Now that the kids are back in school… are you looking for a fun project? Maybe a Christmas gift for the family? Years ago I made a cookbook for my extended family. We were able to save some precious recipes of my grandmothers before she passed and they were lost forever, plus it was a great Christmas gift. Below are some pointers:
- Encourage family members to send you recipes. Sometimes it’s fun to take a photo of a recipe card and preserve the recipe in your relative’s writing. Maybe your kids want to draw something (remember the days of elementary school essays – “how to cook a turkey” – and your kids’ wonderfully creative responses?)
- Encourage participation from everyone, even non-cookers. My dad wrote a fun “recipe” on how to cook a microwave dinner for ours! Great laughs!
- Compile recipes and photographs in a wordprocessing program or you can even publish it on an internet program like Shutterfly, heritagecookbook.com, or one of the many other programs online.
- Add an introduction, photographs and other personal notes. Be sure to back up your program to save it forever – it will become a treasure.
- Make extra copies when you publish your cookbook – they’ll be in demand in years to come.
