A recipe binder will be an invaluable aid to your grad as he or she heads out into the world!

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:

A family recipe binder – home away from home. 

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.

Everyone needs to cook for themselves.

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!

Easily add new printed recipes to the recipe binder. 

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!

Here at Cookbook People, we’ve got some really terrific gifts for Mom on Mother’s Day – or any day!

To help you with ideas for the perfect gift for your Mom on Mother’s Day, we’ve profiled a few gift Mom candidate types:Continue reading→

A sure sign of spring are two celebrations that are both in the month of May. Amid the beautiful spring flowers we have Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day. I often forget what they are truly about, so here is a brief history lesson that my dear friend, Ruth, gave me just the other day.

Cinco de Mayo
Somewhere along the line, Americans decided that one of Mexico’s important dates in history should parallel our own Independence Day. Maybe it was the way Cinco de Mayo rolls off the tongue, or the May 5/July 4 similarities for marketing purposes. Never mind that Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of the historic Puebla battle of 1862 in which the Mexican Army tromped the heck out of Napoleon III’s occupying French Army (which, by the way, was supplying our U.S. Confederate soldiers, so the outcome of this battle also helped end the U.S. Civil War).

Well, anyway, Ruth says the holiday today celebrates Mexican pride and culture, and has a great food and drink tradition enjoyed all over the world. As for me, I see Cinco de Mayo as an opportunity to chomp chips and salsa, and to (symbolically) devour French pastries.

Mother’s Day
Although some may think Mother’s Day was created by greeting card companies to boost sales, the annual holiday was championed by Victorian Era peace activist Ann Jarvis, and later her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis. In 1868, Mama Ann wanted to reunite families divided by the Civil War. Daughter Anna Marie just wanted to pay tribute to her late Mom, and to recognize all mothers for their special contributions to society. By and by, and after much to-do, the tribute day became a national holiday on May 8, 1914. It has subsequently gone internationally viral. By the way, carnations are the traditional flower for Mother’s Day, and the traditional meal is a lovely Sunday brunch (or breakfast in bed with the kids making pancakes). Gee, how about brunch at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate both holidays at once!

Come to think of it, these two holidays would be nice to include in a holiday section in your family cookbook, or if you prefer, in your recipe box with recipe cards easily made by Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software.

Now for my annual tequila shot and salt (with lime, please).

Happy Cookbooking,

Erin

Looks like Krystle designed her own recipe cards to match the Alice Recipe Box we made for her! Nicely done!

Erin

It’s always fun to cook and bake with your kids, especially when they’re little. Plus, the experience can be very educational.

The whole process of preparing different foods is a great way to have kids practice many of the skills that they’ll need when they enter school. Besides teaching kids to do things like sort and count, cooking can help young children build up the fine motor skills they’ll need to write.

So, as you gather favorite family recipes into your recipe binder, be sure to include some finger-exercising fun with recipes that even the youngest member of your brood can pitch in to make. In other words, have recipes that require some kneading, and remember: the gooier, the better.

One food that works great for this activity is meatloaf because it’s so easy and versatile. Almost any meatloaf recipe will do – even those that don’t require meat, and the finished product can be formed into almost any shape that the kids can come up with – from a simple loaf-pan shape to a mummy body with strategically placed catsup details.

To make the meatloaf, just put all of the ingredients into a bowl for the kids to mush together until the texture is even or their arms are tired. Then, the kids can plop the mixture into a pan and shape it anyway they want to, like play dough.

Once it’s formed, put the meatloaf into the oven and bake it as usual, but pay careful attention to any narrow edges of the loaf. Cover them with a bit of foil to prevent overcooking until the last 10 minutes or so of cooking.

When dinner time comes around, the kids will love showing off – and eating -their creation.  And you’ll enjoy seeing the pride on their faces as you announce what a wonderful job they did making such a delicious dinner.  Mmm Mmm good!

For a great selection of recipe binders, recipe boxes and recipe cards for your favorite recipes, visit our store.

There is no simpler way to track a favorite recipe than the recipe card. A deceptively simple rectangle of paper, the modern recipe card is the ultimate low-tech tool for saving and sharing recipes for current and future generations. Thanks to the internet, there are also now a variety of free options for creating beautiful recipe cards that will do your recipes justice.

There are generally 3 sizes of recipe cards to consider. The 3×5” card is the standard card for most of the last 100 years. (Our own 3×5 recipe cards can be found here.) The old recipe card boxes they fit into were designed for America’s small kitchens. As kitchens expanded, so did the capacity of recipe boxes and binders to allow for the now standard 4×6” recipe card. (Our 4×6 recipe cards are here.) The vast majority of all current recipe cards are this size. In the past decade a few brands have expanded to 5×7” recipe cards. (Ours are here.) You may want to avoid these, however, because while they may fit your own binder they may not fit a friend’s binder you wish to share with.

Most recipe cards are designed with around a dozen horizontal lines going across them. Try to choose cards that also have lines on the back to provide you with more space. A good rule of thumb is to use the left side of the card to create an ingredients list column.  The right side should be used to make a second column that lists ingredients. In this way you simplify the preparation process.

Recipe cards come in all varieties of colors and designs. Traditionally, they have had fairly tacky simple line art, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Many modern recipe card designs have become their own art form, with ornate paintings, drawings and even photographs. Whichever you choose, try to find ones that allow for plenty of space for writing, with a simple interior that won’t make your writing hard to read after years of use. The artistry of the card should be most pronounced around the borders.

Before the numerous online recipe sharing sites sprang up, the recipe card was the traditional method of sharing favorite recipes with friends. These cards are seeing a popular resurgence, as the hand-written instruction carries a warmth and personalization that simply can’t be duplicated with a “submit” button.

If you are like many family cooks, you have a collection of hand-written cards handed down from previous generations. To ensure they survive to see the next generation, look into recipe card protectors. These plastic slips are very inexpensive, and for a few pennies you can save a priceless written heirloom.

Lastly, a quick Google for recipe card templates should yield a variety of printable recipe cards that will be typed in Word or Acrobat, or can be printed out and then written on by hand. But we’ve gone through that hassle for you and have put more than 400 free recipe cards in one place.

A new recipe binder will make Mom’s day!

There are few people in our lives more important than our moms. She’s the one who helped you with your homework, hugged you when you fell off your bike (after she had scraped the grit out from the wounds ooohh!). She encouraged you and supported you, even with your craziest plans, and, maybe the most importantly, she’s the one who brought your family together around the dining table every evening to talk over the day’s pleasures and pains. When Mother’s Day comes around it’s sometimes hard to find a gift that really acknowledges her hard work. Here are eight reasons why we think a recipe binder–or a recipe box–make a great Mother’s Day gift.

A selection of some of our newest half-page recipe binders.

1. Help her organize her recipes. 

Tabbed dividers from Dotted Cottage Rose recipe binder

Chances are your mom is still busy when it comes to cooking – even if you’re not relying on her to feed you anymore, there’s still those special family holidays and reunions! Organizing a meal can get overwhelming very easily though, even for her – especially when there’s family over she hasn’t visited with for a while. With a recipe binder she can have all those recipes stored in one place – and all our recipe binders come with tabbed dividers to help categorize them. Page protector sleeves make adding more recipes to the recipe binder a snap! No more rummaging through bookshelves and in cupboards!

2. Help her pass on family favorites.

Nothing takes you back like the taste of a cake or pie your mom made regularly when you were growing up – and few things matter to her more than passing on these precious traditions that she worked so hard to cultivate and maintain. It’s more than just a cake – it’s your family’s cultural heritage. As time passes and those family recipes are used less regularly, they’re all too easy to forget – what was it she used to make every Thursday after soccer practice? What was the frosting she always swore by for that chocolate cake? A recipe binder will help her document all these important details for future generations.

3. Help her get started on creating a family recipe collection.

Like many of us, your mom may have been meaning to collect all her recipes in a family recipe binder for years but hasn’t gotten around to it yet. She may not do the school runs any more, take you to ballet class or football practice, but hey, she’s a busy lady still! A recipe binder will help her out – you can fill it with recipes you know she loves to make, or you might want to give her a recipe binder with just page protectors and dividers, so she can decide what recipes go in there. From a selfish point of view it’s in your interest don’t forget – it will make it simpler for you to crib those favorite recipes if they are easy to find!

4. Show her how much you value those meals she used to make.  

If your mom doesn’t cook so much these days now that you kids have all grown up (well supposedly!) then a recipe binder that you’ve filled with some of the most cherished family favorites she’s made over the years can still be a wonderful gift. What better way to show her how much all her hard work has meant and continues to mean to you? Maybe she’ll be inspired to make those cinnamon rolls you all used to enjoy every Sunday again – but even if not, it’ll still bring back some great memories.

5. Help ensure a favorite recipe doesn’t get lost forever.

You remember those things…oh what were they, you know, they were sticky and brown and sort of flattish and…we had them that time when… Well,you get the picture. My own mom used to bake a cake that we all loved and for years after her passing my sister and I would check her old recipe books, bake something that we thought might be ‘the one’ only to find that it wasn’t. Was it just the way she made it, we wondered? Did she even have a recipe or was it in her head? Then, one sunny Sunday in my sister’s garden and we were talking about mom, I saw a coy look on her face. She half whispered, “I’ve found it!”. And there it was in an obscure recipe book, the dull title ‘Sultana Loaf’. Mom had even marked it with a pencil and we hadn’t noticed! So the moral of this story is; if you still want to taste those things that you so loved when you were younger, make sure Mom writes those recipes down and hands them on! Buy her a recipe binder or box for recipe cards, and buy yourself one too so that you can duplicate her recipes.

6. Share and pass on your own recipes.

Okay so what about new young moms! Come on Grandma! Share those recipes of yours with your family so that all the little things that you have learned over the years get passed along. The most precious present a young mom or mom-to be can have is the knowledge that she is carrying on, not just the family genes, but those most important hints and methods and nutritional meals that will make her life a little easier when she is worried about what to put in the hungry little mouths around the table. With so many young moms having to work to make ends meet, those old recipes are coming into their own again. You can keep on giving her advice and tips and jot down a recipe for her once in a while, but if you organize it all for her in a beautiful recipe binder, she’ll be able to keep consulting it for years!

7. Make it easier for her to save money and eat healthily with good, home-cooked meals.

I remember when I was a girl that eating at a restaurant was a really big deal. It was a time when there was not much spare cash around for treats. We have got more used to going out to eat in the last few decades (or do I mean half century – whoops! where did that time go?!) but of late we are all having to tighten our belts (literally and metaphorically!) and the cheapest way to eat wholesomely is around the kitchen table. Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma knew all about thrift and nutrition. They may not have learned these things in schools or in magazines or on on TV, but if you look at some of those old recipes you’ll see that Mom ( and Mom’s Mom) really did know a thing or two about eating healthily, cheaply and probably most importantly, satisfyingly. A recipe binder will help ensure that those recipes don’t get forgotten even when the lean days are over – and will make the prospect of cooking dinner rather than ordering a pizza a lot less daunting!

8. A recipe binder is beautiful – and will remind mom of how special she is longer than flowers will!

Full-page recipe binder – Dotted Cottage Rose design

A binder that you invest in now will last a long, long time. I have talked to many of our customers in my time with The Cookbook People, who tell me that the old one they have had for the last thirty years (seriously!) is at last falling apart and they are ready to start again with a new binder and maybe add some new recipes to the old ones. Well, maybe help them out with one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give this Mother’s Day. And remember that , yes, we all have computers but those recipe websites have a limited life span and the surest way to keep those precious foodie moments alive in the memory is the hard copy! So, feel free to buy the candy and the flowers, Mom will love them, and you, just as always. But how about that extra little gift that can say ‘I love you, Mom’ and show her that you recognize how truly special she is.

Happy Mother’s Day!

A recipe box just for you can make cooking dinner a joy.

Have your own personal recipe box.

You may have given quite a few recipe boxes, recipe binders or recipe card sets away to relatives or friends as gifts this year. But have you thought about how much you might benefit from a simple recipe keeping solution yourself? Now a new year is well underway and it’s time to think about your own kitchen needs – and maybe give yourself a gift for once!

Recipe collections are often passed down through the generations, but not everyone has a Great Aunt Sally who made the world’s best mac and cheese. Some of us were raised by busy single parents who just didn’t have time to cook. Some simply don’t have a family legacy in the kitchen. Many of us may still have the family recipes, but still want their own collection to help them find their style as a cook. It’s great to keep passing down traditions, but all great traditions change and grow with time. After all, it is your family too!

Another reason to start a personal collection is if you or someone close to you has a special diet. After all, grandma’s collection from the 40’s probably doesn’t have too many vegan options, to say nothing of gluten-free possibilities. Sometimes diet restrictions can feel overwhelming and isolating. Starting a collection that fits your needs can empower you to handle your specific needs.

So, consider starting a personal collection of recipes, in a recipe box or binder. If you’re starting out, starting over, or just getting adventurous in the kitchen, a personal collection can be a great way to encourage you to develop your skills. A recipe box is good place to start – recipes written on smaller, easy-to-find cards can make things seem less daunting! Most recipe boxes come with subject dividers to help you keep things organized, and you can buy dividers and protective covers for the recipe cards separately too.

To start, don’t over think the project. Choose a system that lends itself to easy organization, and then start collecting recipes. You can find them online, of course, but don’t stop there. The library often has a large selection of cookbooks, including specialty books that you might not consider buying for yourself. Take them home and try them out, then copy your favorites to cards for your recipe box or binder.

A personal collection can be an empowering aid in the kitchen. It can help you to break out as a cook in your own right – and it keeps cooking fun! Even if you already have the family cookbook, it’s never a bad time to start your own collection to be passed down for generations to come.

How to Check for Fresh Eggs

#1. This is just what my Mum once told me. If you do this test and get sick and die, well, please don’t sue the Cookbook People. We sell delightful recipe binders and recipe boxes and write cookbook software. We aren’t organic biologists.

#2. That said, if you use this test, cook the good eggs immediately. Bacteria can get in through the water through the shell once you submerge them.

#3. Fresh eggs are harder to peel after boiling than older eggs.

#4. Always spin your eggs a little in the grocery store. If one sticks to the carton, you’ve got a bad egg. Nobody likes a bad egg.

#5. Please buy Free Range Eggs. They taste better, they only cost a little more, and the lovely birds shouldn’t spend their whole lives in little boxes. #6. Place this useful tidbit inside your recipe binder! 🙂

Thought I knew how to eat a cupcake. I bet you thought you knew how to eat a cupcake, too.  Recently I saw a TV food show about the favorite foods of some of the top chefs in the country. One of them gushed about a local cupcake and catering company in her nearby town.

And then she showed us all how to each a cupcake.

Most people think they know how to eat a cupcake. You take the pleated cupcake liner paper off and toss it away (or chew on it awhile). Then you dig your chops into the middle, biting off an equal amount of cake and frosting, often smudging a bit on your upper lip.Continue reading→

During the waning weeks of summer, it seems a perfect time to preserve favorite fruits of the season by dehydrating them to enjoy later in the year.  My dear friend, Ruth, an expert in dehydrating fruit and other foods, says the process is all about removing the moisture that causes decay. No water means no bacteria and no spoilage, she affirms.

Ruth explains that dehydration occurs best when the drying temperature is between 95°-140°F, with low humidity, and a constant movement of air (that helps evaporate the moisture).  Fruits are especially interesting to dry because many change character entirely after dehydration. For example, dried plums are turned into prunes, and dried grapes become raisins after the drying process.

Although there are several methods for drying food, we’ve picked three of the most popular ways for dehydrating fruit and other foods:

1. Sun Drying
Sun drying is the most ancient way of dehydrating fruit and other foods. Patience and a solid protective cover for the food is important in this process. Slow drying fruit in the sun can take up to 5 days or more, depending on weather conditions. If you aren’t in a hurry and want the true old-fashioned experience of dehydrating fruit and other foods, sun drying is a satisfying (and green) choice.

2. Convection Oven Drying
With convection ovens able to stir the air and keep a controlled temperature, oven drying is another viable option for dehydrating fruit and other foods. Many do-it-yourselfers like using their existing convection ovens for dehydrating fruit and other foods because it is one less appliance to purchase, store, and maintain. Convection oven drying can provide an adequate finished product for home consumption.

3. Drying by Food Dehydrator
A food dehydrator appliance acts much like a convection oven (except your large oven can still be free to use while the dehydrator does its work). The basic parts of a food dehydrator include a fan, air vents to allow air circulation, a heating element, and food trays (screens). Food dehydrator appliances are perhaps the most popular way for dehydrating fruit and other foods. You pretty much set it and forget it, and come back hours later with perfectly dried fruits and other foods.

Helpful Hints
Slice sweet apples (like Fuji or Delicious) or sweet ripe peaches into thin slices. Dip in cold water with ascorbic acid or lemon juice and place in single layer on dehyrator rack. Check your progress every few hours for dehydrating fruit and other foods.  You can also make fruit leathers by pureeing fruit in a blender and spreading them on a flat dehyrator pan

Dehydrating is really easy. I always think of the old backpacker’s original trail mix called GORP (get out the raisins and peanuts) when I think of dehydrated foods.  I like to dehydrate fresh herbs, too. Right now I have a Concord grape vine loaded with grapes.

So, I guess its either harvest and dehydrate, or harvest and make jam. I’ll have to check my family cookbook and recipe box for my grape pie recipe. Granny used to have a really good Concord Grape pie recipe, but that’s another story.

Happy Cookbooking,

Erin

Do you ever desire lovely toasted and seasoned croutons, but don’t have time to run to the store to buy boxed or bagged croutons? If you have a fresh loaf of bread, or even one that is not fresh but not quite ready to throw away or feed to the birds, you can turn several slices (or the whole loaf) into croutons without stale bread (the traditional way to make croutons).Continue reading→

A dear friend who lived in Peru for many years recently shared this condiment recipe for her Peruvian dipping sauce that is very delicious on just about anything. For that summer get together or family reunion that needs something a little different, try this Peruvian dipping sauce recipe:Continue reading→

When it comes to saving family recipes, most families have no argument about saving the best of the best. But what if Auntie Bess was a terrible cook? Are families morally bound to save even awful recipes that no one really wants?  That being said, what about the recipes of a not-so-favorite family member who made everyone uncomfortable with her constant complaints about inadequacies in a not so perfect world? Do you think the curmudgeon’s recipes deserve a place in the family cookbook anyway?

What goes into the family cookbook — whether recipes, biographical sketches of recipe-contributing relatives, or photos of the prepared recipes — is of concern only to the family, which has to follow the heart in these matters. There really is no right or wrong.

There really is no right or wrong about how to save and utilize those family recipes, either. Many options exist, of course, and by popular demand here are my top 3 ways to save family recipes:

1. BINDERS
Binders are one of the top ways to save family recipes. Some recipe collectors like to glue their family recipes and recipe clippings to lined notebook paper pages. Other recipe collectors like to use a cookbook-making software (such as my Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software) to print the recipe pages, formatted in either half or full page sizes. They then hole-punch the pages, and insert them into a binder, complete with a matching cover and customized divider pages. Binders are easy to update (especially if spills make it necessary).  Also, the recipes will stay flat when a cookbook stand is used to prop the recipe binder at an angle while cooking.

2. COOKBOOKS
Cookbooks are another top way to save family recipes. When I mean cookbooks, I’m thinking of a spiral-bound family cookbook that can be produced at the local print shop or print-on-demand vendor directly from cookbook-making software. Depending upon the number of pages, the family cookbook might be bound with a coil, comb, or perfectly smooth (see my earlier post on binding cookbooks).  Family cookbooks are most memorable it they include photos and stories about the cooks and recipes featured in the cookbook selections. In my opinion, family cookbooks are true treasures that should be created, preserved, and handed down to future generations of a family.

3. RECIPE BOXES
Recipe boxes are a third top way to save family recipes. Recipe boxes hold a mystique and intrigue for most children, and even many adults. Recipe boxes come in two convenient sizes ready for 3”x 5” or 4”x 6” recipe cards. Some recipe collectors tape or glue their family recipes to recipe cards. Other family recipe collectors prefer to copy recipes by hand onto the card of choice. Still others will use cookbook-making software to format and print family recipes on fancily-designed recipe cards to match the theme of the recipe card box. Whichever recipe card method is preferred, as long as the family recipe card collection is used it will keep the food memories fresh for a very long time.

I have no űber favorite way to save family recipes (except for the cookbook-making software part of the equation). The great thing about Matilda is that you can achieve all of the top 3 ways to save family recipes by inputting the information just once. You can print recipes to fit in our great binders, then the next day print them out on index cards to make recipe cards for a recipe box. After that, you can choose to print the family recipes in a formatted cookbook. Versatility is my middle name!  P.S. You can even choose to delete the curmudgeon’s recipes in the second edition.

Happy Cookbooking,

Erin