The Family Cookbook Project

Year: 2023

  • One Month Until Christmas Printing Deadline

    One Month Until Christmas Printing Deadline

    This is just a reminder that if you are planning on having your cookbook printed in time for holiday gift giving, you have just 4 weeks left until the Christmas Print Deadline of November 30th.

    If you place your paid order by Wednesday, November 30th, you will receive your printed cookbooks before December 24th.

    This is by far the busiest time of the year for us because a personalized cookbook makes such a wonderful thoughtful gift for family and friends. There is still time to complete your cookbook, but you need to get moving.

    Orders are processed on a first come, first served basis, so don’t wait until the last minute. Get your print orders in as soon as possible and receive your cookbooks even sooner!

  • Getting Your Cookbook Ready To Print

    Getting Your Cookbook Ready To Print

    So you’ve collected your recipes, entered them in the cookbook, written your introduction and made all of you are design selections. Now you’re ready to print your cookbook.

    Here are the steps you need to take to get your custom cookbook ready to be printed.

    Lock Your Cookbook

    The first step in getting ready to publish a cookbook is to go to the publishing center in your editors account and lock your cookbook. There are three levels of luck in your cookbook:

    • Level one locks contributors for new recipes.
    • Level two stops all changes by contributors. – Once you start editing, you don’t want people adding new recipes or changing things that you’ve already edited. Checking this box prevents this.
    • Level three locks the cookbook completely and now you’re ready to submit to print.

    Once you locked your cookbook from contributor changes (Level two), now is the time to read everything and check for typos.

    Proofread your introduction

    Print out your narrative and give it to someone else to read. Often it is difficult to proofread your own work and allowing someone else to do it will find things that you would mess.

    Review all of the recipes

    Look for ingredients that are listed but not included in the directions or ingredients in the directions that are not included in the ingredients list.

    Make sure the directions seem complete.

    Check the layout

    Go to the box that says preview your cookbook in the black navigation bar in your editors account. Here you can either download a PDF of your cookbook or use our 3-D preview tool.

    Here you are checking for how pages break. If you find a page with only a word or two, maybe you can shorten version directions to make that recipe just a little shorter.

    The changes you make here will determine how your cookbook will be printed. However it looks in your final PDF preview, is how it will look when your cookbook is printed.

    Place your order

    Now that your cookbook looks exactly the way you want it, it’s time to order.

    On the ordering page you’ll see the number of recipes you’ve entered, and the number of pages in your cookbook. This is what will determine the cost of your cookbook along with the number of color photos.

    Remember that the more copies of your cookbook you are order, the less the price per book will be. This is because the set up charges are spread out over more copies of the cookbook.

    Once you’ve calculated your price, you need to enter your shipping address and click submit. This places your order with our publishing system. You then will be directed to a link that will allow you to pay online or you can send a check drawn on a US bank for payment.

    One frequent question is can cookbooks be sent to more than one address. Currently you would need to place an order for each delivery address.

    Once you’ve placed your order you can expect your cookbooks to arrive in 2 to 3 weeks. However during our busiest times of the year, it could take longer. if you want your cookbooks in time for Christmas, the deadline for ordering is November 30, however do not wait until the last minute if you can.

     

     

    Bill Rice is founder and Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories through customized printed cookbooks filled with treasured recipes. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!

     

  • Help Us With A Review Of Family Cookbook Project

    Help Us With A Review Of Family Cookbook Project

    In the online world, customer reviews are one of the most powerful tools to help people who do not have experience with a product to find out if it might be right for them. Positive reviews can really make a difference in attracting new customer to Family Cookbook Project and we need your help.

    Would you kindly take a moment of your time and leave a positive review for us on the rating services below. This will help us attract new users to our site and allow us to continue to offer expanded services and programing to our existing customers.

     

    Thank you for your support.

     

    Bill Rice and Chip Lowell

    Publishers, Family Cookbook Project

  • How to Use Scanned Recipes in Your Family Cookbook

    How to Use Scanned Recipes in Your Family Cookbook

    Many computer Printers also include a scanner that can be used for recipes

    Many of us have old recipe boxes that contain many many recipes that are written in the handwriting of someone from the past that we would like to preserve and include it our cookbook. 

    At FamilyCookbookProject.com, you can scan a recipe, personal letter or other family treasure and include it in your cookbook very easily. Here’s how: First you need to scan the recipe card or find someone who can do this for you. Many people have home scanners that are very easy to use – or know someone who has one. 

    When scanning, make sure the scanner saves the image as a JPEG file (check the settings). If it saves it as a PDF, you will need to open the PDF and “save as” a JPEG. Another setting you need to check is the image quality. Usually 150 to 300 DPI (Dots per Inch) is high enough for including in your cookbook. 

    Scanning actually creates a photo image of your recipe card that we can import into your cookbook software. Now your scanned image can be simply placed into your cookbook as you would any other photo.  

    Collections of Scanned Recipes 

    Sometimes family cookbook editors was their entire cookbooks to be a collection of scanned recipes. While not impossible, this can be a lot of work for the editor. 

    The problem with scanned recipes is that the cookbook software system can not read the text in the image to create titles and indexes and other parts of the cookbook. The computer just sees them as photos. 

     So you have two options: 

    You can include the scanned images as photos attached to recipes that you have typed into the system. This way the original item is included above the typed version. I don’t know about you, but my mother’s cursive writing is not always the most easy thing to read (sorry mom) and recipe cards are often smudged with food from meals passed and not always easy to read. 

    The other option is to enter just the title of the recipe and it’s category and leave the rest of the fields on the “add a recipe” form blank. This will give you the title of the recipe and allow an index to be created. Next upload the scanned image of the recipe and save. This way, the image of your recipe will be the recipe itself.

     

    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!

  • Family Cookbook Project Wins Best Cooking and Recipe WebAward From The Web Marketing Association

    Family Cookbook Project Wins Best Cooking and Recipe WebAward From The Web Marketing Association

    The Family Cookbook Project (http://www.familycookbookproject.com) has been named the Best Publishing Website in the Web Marketing Association’s 27th annual WebAward Competition for Website development.  The Family Cookbook Project creates personalized cookbooks for individuals, families, church groups and schools. This is the fifth year that Family Cookbook Project has been recognized for their website excellence.

    “The Family Cookbook Project is a website dedicated to helping families collect and preserve cherished recipes into a printed cookbook that can be passed down from one generation to the next,” says Chip Lowell, Co-Publisher and Technical Director of the Family Cookbook Project.  “We are proud that our efforts have been recognized by the Web Marketing Association with this WebAward.  We will continue to develop our site to help families, schools and church groups create both online and printed cookbooks that become treasured heirlooms.”

    The Family Cookbook Project Website was started as a project in 2003 to help one family collect and organize a family cookbook. Overwhelming feedback from those who used the website led to its continued development and public launch.  Currently, more than 104,000 families and groups have started family cookbooks using the website and contributors have entered more than 2.69 million individual recipes.

    “Personalized cookbooks have been around since the 1950s, however the process of collecting and organizing recipes has always been a labor-intensive project for the cookbook editor,” says Lowell. “Now it’s easy and cost effective to have your very own cookbook printed.  The Family Cookbook Project website provides step by step instructions and tools to help cookbook editors invite others to participate and allow them to enter their favorite recipes directly into the online system.  The editor then simply reviews and edits the recipes, selects printing options, and sends the cookbook to be printed.  The finished printed cookbooks are then received by the editor in only a few weeks”.

    The Family Cookbook Project Website previously been recognized as the Best Publishing Website (2021, 2020 and 2016) and Best Family Website (2021, 2018). The Family Cookbook Project Blog was also was recognized in 2023 a Blog Standard of Excellence WebAward.

    More than 2,000 sites from 45 countries were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during the WebAward competition. Entries were judged on design, copy writing, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, and use of technology.  The competition was judged by a team of independent Internet professionals representing a variety of relevant disciplines of Web site development. Judges included members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, creative directors, corporate marketing executives, content providers and webmasters.

    About the Web Marketing Association

    Since 1997, the annual WebAward Competition is conducted by the Web Marketing Association, an independent organization founded with the purpose of evaluating and recognizing the standard of excellence on the World Wide Web. Award programs run by the Web Marketing Association include the WebAward Competition for Website Development, the Internet Advertising Competition and the MobileWebAwards.

    About the Family Cookbook Project

    The Family Cookbook Project is dedicated to helping individuals and families collect and preserve the time-honored recipes that are so important to our family traditions. The website at http://www.familycookbookproject.com provides step-by-step instructions and online tools to create a valuable family heirloom.  Personalized cookbooks are also used by schools and church groups as important fundraisers. Groups looking to create cookbooks for fundraising efforts, can also check out http://www.cookbookfundraiser.com.

  • How to Make a Cocktail In 9 Easy Steps

    How to Make a Cocktail In 9 Easy Steps

    Whether you make your own cocktails at home or order them at a bar, the most basic definition of a cocktail is an alcoholic beverage that has been doctored. Cocktails consist of the spirit, the balancing agents like sugar or citrus juice, the modifiers, and water, regardless of how they are ‘doctored.’ Combined in the right proportions, these elements make a balanced, flavorful drink.

    Here are 9 easy to follow steps in making a cocktail:

    1. Read the cocktail recipe careful, making sure you’re familiar with the techniques & have all necessary ingredients, including ice.
    2. Select a suitable cocktail serving glass (ideally pre-chilled)
    3. Prepare the garnish for your cocktail
    4. Carefully measure & poor ingredients into your mixing glass or cocktail shaker
    5. Add ice to the mixing glass or cocktail shaker
    6. Mix the ingredients (build, stir, shake etc.)
    7. Poor (or strain) the mixed ingredients into the cocktail serving glass (with ice if necessary)
    8. Add the garnish to the serving glass to complete your cocktail

    The final step is of course to serve & enjoy!

     

     

  • Scary and Fun Halloween Recipes From Family Cookbook Project

    Scary and Fun Halloween Recipes From Family Cookbook Project

    Our Family Cookbook Editors have contributed more than 2.5 million recipes since FamilyCookbookProject.com started in 2004.  Most recipes are every day tried and true recipes that the family grew up with for generations. Some are specialty holiday recipes that only were made once a year.

    Here is an assortment of Halloween recipes for your to try with your family this October 31st. Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect, preserve and share food memories by creating their own printed personal cookbooks. He is the author of The Wellfleet Oyster Cookbook (Available on Amazon) and the Cape Cod Cocktail Cookbook, both created using FamilyCookbookProject.com. He is also editor of the Donovan Family Cookbook, now it’s third printing.

    Follow Family Cookbook Project on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!

     

  • How Profitable is a Cookbook Fundraiser?

    How Profitable is a Cookbook Fundraiser?

    One of the hardest things about creating a cookbook fundraiser is planning for how big your cookbook needs to be to generate the profit you wish to raise. Our Cookbook Fundraiser Profit Calculator at CookbookFundraiser.com lets you change variables to help you determine the scope of your project.

    Cookbook Fundraiser Profit Calculator

    Click on the Green bars and enter the details for your Cookbook Fundraising project and see how much potential profit your fundraiser. Click the link above and give it a try.  

     

     

    Bill Rice is the Co-Publisher at Family Cookbook Project and CookbookFundraiser.com which helps individuals, churches, schools, teams and other fundraising groups create cherished personalized cookbooks using the power of the Internet to meet funding needs. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!

     

  • Dying to Get Your Recipe Remembered

    Dying to Get Your Recipe Remembered

    Source: New York Times

    Some people will do anything to make sure their recipes are not forgotten when they pass on.

    The New York Times recently posted and article by Christina Morales that they say you can’t take it with you, but recipes do disappear when loved ones die. Some families have found a novel way to record them for posterity. The article is entitled Family Recipes Etched in Stone. Gravestone, That Is. and highlights several families that have had special recipes carved in stone so they are not forgotten.

    In cemeteries from Alaska to Israel, families have memorialized their loved ones with the deceased’s most cherished recipes carved in stone. These dishes — mostly desserts — give relatives a way to remember the sweet times and, they hope, bring some joy to visitors who discover them among the more traditional monuments.

    Our course, we at Family Cookbook Project, know there is a much easier way to preserve special recipes for future generations and create a lasting tribute to a someone who was a great cook – preserve their recipes in a printed family cookbook that can be shared and cherished.

    FamilyCookbookProject.com is an online publishing platform that makes it easy to create a printed personal cookbook filled with your own photos and recipes. Our program has helped thousands of individuals organize recipes by providing professionally designed covers and recipe layouts, automatically created table of contents and index of recipes for beautiful printed cookbooks.

    Creating a family cookbook is easy and makes a great gift. To find out how easy, create a free personal account at Family Cookbook Project.

     

    Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories by creating their own printed personal cookbooks. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!

     

  • How To Make A Bridal Shower Cookbook

    How To Make A Bridal Shower Cookbook

    Here is a great idea next you need to plan a bridal shower for a friend or family member – a bridal cookbook!

    One thing every new bride to be needs is great recipes to feed her family. Both families as well as friends can help get this started by contributing recipes as part of a bridal shower!

    Here’s how to do it:

    When you send out your bridal shower invitations, include a link to your Family Cookbook Project cookbook, use the Invitation Tool and add everyone’s email. This will send everyone a link that will allow them to contribute their recipes. Set a deadline for entering recipes about three weeks from when the invitations are sent. Remember people will also wait until the deadline!

    Get both of the mother’s to contribute the most recipes if possible. This way both the bride and groom with have lots of recipes that they grew up with in their cookbook. Using Family Cookbook Project’s Custom Categories Tool, you can even create a special category for each mom’s recipes.

    As the recipes are being entered, start planning how the cookbook will look.

    Cover – Family Cookbook Project offers several cookbook covers specifically for bridal cookbooks or wedding cookbooks. You also can create a custom cover with the name of the cookbook and a photo of the couple.

    Write an introduction – The best bridal cookbooks will have an introduction written by the individuals giving the bridal shower. An introduction can be used wish the couple well wishes and to talk about the importance of family.

    Add Photos – Photos can help bring your cookbook to life. You can add photos of the lucky couple on top of recipes, or create custom pages to highlight photos of the bride and groom as they were growing up and while they were dating.

    Finally, it is time to print your cookbook. Make sure you give yourself enough time to order your cookbooks and have them printed, at least 3-4 weeks if possible. Be sure to order enough copies for each attendee as well as several extra copies for family members that can not attend the event.

    For the event, make some of the dishes from bridal cookbook and serve them at the event. Include a place card with the dish name and include the page number from the cookbook. Finally, if you are looking for a great wedding favor, try creating a Wedding Cookbook for your family and friends!

     

    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!