One of the most important reasons for starting a family cookbook project is to preserve the family food traditions for future generations.

This about it. Growing up, was there a special dish you grandma use to make when the family got together? Did an aunt who lived in a different part of the country serve different interesting food when you visited?

Have you tried to make that dish, but it never quite seems the same? Don’t you wish you had her recipe (not that she wrote anything down!).

This is why FamilyCookbookProject.com was created. To help families come together and share stories, member loved ones past, and eat great food!

Another way we can help preserve our family traditions is to learn more about are ancestors and family members that can before us. Knowing more about the people in our family helps us to better understand our family history and why certain food traditions started.

For many, many years, I have learned about my family tree with the help of ancestry.com. I have found many long lost cousins and we are working on a family reunion later this year. I have really enjoyed searching for and meeting relatives that I have lost touch with.

Here is a way for you to start looking up your family members using free records available on Ancestry.com. Of course if you pay a small fee, you will get access to hundreds of thousands of records that will greatly help your search.

However it is free to get started. Just enter a family member’s name and location below to get started:

Preserving our family food traditions is only one way we save our family history for our children and our grandchildren.

Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!