Creating a Family Cookbook Project

It's August - the Dog Days of Summer!
We hope you're doing well and keeping cool.

It's August. It's hot! But fall and the holidays are going to come quicker than you think. You still have plenty of time to get your cookbook ready for Thanksgiving get-togethers. Just remember, it will take us 2-3 weeks to print and get your cookbooks to you. So plan to finish up by the first few days of November. That's just 14 weeks away.
Right now is the perfect time to get everyone involved - and print your book for the holidays!

Featured recipe from the database
The Great Family Cookbook Project has surpassed 100,000 public recipes in the system thanks to you! If you need a fun recipe idea that's not in your own cookbook, go to our home page and use the search function to see what's available - lots of good eats!

Here is a recipe we tried recently for a fun summer party:

This recipe for Party Punch, by Shannon Gilliland, is from The Nash Family Cookbook. Search for more great recipes here from over 100,000 in our family cookbooks!

Party Punch Recipe
Contributor: Shannon Gilliland
Category: Appetizers & Beverages

Ingredients:
3 Cups Orange Juice
2 Cups Pineapple Juice
2 Cups Sugar
1 Quart Lemonade
1 Quart Water
1 Quart Ginger Ale

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and cool.

Number Of Servings: 24

What people are saying:

"Let me tell you how great this program is. I was able to scrounge together recipes that have been together in my family for 200 years or more. By publishing this cook book, A Real Southern Comfort, you helped me preserve a great piece of family history. This cook book saved a lot of what my family was made up of. In this day and time of fast foods and microwave cooking it would be easy to let all this family history slide by and be forgotten. But not now, not anymore. We have sealed up it's place for generations to come. It is written and will continue for eons to go. This is no small matter. Thank you for all you have done."
--Mike Wallace, A Real Southern Comfort

Posted by Chip Lowell at 03:53 PM

Happy Independence Day, U.S.A.!

We hope you're doing well.

Thank you for using our state-of-the-art system to help create your family heirloom. We have valued your business and hope to continue to help you with your family or group cookbook.

It's 4th of July and family reunion time! If you are planning to have your family cookbook ready for your reunion, make sure to allow 2-3 weeks for printing and delivery. If you have a tight time crunch, let us know and we'll see what we can do to help.

If you don't plan to have your cookbook ready for summer - no problem! Right now is the perfect time to get everyone involved - and print your book for Thanksgiving and the holidays!

Featured recipe from the database
The Great Family Cookbook Project has surpassed 100,000 public recipes in the system thanks to you! If you need a fun recipe idea that's not in your own cookbook, go to our home page and use the search function to see what's available - lots of good eats!

Here is a recipe we tried recently for a fun appetizer:

This recipe for July 4th Blueberry Dessert, by Donna Field, is from The Field/Miller Family Cookbook Project. Search for more great recipes here from over 100,000 in our family cookbooks!

July 4th Blueberry Dessert Recipe

Contributor: Donna Field
Category: Desserts

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 c flour
1 stick oleo
1/2 c pecans

Mixture:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
3/4 c cool whip
One can Comstock Blueberry Pie Filling

Directions:
Combine crust ingredients and press in buttered pan. Cook at 400º for 10 minutes. Cool.

Mixture: Combine softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and cool whip. (Use 1/2 for filling and 1/2 on top.) Add in can of blueberry pie filling. Mix all ingredients and fill crust. Put other half of mixture on top. Refrigerate.

Number Of Servings: 8-10
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Editors Ideas - how to keep your contributors motivated

The holidays will be here before we know it. Remember, it may take a full 3 weeks to get your cookbooks at that time of year - so start today! When you do get together in the coming months, bring a printed recipe or two from your cookbook and hand them out. Let folks know that you plan to print the book in November or December - and get all their email addresses so you can add them to your book. Have fun!

Posted by Chip Lowell at 12:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow! Cookbook contributors in the FamilyCookbookProject.com have have now added over 100,000 recipes into family and fundraising cookbooks! That is just incredible. Actually, there are over 150,000 recipes in the system, but many folks choose to mark their recipes Private. But now, the internet has one of the highest numbers of recipes in any database available for searches on our recipe search page.

Want something fun for dinner? For a holiday? For a family reunion? Find something fun today!

Don't forget, you too can create your own family cookbook, bridal shower cookbook, wedding cookbook or family reunion cookbook - quickly and easily. Start right now and have yours ready in time for your family get together this summer.

Posted by Chip Lowell at 02:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Hartford Courant newspaper ran a very interesting article on January 17, 2008 by MELISSA A. TRAINER.

The article was very interesting and I thought I would offer the opening here, but you should read the entire article at the Courant website.

Here it is:

MyRecipes.Com:
There Are Pitfalls To Sharing Aunt Betty's Secret Spaghetti Sauce With The Digital World

A recipe box jammed with handwritten treasures is about as quaint in this digital age as a pen-and-paper diary kept under lock and key.

Still, grandma's recipe box never had a server problem. And she certainly didn't risk having her favorite cookie recipe end up in someone else's cookbook.

As food websites grow in popularity and sophistication, more home cooks are taking advantage of online features that allow them to create and share digital recipe boxes. Users and administrators of these sites — among the best known are Allrecipes.com, Epicurious.com and Recipezaar.com — say they offer easy, secure, space-saving ways to store family recipes.

Online Recipes Gather Compliments

But what happens when the site's server crashes? What happens when you die and take your password with you? And what rights do you give up when you upload your family's favorite recipes?

Here's what you should know before you upload that recipe:

Click here to see the entire article.

I though this was very interesting because the Family Cookbook Project also allows contributors to mark a recipe private or public. The best think about Family Cookbook Project is that at the end of the project there is a printed and bound cookbook to use when you don't want to go online.

Posted by Bill at 05:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I came across this website from Carrie J. Gamble called Grandmother's Cookbook which I think does a wonderful job of explaining why creating a family cookbook can be a wonderful, enriching experience.

Carrie explains:

For years I have wanted to launch this website for our cookbook, Grandmother's Cookbook. There had always been one thing or another to delay its creation. Recently in an unexpected turn of events I have been given a new determination to re-introduce Grandmother's Cookbook to the world. I am inspired once again to honor my grandmother and our family for its rich and interesting history.

At the age of 96 Elizabeth Rose von Hohen started a "new beginning." In September 2005 she moved into a nursing facility. In the process of helping her move, I have rediscovered our history. Vintage family photos, love letters sent from her husband, Erwin, in the early years of their marriage, letters from brothers written far from home as they served our country in World War II . . . these are just a few things that reminded me of things we should never forget. As I helped my grandmother go through her desk, we found remnates of the past in every drawer. Most everything in her desk had a "meaning" or sentimental attachment.

One particularly poignant find was a beautful postcard. The "Happy Easter" postcard of an angel holding pussy willows actually was used as a birth announcement of sorts. It was sent by Anna and Nicholas Griffaton to Anna's family back in Germany to announce the birth of their first child, Elizabeth Rosalia Griffaton, on April 1,1909. In German Anna writes, "we have a small angel like is on this card." This loving note was written by a daughter who missed her family dearly and was never to see them again.

In the moving process I was presented with another inspiration. I found a large box of letters which we received after Country Home magazine published a feature article about our book in their February 1994 issue. Of the thousands of letters my grandmother and I have received over the years, some got very personal. This box contained 50 such letters. I sat down and re-read each and every one of them. These letters amaze me! Some told of their similar family life growing up on a farm. Others said the article brought a tear to their eyes as it reminded them of their own treasured memories. Some told the story of how they met their husbands and described their own family traditions. The Country cooking style of comfort food recipes are a staple in many American homes that families just love. What made us feel so good was that every one said after reading the article they just knew they had to have a copy of Grandmother's Cookbook!

I think Carrie's Grandmother's Cookbook reminds us that a cookbook is more that just recipes. It tells the story of a family over time and helps future generations better appreciate those who have come before them. That is why the Family Cookbook Project works so hard to help families simplify the process of creating a family cookbook to preserve such memories.

Posted by Bill at 07:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Parade Magazine has a great article in today's issue (December 9, 2007) on family cookbooks. Great tips! See your Sunday paper or read the article at Parade.com

Don't forget when you get the family together this holiday season - talk to everyone about starting a family cookbook! Family Cookbook Project has a reminder tool that can help keeping everyone in touch through out the year.

Posted by Chip Lowell at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Matilda’s Cookbook Kitchen writes about the three family cookbook mistakes to avoid.

Mistake #1. Making the One Final Perfect Family Cookbook.

Mistake #2. Making the Family Recipe Book About Recipes

Mistake #3. Bad Proof Reading.

We would add a fourth mistake - not using Family Cookbook Project to organize and print your family cookbook!

Posted by Bill at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)