Family Recipe Scrapbook Tips

[Marlon Christian]

It's family reunion time again here in the United States and Canada. I
can just taste my mom's peach pie already. I can't tell you how many
times I've called my mom and said "mom I just have to have your recipe
for your pie and home made ice-cream". It's been a slow accumulation
of recipes over the years, but she relents each time I call for yet
another recipe from her.
Many of the recipe's are actually from my grandmother who passed them
on before she passed away many years ago. You know, I can still
remember baking oatmeal raisin cookies with my grandmother even though
it's been almost 35 years now since I last had that chance.
Now that I have an adult son and daughter of my own my wife and I, who
both love to cook, really wanted to pass the recipes on to both of
them also. Many of these recipes they grew up on and now that they
have kids of their own, are just beginning to request. My wife also
has a recipe book from her grandmother on her dad's side. It's too old
and tattered now to use regularly, so it's time it was restored and
updated.
So many wonderful memories from the kitchen... so many more that I've
lost in time.
I wish that the idea of a recipe scrapbook had been around when I was
just a kid.
Recipe scrapbooks can be given to brothers, daughters, cousins,
children or just about anyone. An 8.5x11 scrapbook works perfectly
here in the US and Canada and can be printed on any standard printer.
They are large enough to hold a 3x5 index card, a couple of photos and
the journaled memories you create. You can also use an 8x8 scrapbook
and have the recipes bound in a square format.
I think it's a great mix to combine your photos and recipes. Digital
scrapbook templates are perfect for this. For example, combine a group
family photo from your reunion at the beginning of the album with a
signature page from everyone in the photograph. This is a great way to
start off the album prior to the index page. If you've asked for
recipes from all the family members in attendance, put a photo of the
recipe submitter on that recipe page with the recipe on the opposite
page. I like to put a photo and a lined journaling page for memories
on the left with the recipe, instructions and photo of the finished
item or of the cooking fun on the right.
Here's another great tip I picked up from my wife's sister... help
your reader out by having a shopping list at the bottom of each recipe
or on the back of the recipe cards that you use. You might also want
to consider putting the actual recipe on one scrapbook recipe book
page and placing the shopping lists separately in the back or at the
end of each section.
Note: While using recipe cards is great so that you can remove them
and take them right along to the market... my personal experience has
shown that cards get lost from time to time. They also add bulk to
what is already a bulky cookbook scrapbook. I've found that having the
list printed at the bottom of each page makes it easy to copy down
when needed and much easier to combine common ingredients for multiple
dishes.
Another family recipe scrapbook tip is to create a bit of history with
your recipes. If adding recipe's handed down for generations or from a
family member that is no longer living, you may want to have the
photo's on the left, the recipe on the right page, and a bit more of
history information on the author on a 3rd page with even more
photographs. Most scrapbooks are very expandable, especially the
digital scrapbooks, so there is room for many pages in one album.
If needed, break the family recipe scrapbook into volumes by food type
or sides of the family tree.
Almost all cookbooks have a measurement chart and conversion table in
them, so when making a recipe scrapbook album, it's a good idea to add
this information to either the back or the front index.
Besides family reunions, recipe scrapbook albums are the perfect gift
for a new bride, especially if the recipe's comes from her husband's
side of the family with his favorite dishes he grew up with.
Whether the family recipe scrapbook is for you, for your family or for
a new bride strugling to cook for her new husband. The one ingredient
that will make it worth it's weight in gold are the memories you
safely record inside.

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