How To Create A Family Cookbook

Putting together a family cookbook is a fun and rewarding project

. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Gather The Recipes

This sounds like a bit of a no brainer, but might be a little more difficult than it sounds, depending on the size of your family and the number of recipes you want to include. There are other factors to consider as well, as there may be some family favorite recipes that were never written down and that different families have prepared in slightly different ways. What you have to do then is simply to gather as much material as possible and pick and choose from there what versions you would like to include. You may also have different versions of the same dish in the book, with explanations such as "Grandma used four cloves of garlic, but Mabel likes to use five" or something of the sort. The key is to be as inclusive as possible, and to have a lot of fun in the process.

Organize the Material

Again, depending on the scope of your project, you can choose many different ways to organize your cookbook. You can go by dish type (appetizer, main course, dessert), by region/style of cuisine, or by the person contributing. If you find that there are a few different versions of the same dish, it would be a good idea to place them together so those who are using the book can make their choices easily.

If you want, you can also include family anecdotes or memories that go along with all or select dishes. When you are gathering your material, ask your cooks when they first remember having the dish or dishes that they are contributing, when they first attempted to make it themselves, photos of the completed dish or while in process, or anything else that they would like to contribute.

You may also want to create and attractive cover for your cookbook, or if you lack those sorts of skills, enlist another member of the family or find a nice template to work from.

Bind It

There are a number of different options to consider when you are binding your cookbook. The first is, of course, usability and functionality. You will want to make sure that you choose a binding style that allows the book to lie flat, so you cooks can use it in a hands free fashion. There are a couple of relatively inexpensive binding options that allow for this sort function: plastic comb and spiral coil. In this case, spiral coil might be the way to go because with this binding style you can also wrap the pages completely around so the book takes up less room on the countertop. Take a look online, or down at your local print shop to see what your options are. A simple three ring binder might do the trick as well, but unless you laminate or use sheet protectors to otherwise reinforce the pages, you will find that this method produces a book that may not be as durable as the other two, and with even normal handling, you might find that pages tear out a little too easily. Machines that do the aforementioned types of bindings are relatively inexpensive, and for frequent or ongoing projects, you might find that doing your binding yourself is a nice option.

Just keep in mind that the stronger you bind you cookbook, the longer it will be around for other generations to enjoy.

by: Jeffrey McRitchie

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