Family Recipe Books

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:

1. 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?)
2. Encourage participation from everyone, even non-cookers. My dad wrote a fun “recipe” on how to cook a microwave dinner for ours!  Great laughs!
3. 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.
4. Add an introduction, photographs and other personal notes. Be sure to back up your program to save it forever – it will become a treasure.
5. Make extra copies when you publish your cookbook – they’ll be in demand in years to come.