The Family Cookbook Project

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  • Thoughts From Our Family Cookbook Editors

    A few months ago, we asked our Family Cookbook Editors what they thought about our website, our software, our customer service and our cookbooks. 

    Here are some of the comments they wanted to share:


    “A few years ago, my family printed A Peek into the Parsons Pantry.  It has been my main source of recipes ever since!  I have loved it.  I love being able to put personal notes on each recipe.  I love that the index can be alphabetical by recipe title or by contributor, or it is also organized by category.  Such a great cookbook, and I love that everyone just enters their own recipes.  So easy!”
    Heather Byrd

    A Second Peek into the Parsons Pantry
    “I received this project as a gift from my son and have enjoyed sorting through the recipes to include specific items which the family will enjoy.”
    Caroline Smith

    The Smith Family Cookbook Project


    “I was thrilled once I entered this website to see how user friendly it was.  It had been a while since I had taken on such a big project and I was unsure of being able to tackle thinking the site would be foreign.  BUT it was not at all,  It has tutorials for help and customer service is extremely fast at helping you.  I love that you enter the ingredients and method are entered separate.  You can include your own pictures is what I did and it turned out beautiful  The cookbook has rounded edges which to me was just a wonderful added touch!!  The website said 3 -4 weeks for printed delivery and we had our books in 8 DAYS!!  I am from Canada and I am just thrilled with this website and would encourage anyone who may be thinking doing a cookbook to definitely choose this site.” 
    Karen Melnyk

    Sing from Heart.  Recipes with love, from Ruth.

     

    “It was much easier to get started than I thought it would be.  And much easier to get others interested in contributing.”
    Adrienne Castle

    Foothills’ Friends’ Favorites

    “I always wanted to put our family recipes in a cookbook and have tried several formats.  This was without a doubt the easiest way for us to get together with our thoughts and ideas.  The fact that we made it a story book as well put charm in the book that had friends and family smile and cry.”
    Charlotte  Ragsdale

    Ragsdale Family Cookbook
    “I love the Family Cookbook Project, what a great way to take those recipes from our friends and family and put them all in one place. I know as my Nana gets older lots of the Sunday dinner specials will become an old piece of paper that you can’t read, so I take those and save the memories for ever with Family Cookbook project! Thank you!”
    Amanda McGovern

    Cookies Recipes and Cookbook
    “I am very satisfied with this site. It’s fun and easy to use and we will be using it again!”
    Chantal  Lavigne
    Leevee De Fonds/Fundraiser CIBC Sutton

    “I used family cookbook project to put all my grandmother’s recipes in a book for all the grandkids and great grandkids. I was easy to use and very understanding. I plan on doing another one but with just my recipes. Thank you the great help you offer while working on the first cookbooks.”  
    Nancy McInelly

    GRANNY AND BOPPY’S COOKBOOK


    “This was a fun project, made much easier by Family Cookbook friendly website.  We did it as a family project to have our family favorites in one place and at the same time, raising money for our two favorite charities.  I hoped to sell 50 but wound up ordering over 300 and we have none left.  Now we are getting requests for a second printing and/or another cookbook!  We loved every step of creating our cookbook thanks to Family Cookbook Project!”
    Cheryl Doublin DeJulius

    Four Sisters, A Legacy of Love from our Kitchens
    “A fantastic way to collect and share family history through the tradition recipes we make and serve during the holidays!”
    Judy Desroches

    Family Recipes

    “So easy to use and a great Christmas gift, I wouldn’t hesitate to use the website again. I spent about an hour a night plugging in recipes but also spent a lot of time looking over the covers and inserts that you can choose. The site makes everything so easy for you and the fact that you can preview everything to see if you like the cover, inserts, fonts, etc. rather than either having to print it or be stuck with it is great. Changes can always be made. If you give it as a gift, the looks you get after it is opened are priceless.”
    Jim

    Family Favorites Cookbook

     

  • How much does a family cookbook cost?

    One of the most frequent questions asked by people wanting to create family cookbook is “How much will it cost”.

    There are two expenses you will incur to create your own personalized family cookbook. The first is the membership fee and the second is the actual printing of the cookbooks.

    The membership fee allows Family Cookbook Project to maintain it’s servers, maintain the software, hire designers to create new covers, and cover the other costs of doing business. We have tried to keep this fee as low as possible and allow it to be paid either monthly, annually or with a lifetime membership.

    The other cost of creating your personalized cookbook is the actual printing. There are three major aspects to your cookbook that will impact the cost of printing.

    The most significant is the page count. The more pages in your cookbook, the more it will cost to print. Raw materials, such as paper and ink play a factor here.

    The second consideration the use of color. Color inks cost more than black inks and that is why if you include more color in your cookbook, especially photos, we are required to charge extra.

    The final consideration is the number of books printed. Each cookbook must be set up on the press for printing. The cost of that set-up has to be distributed to each of the cookbooks printed. That is why the price per book when you order only five cookbooks is so much more than when you order 100.


    You will find the complete pricing for the use of the site at http://www.familycookbookproject.com/price_to_print_a_family_cookbook.asp
    You will also find a way to estimate the cost of your cookbook printing at the bottom of the page, however the actual cost will be determined by the number of pages contained in your cookbook when you send it to print.
    There are also ways an editor can lower the cost of printing. Check out our blog post Lowering the Cost Of Printing Your Cookbook for some ideas.

  • New Cookbook Covers Available

    New Cookbook Covers Available


    Family Cookbook Project is pleased to announce six new cookbook cover designs are available to our cookbook editors to use on their cookbooks. 
    Blessed Food: Loaves and Fishes in a basket is a nice cover to consider for a church cookbook.
    Champagne Toast: Here’s to love! Two Champagne glasses are very festive  and perfect for a wedding cookbook or bridal cookbook.
    Family Tree Abstract 1: Family tree covers are among our most popular. Here is an abstract family tree on yellow background.
    Family Tree Abstract 2: This is the same as Family Tree Abstract 1 except the family tree is on a white background 
    Irish Dreamtime: This cover with Irish Cross with Clover was submitted by Cookbook Editor Misty Baker and we loved it so much, we asked if we can share it with other family cookbook project editors.
    Pink Ribbon March: Pink Ribbon for the cure! If you are creating a fundraising cookbook for breast cancer awareness, this might be the cover for you!

    Blessed Food
    Champagne Toast
    Family Tree Abstract
    Irish Dreamtime
    Pink Ribbon March

  • How to Create a Family Cookbook

    How to Create a Family Cookbook


    Creating a treasured family cookbook has never been easier.  The Great Family Cookbook Project was developed to make the process easy to understand and accomplish.

    Here is an overview on the simple steps required to create a personalize family cookbook.

    1)      Establish an editor – The editor is the person who is responsible for getting things started and making sure they keep moving ahead. This person is also responsible for defining the project in terms of who to invite to participate, which recipes to include and when to publish the book.  Every project needs a go getter to get things done.

      2)      Determine the size of the project and set a deadline – If you are interested in a printed cookbook, you need to set how many recipes to ask for from each person and when you want them submitted by.  We are all busy and tend to put off what we can.  By asking for a specific number of recipes by a specific date – say a month or so in the future, you can get people to act on your request.

    3)      Invite other family members to contribute recipes – While some editors like to do it themselves, getting other people involved distributes the work and provides recipes that you may not have in your recipe box. We have developed an easy to use invitation tool to get the ball rolling.  All you need is each person’s name and email address.  For people without email addresses, we provide a simple letter for you to use to contact them.

    4)      Entering the recipes  – Everyone starts entering recipes and you enter your own favorite recipes and use the special request tool to ask for favorites that you don’t have – yet!  Reminder emails will be sent automatically as the deadline draws near.  If not enough recipes have been added by the deadline you can extend the deadline.

    5)      Start using the recipes – All of the recipes are immediately available online on the family Cookbook page.  One great way to show the benefits of the Great Family Cookbook Project is to start using some of the recipes and thanking the people who entered them!

    6)      Prepare to publish – Before you can publish your family cookbook, you need to begin the publishing process by freezing the content.  Members can still enter recipes and they will be available online and in future editions, but not for this edition.  The publishing tool will help you write a dedication, select a cover and choose printing specifications for your cookbook.

    7)      Order your copies – As editor, you order the books yourself — and your folks can use our pre-order tool to allow each contributor to tell you how many they’d like.  Most cookbook publishers require you to purchase at least 100 copies of your cookbook, we only requires 5 copies to purchased.

    8)      Enjoy your new personalized family cookbook – The finished product is delivered directly to your door. Give them as gifts,share them with friends, try new family recipes, keep adding to your online collection and be proud of your accomplishment for your family.

  • Welcome to Our Cookbook Forum!

    The forum area of FamilyCookbookProject.com and CookbookFundraiser.com is for your use!  Share ideas, food, and help others with their cookbook projects.  We’ll be moving our blog here shortly, too, so all our messaging can be in just one spot.

    Enter the forums by clicking the menu up top, or click here

    One thing to note:  our forums can have folks from all over, not just current cookbook users.  So, you need to create a user account to post and comment on the forum or blog.

    Have fun!

  • Why your recipe title is the most important part of your recipe


    Grandma’s Amazing Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Your recipe title is the single most important element of your recipe. This is because your title is a headline, and the headline in any type of content has one special and powerful property.

    Think about how you read a cookbook looking for a recipe to try.  You don’t start in the front and read every page like a novel then pick the one you want. No, you scan the pages looking for a photo or recipe title that catches your eye and looks interesting!

    Of all the elements in your recipe, the title has the greatest power for grabbing your readers’ attention and the greatest responsibility for enticing them to continue and read your recipe It follows that the better your title, the higher the chance of turning a recipe scanner into a recipe reader (and ultimately a recipe user).

    For a recipe title to be effective it needs to consider several things:

    Grab Attention – Like any headline you need to grab the readers attention.

    Describe the food being prepared – “Gruel” is one of my son’s favorite dishes, however it no one outside the family knows what it is. Including the main ingredient of the dish and even how it us prepared make the title more useful. “Baked Hamburger Gravy” would be a more descriptive title for our gruel.

    Be different and unique – If you have seen the recipe title before, it does not belong on your recipe!

    Include the source – In family cookbooks, certain people are associated with certain recipes. Grandma’s Apple Pie or Lou’s Lemon Bars help the reader image exactly what dish you are referring to. It just does not help anyone who is not at family gatherings!

    Sell the sizzle as well as the steak – This means to highlight the benefit, the reason why this recipe is worth making.

    Recipe titles that address cooking and eating needs are more likely to seduce the reader into the recipe itself. A good title clearly shows the reader which of their cooking and eating needs the recipe addresses. Every readers’ need is different. For example, it could be for something indulgent or something low fat, or something quick and easy or something sophisticated and thus involved, or something refined or something rustic.

    Consider the following recipe titles: ‘Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies’, ‘Quick ‘n’ Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies’, ‘Grandma’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies’, ‘Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies’. Notice how each title addresses a different need and even appeals to different audiences. Quite simply, as the chocolate chip cookie examples show, it’s all down to the words you choose for your title.

    With a little thought and imagination, your recipe titles can stand out and make your readers give your recipes the attention they deserve.

    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!

  • A Mother’s Gift


    We owe our mothers so much. They give us life, they nurture us, feed us and teach us.

    Our mothers are also often our first teachers in the kitchen. From them we learn table manners, what a family meal is and how it brings us all together. Our lessons start when we watch and mimic what we see in the kitchen and at the dinner table. As we grow and understand, we are taught by being allowed to become a “mother’s helper” and do some of the simpler tasks of getting the family meal prepared. Later in life, we use all of the years of learning by contributing our favorite family dishes when the family gathers at holidays, taking some of the pressure off of our mothers.
    As a mom, it is important to pass those life skills on to our children so they have the same foundation in the kitchen that we learned from our parents.
    Here are some simple ideas to consider when teaching the next generation how to prepare the family meal:
    Teach measurements– Find tasks for young ones that allow them to stay in one location, but keep them busy. Give them a measuring spoon and ask them to count how many teaspoons are in a cup of flour or water. Once they fill the cup, use it in your recipe.
    Name the tools – Many of the tools of the trade in the kitchen have specific names and specific uses. Teach the names of the tool as well as their purpose in preparing the meal. That way when you ask for a wisk you don’t get a potato masher!
    Plan meals together– For most families, dinner usually includes a main dish or entre, a side dish or two providing a starch and vegetable, and if we are lucky a dessert. Discuss why certain side dishes go together and how to plan a well-balanced meal.
    Use recipes – Many mothers have made their favorite family recipes so many times, that they don’t even use a recipe any more or they never had one from their mother. Trial and error can come later, to start have a set of family recipes that can be used to provide step by step instructions to a young chef. If you don’t have them, write them down as you make a dish and start collecting them.
    A great way to help mom collect and share her family recipes is to help her create a family cookbook. The Family Cookbook Project (www.FamilyCookbookProject.com) offers a gift certificate that can printed out and included in a Mother’s Day card. This gift will help any mom create an easy online family cookbook that can then be printed and shared for generations to come.
    Mom’s can also give themselves a gift to help preserve their family food traditions. By creating a family cookbook and collecting your family recipes, you will be creating a helpful guide for future generations.

    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 Publishing Award From The Web Marketing Association

    Family Cookbook Project Wins Best Publishing Award 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 12th annual Internet Advertising Competition, which honors excellence in online advertising and to recognize the individuals and organizations responsible for the best in Internet marketing.  The Family Cookbook Project creates personalized cookbooks for individuals, families, church groups and schools. This is the six year that Family Cookbook Project has been recognized for their Website excellence.
     “We are proud that our efforts have been recognized by the Web Marketing Association with this award”, says Chip Lowell, Co-Publisher and Technical Director of the Family Cookbook Project.  “ The Great Family Cookbook Project is dedicated to helping families collect and preserve cherished recipes into a printed cookbook that can be passed down from one generation to the next. 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 52,000 families and groups have started family cookbooks using the website and contributors have entered nearly 900,000 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 by the WebAward Competition for Website Development as the Best Publishing Website in 2013 and 2011 and Best Family Website in 2005. It also was recognized in 2012 and 2009 with the Standard of Excellence WebAward. The Family Cookbook Project was also named the Best Publishing App in the Web Marketing Association’s 2013 MobileWebAward Competition.  Designed for use on the Apple iPhone or iPad or Android mobile platforms, the free app can be downloaded by clicking the links above.
    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 WebAwardCompetition 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.comprovides 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.
  • A Great Idea for your Family Reunion – Create a Family Cookbook!

    A Great Idea for your Family Reunion – Create a Family Cookbook!



    The Donovan Family Reunion

    Few gatherings are as meaningful and memorable as family reunions. As families grow and people go their own ways, family reunions serve to bring us back together. They’re a chance to recombine, share experiences and renew connections.

    One great idea to make your family reunion truly memorable is to create a family cookbook. Everyone knows the best thing about a family reunion is the food! Everyone brings their favorite dishes and shares stories and food and fun.

    There are two different schools of thought on the best way to create a family reunion cookbook. You be the judge on what is best for your family.

    Reunion Specific Cookbook

    Since reunions take a fair amount of time to plan and often center around a theme, choosing a theme centering on food can be a natural choice. Family members are asked to contribute their favorite recipes to a family cookbook that can be distributed at the event. You set a date and ask everyone to contribute the recipes for the food they will be bringing to the event. The cost of printing the cookbooks is included in the cost of the event and everyone receives one the day of the event. This is also a great way to build buzz for your event!

    Reunion Showcase Cookbook

    The other way families create family cookbooks at family reunions is to use the event to show a sample of what a family cookbooks looks like and collect email addresses used to invite contributors.  People will see your excitement and want to participate as well. Find your favorite dishes at the event and ask whoever made them to contribute the recipe to the cookbook. They will be flattered that you asked and look forward to participating.  Set a deadline that will allow you to have your family cookbooks complete so people can give them as gifts for the holidays.

    Some things to consider when creating your reunion cookbook

    During the planning process, many families are looking for a way to communicate effectively via email. Adding lots of people to the sender line of an email list can result in people being left off and not being able to contact specific people or subsets of the list. FamilyCookbookProject.com can help make this easier. Use our Reminder Email Tool and you make it easy to contact some or all of your family members.

    Don’t wait until the last minute. When planning a family reunion cookbook, the event is a fixed date and comes and goes whether your cookbook is ready or not. Now is the time to start working on a family reunion cookbook if your event is in the summer.

    Remember to invite everyone to participate, not only the great cooks! This cookbook is for all the family members so it best to invite everyone to contribute – even if it is only a recipe or two.

    Finally remember family members no longer with us by including their recipes as well. Family cookbooks help to tell the story of our families. Contributors can be not only the present, but from the past as well.

     

     

    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!

  • Tips to Keep Your Cookbook Contributors Motivated


    As with any family project, getting everyone to contribute can be a challenge, especially if they have not seen the end product beforehand.

    Here are some tips to keep your contributors motivated:

    The more the merrier – Be sure to include everyone, not just the great cooks. Everyone likes to be asked to participate and the more you invite, the more recipes you’ll likely get. To add contributors and send an email invitation, > Use the Invitation Tool

    Set a reasonable deadline – Set the submission deadline on the “Project Information Editor” page, but don’t set it too far in the future. We all tend to put off whatever we can and contributing recipes is often one of those things. A month is usually enough time to give everyone to find the recipes they want to contribute and get them entered. Two things to remember: most of the recipes will come in just in time for the deadline and second, you can always extend the deadline if you want more recipes.
    Send regular updates – Use the Reminder Tool to email some or all of your contributors on a regular basis. Remind them of the deadline and ask them to meet a specific goal, like “please add one or two recipes to each category”.
    Target the biggest recipe boxes – Every family has a handful of people who are known for their cooking (you are most likely one of them in your family!). Send a personal message to them either using the remainder tool or reaching out by telephone, Facebook or with a personal visit. People are flattered when their skills are recognized. Let them know the cookbook would not be complete without their contributions.
    Ask for specific recipes – Send a reminder to everyone asking for a specific recipe from your family’s past that will get everyone thinking of past gatherings. Include your memories of that dish or the person who created it. It might help remind everyone why putting together a family cookbook is important.
    Use social media – As you add your own recipes to your family cookbook, it is easy to post them to Facebook or pin them to Pinterest. Sharing your recipes this way shows other family members that you are contributing and shows them they should as well.
    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!