“Why don’t you tell people what nice gifts these recipe boxes would make for wedding showers?” Ruth asked.
“When my daughter got married, we struggled to find unique hostess gifts. These recipe boxes would have been just perfect. You could choose each recipe box design thoughtfully for each person and then add the matching recipe cards. It would make an impressive, well-liked gift.”
“You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” Kenny Rogers used to sing this line in a great song about playing cards. That’s also true about calling your family cookbook done. You have to recognize when it’s time to stop adding recipes and go ahead and print.
But how can be sure your family recipe book is complete?
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In the scheme of things, you might think collecting and saving family recipes doesn’t matter much. But collecting your family’s special dishes in a personalised cookbook connects different generations and lets you get to know members of your tribe you’ll never meet.Continue reading
Once upon a time there was a good recipe software, and there was a bad recipe software.
The good recipe software was easy to use, had plenty of options, and left anyone entering data happy and fulfilled.
The good recipe software meant the users could quickly make a wonderful family cookbook filled with beloved recipes, family stories and photographs.
This recipe book became a family keepsake worthy of future generations.
We got a lovely note from Colette Surovy of Canada. Colette made a family cookbook for her family reunion using Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software.
She collected recipes from family members approximately four months in advance of the reunion. The final product was a family cookbook containing more than 100 pages!
Gifts for co-workers – whether they’re leaving or celebrating something important – can often be a challenge. So why not delight your favorite co-workers with a do-it-yourself cookbook made on your home computer?
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No matter where you are in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer months, the hottest days can make you wish for a cold winter day again. Iced beverages and lighter meals are the order of the day, and cool summer salads that take the heat off in the kitchen fit the bill perfectly.Continue reading
Do you have a low calorie food section in your family cookbook? With so many choices in sugar substitutes available now, making baked goods with fewer calories, and many other low-sugar desserts, is so much easier.
Are your kitchen drawers and cupboards overflowing with ‘potentially useful’ recipes? Get your recipes super-organized with my simple workflow!
Amongst my grandmother’s recipes that I copied into my family cookbook, I found a wonderful old family recipe for pie using apples, pecans and a meringue topping.
Below is a re-interpretation of my grandmother’s apple pecan pie recipe that includes cheesecake filling instead of meringue. This no-cook recipe, now called Easy Apple Pecan Cream Pie, also includes many convenience food shortcuts so you can create a delicious dessert in half the time my grandmother needed.Continue reading
My favorite indulgence when watching calories is to make this light, simple cilantro dressing. It’s brilliant on all types of salad greens but you can also spoon this dressing on boiled potatoes or other cooked vegetables, and pastas for a delicious, light and fresh coriander flavour.
I use spinach in recipes all the time. I have it raw in salads, stir-steam it with garlic and olive oil in the Italian tradition, mix it up in ratatouille, add it to soups, even use it instead of lettuce in sandwiches. But my all time favorite spinach recipe (which, of course, I added to my own family recipe cookbook) is for Spanakopita or Greek Spinach Pie.Continue reading
Why not use the picnic ideas in your family cookbook to inspire your brown bag lunches? When you think about it, you can enjoy the same kinds of food that make for a great picnic, in your workplace dining.
Taking a brown bag lunch to work can save you a bundle every week as well as making it easier to commune with your co-workers. Continue reading
I remember how odd I felt the first time I made Moroccan Chicken with cinnamon in it. My taste buds almost refused to allow me to include cinnamon in the dish, but I went with it. I was so amazed at how good it tasted! Since then, I like to surprise my family’s tastebuds by adding interesting spice combinations to almost every dish.
Over time I’ve developed a list of spice mixes that I keep inside my spice cupboard. (Based on recommendations from the American Spice Trade Association and other places, including my own observations).
Today I’m sharing my list of 15 condiment combinations so you too can bring new life to every recipe in your family cookbook!
A cookbook stand. You probably wouldn’t think of a holder for your recipe book as a priority in your kitchen, right?
Yet working with your cookbook on the counter means it gets messy food stains all over it. And, especially if you’re using a larger recipe binder or cookbook, it takes up precious space needed for the many dishes you’re preparing.
Summer has arrived and with it my annual dilemma. Do indulge myself with sweet iced tea? Or stick to standard, unsweetened iced tea? I find both delightfully cooling on hot summer days and warm evenings.Continue reading
Some of my most treasured memories are of the times I spent with my grandfather. Especially the year when my Mom and I made him burgers and ‘Sunny Side Up’ cake on Father’s Day. These kind of memories really should have a place in our family cookbook. I want to record those smells or flavours that so strongly bring back my childhood.Continue reading
Do you have a dog biscuit recipe in your family cookbook? After the last dog food scare, I started making homemade dog treats for my dog. Not only are they easy to make once a week, they are very economical, and I know what my dog is eating!
Time to dust off the grill and pull the patio cushions from storage so that Dad can have his special moments enjoying some Father’s Day grillin’ & chillin’ favorites.
I thumbed through my family cookbook to devise the menu below. Most of the tastes are strong and guy-oriented, so they are sure to please most anyone who likes bold flavors.
As a special bonus, I’ve included our particular family favorite: a recipe from a Lebanese friend for a delicious, tangy walnut & red pepper spread called Muhammarah.Continue reading
After all the anxiety over your child’s education – worrying about whether they were getting enough to eat, enough sleep and how well they would do in their finals, you daughter or son has graduated and is heading off into the big wide world.
But there you are, back home, still worrying,
“Are they getting enough to eat?”
In the past mothers’ might have carefully hand-written the cherished family recipes onto elegant cards in a recipe box as an heirloom gift for their departing daughters, but times have changed. Today a family recipe binder is a highly appropriate gift for any graduate. Here’s why:
Your kids may have to move far away from you to college, or to where the work is, but family recipes will remind them that they’ll always have the strong family support they need to move forward in life. Cooking up a favourite dish is a way of connecting back to their roots and feeling the comfort of home away from home.
Dining out is going to be beyond many a graduate’s budget and this maybe the first time they need to know how to prepare a nutritious meal for themselves. With the onset of popular TV shows, guys are just as likely to be in the kitchen showing off their culinary skills as girls. Whether they’re eating alone or making a meal for friends, those family recipes will come in really handy!
Even when you’ve given your kid all their favourite recipes, they’re going to develop a taste for some new ones. With so many great online recipe sites, they can easily find new recipes to try, print them out and add them to their recipe binder, or quickly pop it into that recipe accordion file!
So why not go ahead and choose the perfect gift for your departing graduate from our wide range of recipe binders and recipe organizers!