Sharing recipes helps bring families together.
Making a cookbook kit out of family recipes can be a wonderful way to preserve your heritage and make sure that it is passed on to the next generation. Family cookbooks can make wonderful gifts, in that they are both practical and have sentimental value. Although many companies sell kits for making your own cookbooks, they are simple to make yourself. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Organize your recipes. You can arrange them by type of food, time period, or the person who gave them to you -- whatever makes sense in your family.
2. Add stories and anecdotes to the recipes so they can be passed down in the family, suggests Secret Ingredients, a company that used to make cookbook kits. Ideas include where recipes came from, funny stories about what not to do, or memorable times the food was eaten. This helps make the cookbook personal to your family and might help younger relatives learn more about older relatives' lives.
3. Type the recipes and stories so you can print out multiple copies. You could also write them by hand and then make copies if you want a more personalized touch. If you want all of the original copies in the book, be sure to make copies in case a relative wants a book, too, which they probably will! When you are finished, hole punch all the copies. If you are using the originals, you might want them in laminated covers. You are now ready to start assembling the cookbook. If you are giving it as a gift for the recipient to assemble on his or her own, skip to Step 7.
4. Put labels in the page dividers and arrange them in the binder. The Cookbook People, another company that sells cookbook kits, recommends being creative with labels. Cookbooks that you buy in the store might come with categories like "cookies," but maybe in your family all of the cookie recipes need to be divided by a particular aunt! Put the recipes in the order that you decide. Having a well-organized cookbook will cut down on cooking time and make for an easier experience once you and your family are using it.
5. Make a table of contents, and put it in the front of the cookbook. If you have been creative with labels and organizing, this is essential so that your family can easily find the recipes they are looking for.
6. Decorate the front of the cookbook. Use your imagination in coming up with ideas that fit your family and the recipes. You could include photographs, family nicknames, or other personalized memorabilia. If you use photographs, attach them with glue or a sticky adhesive, suggests Secret Ingredients. Be creative in coming up with the perfect cookbook cover to fit your family.
7. If you are giving the cookbook kit as a gift, decorate a box the same way as the front of the binder in Step 6. Include all of the items in the box for the recipient to put together as he wishes. This is a wonderful personalized gift for the holidays or a birthday that your family member is sure to love.
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