First Camera,then Fork.

I confess I am guilty of this as I occasionally photograph my food. I usually use my phone’s camera so the pictures turn out fuzzy and do not do justice to the food but they do serve as a record of my meal or a happy dining experience. Sometimes I upload the pictures to my Twitter stream (via Twitpic) or post them on my blog or facebook page. Food is meant to be a communal experience – this is probably why people enjoy seeing what other people eat – and then there is the artistry that goes into every dish.

Here are a few just taken this past week.

Ahi Tuna Salad from The Shore. After a nice afternoon at the Mission in San Juan Capistrano, my family and I cruised down to Downtown San Clemente where we had a late lunch at The Shore Restaurant. We all loved our food!

Crunchy Sushi Roll at a newly-opened neighborhood Japanese Restaurant, Ayumi. My son and I had lunch there one day – he ordered the $4.99 teriyaki chicken bowl special while I feasted on the crunchy roll – which is essentially a California Roll with fried tempura batter. Yummy.

Tea. Ok so this photo does not show the yummy scones, brownies, cucumber sandwiches and petit fours we had at my moms’ group’s annual Tea and Treasures brunch but I just had to photograph the pretty table.

Chocolate Bomb is Da Bomb of Desserts – photographed after yet another satisfying meal at Zov’s in Newport Coast. How can you go wrong with chocolate?