Many of us have special recipes that have been handed down through our families for years. I count them extra special if they’re hand written by deceased loved ones, like my grandma… I had several of hers and I’d always wanted to keep them safe for my daughter and Lord willing daughter-in-laws.
Several years ago I was going through one of my Scrapbook magazines and they had a whole section on Scrap-Cookbook Journal’s. Well that’s all it took for me and I was right into it. I called my mom, Neil’s mom and sisters and got all the families ‘favorites’. One stipulation was they had to send the recipes in their own handwriting.
I had several of my Grandmas, her sisters, my aunts, my moms as well as some that I’d written as a teenager. I also included some of Neil’s concoctions along with his brothers.
But I needed more than just the recipes- I needed photographs. I wanted photographs preferably of each person in the kitchen or doing something in the line of cooking- even camping and grilling. I got more than I dreamed of, this was going to be fun.
One other key ingredient was to be the story telling aspect of it… the journaling! This comes easy for me, so with each recipe and photo is a short story about the cook and why the recipe is special.
Now to get it organized and decide on the format.
Once I had the recipes I made copies of them on archival scrapbook paper so they wouldn’t deteriorate over time.
I put appropriate photos with the right recipes. In the garden for veggies, making pretzels and bread for that category and like wise.
I decided on my title pages and the order they would go in. I used stickers, die cuts and photo copied cute pictures for my title pages.
Realizing that this couldn’t be an encyclopedia I had to decide on what recipes to use and which to scrap- (get rid of) -no pun intended- this was the hard job. I tried to put at least one recipe from each family member so Taylor would have a memory of each person.
In the end my daughter Taylor received a beautiful Scrap-Cookbook that she truly enjoys and uses quite often.
Hope this inspires you to create a Heritage family cookbook that you can hand down to a special loved one!
Happy Day
Jean
For Dragonflies And Me 
Thank you so much! What a great idea for all families. I’m going to start one today……..
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This looks like a great idea. It would be fantastic to have recipes from all of my relatives. That is such a nice thing to do for your daughter.
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It was a lot of fun to create. I love to scrapbook and journal… so it was a no brainer 😉
Hope you go for it Elena!
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AWESOME!!! Did you publish it?
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I did not publish this book… but I do have a published cookbook… If you’d like to see a little about it you can go over to my Facebook page… click the link here on the page and it will take you there. It’s the top pinned post. This was a gift for my daughter. Thanks so much though for asking… that’s quite a compliment!
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Hi Jean, what an amazing and cool idea. Oh you should go to market with this one. I so loved it and it was so genuine and personal. What a great way to keep part of the family so alive and to hand down through the generations. Absolutely beautiful. All your most favorite heritage recipes and pics. Brilliant Jean…just brilliant. Thank you for sharing.
I am from UBC, so nice to meet you. Come and visit me some time http://wendy643.wordpress.com/
Namaste with Unity “Love” Consciousness,
Wendy Baudín
Self-Love Sherpa and Wisdom Guide
http://www.wendybaudin.com/home
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Thanks for taking the time to stop by and I sure will as well… It was a lot of fun compiling it and it made a special gift for my daughter!
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I talk about this on page 12 of my book “Welcome Home.” When I saw your post, my heart sang! thanks for reminding me, and for the inspiration to finally get to work on these for my girls. XOXO ~Melissa
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Well get at it Melissa, LOL… I’m sure it will be beautiful beyond words and a keepsake your girls will treasure all their days… Best, Jean
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ps… here’s a quote for you : “Food provides you with an unbroken thread which links you to your ancestors.” ~author unknown
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Love it!
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