Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every time you opened your family cookbook, you could time travel at will? What if you could turn a page in your family recipe book and travel back in time to see how life was in ages past? How about traveling forward in time?
Well in a sense, you can.Continue reading
“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
They’ve been a staple in the kitchen for hundreds of years. In fact, wood spoons were one of the earliest recorded utensils ever to be used by human civilization. Not only were they simple to carve and highly practical, but making a wooden spoon was also extremely inexpensive thanks to the availability of materials. All you needed was soon wood and a means of shaping it.
These days, very few people are chopping logs and carving their own wood spoons, but they remain an essential tool in any person’s kitchen drawer. And, while modern tools like blenders and hand mixers may have taken over as our go-to device for certain jobs, there’s no way you could stir a soup or even mix a basic batter without the use of this handy utensil.
Up to this point, though, it’s very likely you never gave it a lot of thought. It’s something you pick up and use, then throw into the sink for a quick wash before it disappears back into your drawer without any acknowledgment of it’s surprisingly interesting history. Here’s a look at where this little cooking device came from and the key aspects of choosing, caring for, and maintaining one today.
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
Mallory and Tyler – We hope your wedding went well last year, and congratulations on your one year anniversary! Hope you love your new bridal recipe collection.
All the best
Erin
Check out the Bliss recipe box here and the Bumblebee recipe cards here.
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