How to Make a Family Recipe Cookbook

Nothing will be treasured more than the gift of your family recipes put together in a Family Recipe Cookbook. Family recipes are passed down from generation to generation; many of these recipes have been handwritten. A truly wonderful gift to make and share with your family is a cook book filled with the family recipes. A family recipe cookbook makes an excellent gift to be shared during the holidays, weddings or special events. Your Family Recipe Cookbook will be a gift that will be treasured for a long time.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Family Recipes
• Binder
• Plastic Binder Sleeves

1. GATHER YOUR RECIPES
   Gather all of the recipes that have been your family favorites. You will find them on note cards, pieces of paper and other places. If you do not have some of the family recipes then it's time to give Aunt Sally a call to find out just what the secret family recipe is.

2. DESIGN A BORDER FOR YOUR PAGES
   Use a word processor a publishing program to create your recipe cookbook. Select a border for your pages. I selected a coffee pot and bowl border. If you are using a publishing program you can maneuver the border to different sections of your page and enlarge or shrink it. A word processor program may just give you the option of a page border which will work well too.

3. 

   SCAN THE HANDWRITTEN RECIPES
   Scan the handwritten recipes into your computer. You can also scan the typewritten recipes because they will give character to your recipe cookbook. If some of the recipes are found in old cookbooks scan those pages also.

4. 

   DESIGN YOUR RECIPE PAGES
   Insert your scanned family recipes onto your pages. One or two recipes per page works well. Use your computer to create a title each recipe. Use the same font and size for all of your titles. Some of your recipes may need to be typed, use a font that looks like handwriting.

5. 

   ORGANIZE YOUR BINDER
   Use a binder that has a plastic view sleeve on the cover. Design a front cover and a back cover. Insert your recipes into plastic sleeves. Organize your pages with like recipes together, such as deserts, meats, salads, etc.

6. ADD SOME PICTURES
   Insert a few pictures of your family enjoying the recipes. Take pictures of the prepared food and insert on your recipe pages.

7. CREATE RECIPE INGREDIENT BASKETS
   To add a little more to your gift create an ingredient jar or basket. The favorite cookies ingredients can easily be put together in a plastic container. Jars make wonderful containers for Pea or Bean Soup Recipes. Be creative with putting together the ingredients for ready to make food gifts.

8. GIVE AS GIFTS
   The recipe book above was created after my mother-in-law passed away. The handwritten recipes are all in her writing. Everyone enjoyed this gift as a lasting memory of her delicious cooking. This gift is being given to each grandchild at their weddings. Enjoy.

Resources

• More Articles by Sharon Meier