Let us know which of our cookbook templates you used for your cookbook here. It’ll help us focus on which templates we should expand on in the future.

Besides, aren’t you curious to know what everybody else is using?

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Feel free to suggest other designs we should consider.

After years of keeping recipes on recipe cards and on scraps of paper, I have found that one of the best ways to keep recipes is in a cookbook binder.

Cookbook binders are great because they are so versatile. Unlike a hardbound book, cookbook binders can be altered or updated at any time. You can write on the pages, edit them later on your computer, print a new page and exchange it for the old one, and voila, you have fresh new recipe content pages in your cookbook binder.  (That’s how we envision updates to be done at The Cookbook People, anyway.)

Best of all, with a cookbook binder you have the flexibility to change the order of the pages, add or delete whole tab sections, or customize anything else you like. Read the rest of this entry »

A few years ago I wanted to have an All American Fourth of July party for friends who left their homes in countries all over the world to settle in America.  Some of these friends were recent arrivals, and others had been in the United States long enough for their grandchildren to be second generation Americans.

Of course, the idea was just an excuse to have an All American Fourth of July party with good friends.  The challenge was to come up with Only American foods to serve instead of our usual international potluck. Following is the menu I created for the occasion: Read the rest of this entry »

Is it just cranky ole me, or do we have a serious lack of table manners for kids running rampant among our youth these days?  I’ve noticed it in restaurants mostly. Parents are either not paying attention to how their kids are feeding themselves, or the parents in question don’t seem to know the difference between bad table manners for kids and good ones.

I did a little research on the subject of table manners for kids, and here are what some experts say are the top 10 basic table manners for kids: Read the rest of this entry »

Does barbecue and BBQ sauce fit in the entrée, appetizer, condiments, or snacks section of my family cookbook?  I think it all depends on where the barbecue recipe comes from. For example, Kansas City ribs are certainly dessert; Texas brisket is certainly an entrée. 

There are more opinions about what makes good barbecue than probably can be counted.
And, maybe I’m stepping into a subject best left unaddressed on these blog pages. However, with the coming of summer and an increase in outdoor dining, it seems logical to mention some of the barbecue traditions that define some regions of these United States.

You be the judge where they fit into your family cookbook. Read the rest of this entry »

With the arrival of summer comes a dilemma I always face. Do I make and drink standard unsweetened iced tea or indulge myself with iced sweet tea?  Both are delightful on hot summer days and warm summer evenings.

In the winter, the choice is easy for me: hot tea with sugar and milk. Sometimes I’ll vary the taste with hot tea that features different flavors, such as:

- Chai (with its warm rich blend of cinnamon cardamom, and cloves)
- Fruit flavored teas (such as peach, mango, raspberry)
- Green teas (fresh leafy tasting)
- Flower-flavored teas (such as jasmine or rose)
- Herbal teas or tisanes (no caffeine style chamomile, mint, rose hip, or lemon verbena) Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a scenario that most cooks will find familiar:
 
1.  Mixing spoon in one hand.
2.  Deep mixing bowl held tightly with the other hand.
3.  Cookbook flat on the countertop, pages flapping in the breeze just as you try to read the next ingredient in the recipe you’re making.

Of course, the mixing spoon hand has some sticky stuff on the fingers, so after you release the spoon (and carefully position it so it doesn’t sink into whatever you’re making), you have to rinse and wipe your fingers off before attacking the cookbook pages in an attempt to keep them from flapping further. 

Let’s explore 10 ways to keep a cookbook open to the right recipe: Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes your friends are your family.
Sometimes friends expand our dining horizons more than family members can — teaching us new ways to enjoy food, or broadening our exposure to exotic ingredients they’ve gleaned from traveling, networking or socializing with other friends.

I once introduced a friend to the wonders of jicama with lime and salted chile powder, and 25 years later he still remembers me for that as we reconnected on Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »

My father had some unusual tastes in food to a kid hanging around wondering what all the fuss was in the kitchen. Burnt toast eaten with sunny side up eggs was one combination I remember. The smell of charred forgotten toast still makes me think of him. Scrapple. Corn pancakes. He also liked raw oysters, and it wasn’t until I was in my mid-30s that I learned to appreciate them.

My father grew up in hard times just after the turn of the 20th century, when men changed their shirt collars instead of their shirts, and bread that you sliced yourself was a few pennies a loaf. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, the final results of the 2009 Zagat Fast Food Survey were released and happy foodies who participated in providing answers were quick to click to see if their favorites made the grade.

If you missed the results, here are some of the overall winners:

Best Burger - In-N-Out Burger
Best French Fries - McDonald’s
Best Salads - Panera Bread
Best Fried Chicken - KFC
Best Grilled Chicken - Chick-fil-A
Best Value Menu - McDonald’s
Best Coffee - Starbucks Coffee
Best Milkshake - Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops

You may or may not have all of the winning fast food places in your area. No matter. This column really isn’t about the results of the 2009 Zagat Fast Food Survey. It is about how your family cookbook resembles the winning fast food places of the 2009 Zagat Fast Food Survey. Just like the fast food winners, your family cookbook should: Read the rest of this entry »

Some of our lovely “Matilda’s” users have asked questions in the past regarding printing their cookbooks at the neighborhood quick print shop or at one of the national chains instead of printing their cookbook at home.

Many of them would like to get printing quotes from several shops around town in order to get the best product at the best price.  We think this is a good idea, and often suggest a standard format for providing this information to the printer/counter person. Read the rest of this entry »

“1-2-3 is the basic recipe,” I said to Ruth, who was having a slight senior moment regarding how to cook rice.  “One cup rice and two cups of water makes three cups of food.”

“Oh yes,” Ruth said. “I was thinking 3 cups of water to one cup rice was how my mother used to make rice. It was always so moist and tender. I forgot the 1-2-3 rule.”

“Well, all I know is that one cup of rice can feed three people. I play The Rice Game quite a bit, and it is amazing how one cup of rice can swell up and make a difference for people in so many countries. It is one staple that truly has global reach.”

That little conversation got me thinking about all the rice in the world, and how odd it is that June brides of the past could waste such a precious food by having guests throw rice at weddings. (While I understand the custom, I much prefer the more recent rose petal tossing or bubble blowing activities at weddings instead of getting whacked in the eyes by errant grains of rice.) Read the rest of this entry »

Grandpa Joe’s banana splits by the river in summer.
    Auntie Marie’s enormous Cranberry Fluff served once a year at Thanksgiving.
        Cousin Linda’s hot French fries with tartar sauce on a cold beach day.

Such memories of food and family may not be yours personally, but you can relate to them because you may have many similar memories of your own. They are a precious link to another era, when life was seemingly less complicated. A time softened by reflection, and where relatives become oddly appealing with the passage of time.

Preserving the essence of such memories in a family cookbook is becoming very popular these days as we seek comfort in familiar, less-tech touches to our daily lives. Many of us are choosing to preserve both heirloom recipes and family genealogy all in one place — in a family heritage cookbook. Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend I was invited to a poolside birthday party for a lovely girl who was turning 12 years old. I asked what I could bring, suggesting a salad to go along with the hamburgers and hot dogs on the menu.  Julie brightened up and volunteered: “My favorite is Greek Salad.”

So, Greek Salad it was.

With ripe tomatoes and cucumbers hitting supermarkets just about now, Greek Salad was a good choice for a crowd. It always holds well, and has a fresh taste. Known in Greece mainly as country salad, or horiatiki, the Greek Salad we know here is basically a combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta cheese, and Kalamata olives, all dressed up with an olive oil and vinegar blend. Read the rest of this entry »

In case you didn’t know already, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to stay between the lines. So it was a real eye-opener for me to learn that most people like to have lines to stay between. So, when we started designing Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software, I began to understand why easy-to-use recipe templates are the key to creating cookbooks.
 
Using a recipe template to create a cookbook is really an idea that was borrowed from the crafting world. For example, sewing hobbyists use patterns. Interior decorators use stencils. Painters and muralists use outlines. Thus, using a recipe template to automatically produce a professional-looking family recipe cookbook made sense. (At least that’s what I thought when I imagined a recipe template that I would use.) Read the rest of this entry »

On one of my internet surfing expeditions to spy on my competition (yes, I do that regularly), I was happy to see that my Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software still leads the pack in helping you create a custom cookbook at home.

There are websites that coax you to enter all your family recipes online into a virtual custom cookbook world in cyberspace, all for free. Be sure to read the fine print of the “terms and conditions,” because you may be giving up ownership of your own family recipes.

There are websites that offer you hard-bound editions of your custom cookbook. After a three month wait for delivery, you may realize the recipes you originally selected are no longer desired, so you are stuck with that inflexible expensive-to-make custom cookbook volume on the bookshelf. Read the rest of this entry »

“Did you bring your cue-pawns?” Ruth asked as we ambled down the grocery aisle, stopping at the pancake syrup display.

“My what?” I asked, irritated that for the umpteenth time Ruth and I would have a conversation about how to correctly pronounce the word “coupon.”

“Coo - pohns,” I instructed her. There is no Q or Cue in coupons. It rhymes with poupon, as in Grey Poupon Mustard. Why can’t you remember that?” Read the rest of this entry »

How do you decide whether to use sour cream or cream cheese to top a baked potato? Well, I don’t decide. I use both to make my baked potato toppers. I make a basic baked potato topper recipe by beating together an 8 ounce package of regular cream cheese (that’s been softened), and an 8 ounce carton of dairy sour cream. All the lumps should be gone and the remaining mixture should be on the fluffy side.

Then, depending upon my mood or taste craving for the moment, I use the basic mixture to create several flavorful baked potato toppers.  Baked potatoes are always great to eat, whether baked in traditional oven or microwave (a good summer alternative). Read the rest of this entry »

“Eeeeew!” I heard Ruth screech in my ear as we wandered around the party, tidbit plates in hand. “That guest over there is eating out of the dip dish. Look at him; he thinks the dip dish is his personal property.”

It was true. The gentleman (using the term rather loosely, mind you) was rapt in his own delight as he managed to consume a good portion of the onion dip with his rather large Ruffles potato chip. He plowed into the creamy dip over and over again, oblivious to the germs and pathogens he was possibly spreading. Oh the swine flu potential! Read the rest of this entry »

Although we generally think of Memorial Day as a wonderful three-day family weekend that kicks off the summer season of outdoor dining and sun-kissed activities, in reality, Memorial Day is not about the barbecue.

Memorial Day isn’t about whether the grill will be charcoal or propane; whether the meat will be hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, or bratwurst, or steak. It isn’t about the potato salad, fruit salad, or even what dressing will be on the tossed salad. Or, even if dessert will be strawberry shortcake, apple pie, ice cream, or chocolate chip cookies. Read the rest of this entry »

Situation: Late for dinner / No hostess gift
You are going to be late for a dinner party this evening, and you forgot to pick up a hostess gift, too.  What do you do?

Solution:  Notify the hostess / Make a gift cookbook!
That’s right. Call your friends and sit down at the computer. In the time it takes your husband to remove his dirty yard work clothes, take a shower, shave and dress, you can make a fabulous hostess gift that is both personal and clever. Read the rest of this entry »

Recipe software, recipe book software, cookbook software, whatever you want to call it to make your own cookbook, the key to success is how tech easy it is to use.  Although I’m the Granny Guru around here at The Cookbook People, some things do scrabble my brain, and one of them is “tech issues.”

Nothing is more frustrating that knowing you need to accomplish something with a software but don’t understand how to do it. Add a deadline, and waah! I can be in tears in no time.  (I tend to always think the problem is me, not the software.)  So when we created Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software, we tried to take the “tech” out so anybody could use it. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you belong to a church or other organization that can benefit from fundraising activities?  If so, you might want to consider creating a cookbook to sell to members of your local community.

With a powerful cookbook software, you can create a cookbook easily and quickly. Here are a few steps to get you started:

1. Ask via email or in a meeting who would like to contribute recipes and/or help with the cookbook production.  We recommend Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software as the key cookbook software for this purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you noticed?
We have scrambled up our website a little bit.

2009 has been an exciting year for us. Nearly half-way through it, and here we are with a whole slew of new things to talk about!  We have so many great new products to show you that we redesigned our website to make it easier for you to see all our new stuff.

In addition to our Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software, we now offer binders, recipe cards, and advice you need to save your precious family recipes.

You can either mouse-over the tabs to get drop-down menus, or click on the tab to enter the section’s home page. Either way, you’ll be amazed at all the new information that we have added.

Here is a brief tour of the main tabs on our The Cookbook People home page: Read the rest of this entry »