In case any of my dear family cookbook making friends out there have noticed, I am much better these days in giving you something to think about on this blog we call Matilda’s Family Cookbook Kitchen.
We have been crazy with getting our upcoming cookbook software update tested and completed, but now I have a few more minutes to chat. (No, I still will NOT say when the update will be ready, but when it does come out it will be even more fantastic!)
I know sometimes that you may be too busy or might forget to check back with me every day. So, we have made it easy for you to see our updates via RSS with one click on your toolbar when you are connected to the Internet.
RSS means Really Simple Syndication, which in non-geek terms means you will get an automatic update whenever I have posted some new information on this blog. You will be able to read the new posting, and make a comment back, if you like.
Try it! All you do is click on the “Subscribe to Blog - RSS” link to the right of this message. When you see the prompt box, click “Subscribe.” Through the magic of electrons, our blog feed will automatically be downloaded to your computer and appear in your toolbar favorites center, which is indicated by a yellow star.
Every time you go surfing on the Internet, you can click on your star and see what’s happening in Matilda’s Family Cookbook Kitchen!
Here’s an email I just received from a one of our customers who is making a fundraising cookbook for Relay For Life. We’re giving them a small donation: Read the rest of this entry »
I am so grateful for all the nice comments we receive here at The Cookbook People.com in reference to my easy-to-use Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software. I recently received a wonderful email from Randi Levin of The Muffin Lady Inc. in Colorado who has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the special art of high altitude cooking. Read the rest of this entry »
I did something this week that I never thought of before. Twice, as a matter of fact. I liked the first result so much that I had to try it again, and I am considering adding the easy recipe to my family cookbook.
You see, my local market discounts less-than-perfect produce in addition to day-old bakery items. I’m not proud when it comes to saving money. Especially these days! So, when I saw a several-pound bag of very ripe nectarines (marked down to the price of two nectarines I might add), I immediately snatched them up. Roasted nectarines with crumbled graham crackers, walnuts, and vanilla yogurt seemed like a wonderful dessert idea. Read the rest of this entry »
One powerful feature in using my cookbook software to preserve family cooking traditions is the ability to standardize family recipes that have been handed down for generations. Standardize the macaroni casserole so beloved by your grandfather? Sacrilege!
Not really. Let me explain.
Standardizing family recipes can be the single most important way to preserve the taste of the dishes over time (aside from creating the actual cookbook, of course). Read the rest of this entry »
If you are including family photos in your family cookbook, you probably have a few family members who are delaying your project because they don’t have a photo of themselves. You know the ones; they always look like a scared rabbit with the whites of their eyes showing (or with their eyes half-closed).
Here is something that will haunt you until you make it. A week ago I saw a restaurant review in a local magazine, and the food writer was all agog at the neighborhood bistro’s version of pig candy. Now, pig candy has been around awhile, but I was intrigued that such a foo-foo place had it on the menu, let alone was becoming the talk of the town.
Pig candy, for the uninitiated, is simply cooked bacon topped with caramelized dark brown sugar, and a little chili powder or paprika, if desired. Read the rest of this entry »
How many of us really follow untried clipped-out recipes? I will try to follow a new recipe the first time exactly as written. I have a tendency to get creative and want to step out of the box, perhaps too often, so following a recipe exactly is pretty taxing for me. But, out of respect for the recipe’s creator, I will follow it, but only once.
After that, I am inspired to take license and go with the flow. Perhaps I don’t have any nutmeg to enhance the lobster thermidor. Well, allspice might just do. Or, maybe that particular day I prefer a different twist by adding jalapeno peppers to a cream cheese spread instead of the usual olives (because I forgot to stock up on them last time I went to market). A creative approach can often improve a timid recipe and make it outstanding enough to include in your family cookbook.
What kinds of creative spice substitutions can be successful? In general, it seems spices that we naturally associate with sweet dishes (cinnamon, nutmeg, Chinese 5-spice powder) can most likely be substituted for one another. Likewise for the savory-dish herbs, such as oregano, thyme, or marjoram. Of course, only your own taste buds will know for sure, but don’t be afraid to experiment. You may have a family winner to star in your next cookbook software creation.
Just because you’ve efficiently typed all your recipes into your computer doesn’t mean you have to toss out the grease- or vanilla-stained recipe cards they are written on. If they are scribbled in your own writing, well, go ahead. However, if they are written in your Mother’s hand, or that of your Grandmother’s, keep them.
Put a 5 x 7 envelope in the back cover of your cookbook and place these precious bits of personal history in them to preserve from further deterioration. Nothing brings back the memory of a treasured recipe, or the person who used to make it, than seeing it scribbled down on a piece of brown bag or paper towel in the original author’s handwriting. Trust me, one day you’ll be glad you saved those recipe cards, no matter what shape they may be in. Any comments?
First prize is $50, fame, glory and did I mention $50? A second prize of an Easy Bind Kit. It’s the Kiddie Cookie Contest/Poetry Slam! Post the cookie recipe kids love best, and get bonus points for explaining what makes it so kid friendly. Extra bonus points if you explain its goodness in poetry. (Limerick, haiku, non-rhyming free verse, iambic pentameter, whate’er.)
There once was a recipe so good
of delicious and scrumptious food
The cookie of dreams
to make all kiddies teem
In a sticky faced sugar laced mood
Post your best cookie recipe here
As long as you’d like it, my dears
And add on a rhyme
Of any old kind
Telling why yours is the cookie sublime.
(Well, it started as a limerick and then I got stumped. I hope you get the idea.)
The weekly recipe contest is simple: the best 20 words or less recipe. How long are 20 words? This paragraph.
(Contest guidelines: Post your best recipe in the “comments” section of this entry. On May 5th we’ll choose the best recipe as our winner. Winner gets a $50 check. Recipe can be main course, cookie or whatever.)
As the next generation, I cherish this cookbook. Once during the cold days of February, I craved my mother’s goulash so bad it almost brought tears to my eyes. Luckily, I had the cookbook and was quick to make the comfort food that helped me pass a blustery winter evening. Of course the recipe wasn’t made for one, so it basically helped me pass a blustery winter week.
Until that evening, the cookbook had been a nice family heirloom of sorts. Now, I look through it for ideas on easy stuff to cook when I have a free evening or need to take a dish somewhere.
The words of culinary wisdom found inside cannot be surpassed: “Gravy is NOT a beverage!”
The book tells a fun story about family members I see often and some I’ve never met.
This week’s recipe contest is all about making yourself un-kissable. Yes, it’s the most noxious ingredient of anyone not eating it: garlic.
In the Comments section, post your favorite garlic recipe involving a scandalous overdose of garlic. Style points will be given for garlic recipe character, garlic recipe zest, garlic recipe pep and overall ability to turn every pore in your body into a garlic recipe superfund site. Bonus points for the breath mint used to finally kill off the worst of the stink.
On Monday, April 28, 2008, we’ll pick the winner (loser?), announce it here, and fire off a check for a $50.00 prize to the winning garlic masochist.
Fine print: The Cookbook People assume any recipe submitted is the property of the owner. The Cookbook People also assumes authorization from recipe owner to include the recipe in future editions of Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software.
One of our customer’s children is raising funds to build a school in Africa. They want to use our software to create a cookbook to raise funds for their cause, which I think is a delightful idea. I donated our cookbook software and $100 as soon as I heard about it.
But you can help too!
1. Click here to donate to their cause. Donate whatever you feel like. In the “Ecard” section, notify us (Matilda Miller at info@cookbookpeople.com). That way I’ll know you’ve donated.
2. Buy a copy of our software.
3. We’ll donate $10 to the same charity, and send an Ecard back to you to let you know we’ve donated.
Who knows if we’ll raise all the funds they are going after, but it never hurts to try!
We’ve built a pretty unique all-purpose printable kitchen conversion chart. A lot of nifty features arranged nicely on just two pages. (I’ve already printed out a copy and put it on my own refrigerator.)
• Converts cups, teaspoons, gallons, Celsius, and more.
• Charts how many cups will fit into different baking pans.
• Charts how long food can stay frozen
• Gives roasting guidelines for chicken, pork and beef
• Advises on how to cook a steak medium rare
• Extensive ingredient conversion list
• Two rulers (inch and centimeter)
If you are using our software to make a family cookbook, I strongly recommend you download this and put it into your book!
If you are just stumbling through, download and print it anyway! It’s the perfect kitchen reference tool.
You’ve waited 15 minutes in a line at Kinkos. You don’t mind, though. This family cookbook is a labor of love you’ve been working on for four months, and you are so excited to finally be at the point where you are ready to print out 25 cookbooks for your family, your friends, and most importantly your mom. You finally get your turn to place your order, and the magic crashes down around you like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
“Look, lady,” some pimply grandkid behind the counter sneers at you, “What paper stock do you want? How do you want it output? What weight you want? Doublesided or single?” He rolls his eyes. “Never mind. I’m on break.”
It doesn’t have to be that way. Although we offer print kits to allow you to make a cookbook at home for under $5.00, many want to avoid the hassles and headaches of printing their cookbook themselves. We offer printing services ourselves, but a lot of people would rather go to a printer.
So I thought I’d offer some advice on how to take back control of printing your cookbook at a local copy shop. You might still run into that pimply jerk, but at least you’ll be armed for battle:
1. Output the files to PDF. Your local copy shop probably doesn’t know what Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software is, and if you used Word (shame on you) they won’t like handling it anyway. Creating PDF (or Acrobat) files “freeze” the cookbook so text can’t re-flow to different pages and fonts can’t get lost. Nothing is more frustrating to printers and copy shops than missing fonts and files created in software they’ve never heard of. Download a free PDF creator following the link at the bottom of this page.
2. Take it to a good local print shop. I don’t generally recommend Kinkos as I personally find them to be overpriced and of mediocre service. Here’s a great Dave Chapelle parody that pretty much explains it (be warned, some strong although bleeped out language):
Ask around and find a good copyshop. I always like copy shops where the owner works in the store.
3. Ask for a heavier cover stock for the front and back cover, and 20lb text paper for the interior. There’s a huge variety of paper stocks out there, so why not be a little adventurous and go with a linen or a nice recycled paper. Make sure to have them use clear plastic sheets over the top of the front and back cover, as that will protect from spills. Fancier paper and the plastic sheets shouldn’t really add more than 25% to the cost to the job. If it does, seek a different printer.
4. If you have a limited budget, print a couple of cookbooks out in completely full color. Give those copies to the few people who will really care the most about the book. Your mother should definitely get the full color. For everybody else, just do black and white interior and color front and back cover. The number of color pages in your entire project will have a HUGE impact on the cost of the job. Plan on spending 3-5 times as much on a full-color cookbook as on a black and white cookbook.
5. Have them spiral bind it together. They may default to just using black, but if you ask a lot of print shops have a variety of spiral bind colors. Make sure you get it SPIRAL bound and not comb bound. Comb binding is like this:
Spiral binding is like this:
I hate using cookbooks that are comb bound because it looks cheaper (although it’s not) and it doesn’t lay flat on the counter when you wrap the page back. Spiral and comb binding cost about the same.
6. You can also save money by writing a printing specification and shopping it around to multiple printers to find the best price. A printing specification for your job might look like this:
“I need 20 8.5×11 cookbooks output from my PDF files in black and white double sided interior with full color doublesided covers. I’d also like an additional 5 cookbooks printed in full color throughout, also doublesided.
“For both versions, there are 45 interior sheets for a total of 90 pages of copying in the interior, plus the cover sheets. The interior sheets will be on 20lb laser text/gloss, and the cover will be 60 pound cover gloss. This is an 8.5×11″ book when finished.
“Please use a clear plastic cover sheets over the front and back for protection, and spiral bind each book with white spines (if available).
“Please provide for me a quote and an estimated amount of time it will take to complete the job.”
By writing up a printing specification like this, you can just print it out and hand it to three different printers, and they can each put a bid together on what it will cost. Most printers have email, so you can send them the specification and your PDF files without even having to go in the shop. Also, a printing specification takes some of the guesswork out of it for both the printer and you. The printer may be more inclined to give you a better price because he can tell you have your act together.
I guarantee that if you try three printers, one will be at least 25% less than the other two. However, don’t necessarily go with the cheapest. Also think about which one was the most helpful and which one has the best reputation. You might also consider having the copy shop you like the most print up a single book for you to see if it’s up to snuff.
I don’t have a lot of faith in samples that a printer has sitting around in his drawer. You don’t know if the copier used to make those samples is still around, or if that sample is just the very very best they can do. I’m not bashful–I’ll often ask to see a sample of a project they are working on right now.
Regardless, always always ALWAYS print out a single book before you print up 25 books. Look over it closely. Use it for a week. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find something (if not many things) you’ll want to change before you do the 25 book print run.
I’ve been working with printers and copy shops for 15 years, and I know how intimidating they can be to the uninitiated. They tend to seem more rude and patronizing the less you know about what you want. But then a lot of us can come off more standoffish than we mean to in the heat of the moment.
No matter what, never let a copy shop or anyone else take away the magic of what you are doing. Making a family cookbook is a truly special and noble act. It can be a little easier if you go into the copying part of the job prepared for the experience.
Matilda’s Family Cookbook Encyclopedia is where I write about family cookbooks, cooking, my cookbook software business (The Cookbook People) and my favorite recipes.
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