The Family Cookbook Project

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  • October 2008 Family Cookbook Newsletter

    October 2008 Family Cookbook Newsletter

    It’s October!  Remember to add fun
    tricks and treats to your cookbook.

    Believe it or not, the holiday season is almost upon
    us. Since family cookbooks make a wonderful gift, it’s no wonder why that is by
    far our busiest time of the year.

    Get started today at FamilyCookbookProject.com!

    Tips for Making a Holiday Deadline

    In
    order to make sure you receive your cookbooks in time for sharing with your
    friends and family for the holidays, here are some tips from Family Cookbook
    Project.

    Use the Reminder Tool to email contributors to enter in their best
    recipes so they can look forward to cookbook for the holidays.

    Set a deadline so everyone knows when their recipes must be submitted by
    – and make sure you leave a few days for those contributors that will want to
    add a recipe or two after the deadline!

    You do not have to wait until your recipe collection is completed to start
    working with the Publishing Tool. Pick a cover from our professionally
    designed assortment or design your own. Select your layout type face and
    dividers – just remember to click the save button and the system will remember
    your selection.

    Don’t wait until the last minute. While our digital printing allows for
    some of the fastest turn-a-round times in the industry, printing is done on a
    first come first served basis. We are expecting and are prepared for a lot of
    editors to have their cookbooks printed in October and November. You don’t want
    to be the last in line – so place your order early!

    Right now is the perfect time to get everyone
    involved – and print your book for the holidays!

    Time to Reorder?

    Need extra cookbooks for holiday gift giving? Our printer is offering 10%
    savings on reorder from now until October 15th – so if you were planning to
    print more copies of that fabulous cookbook you created, now is the time to
    place that order!

    To take advantage of this offer, simply place your print order and email
    help@familycookbookproject.com with your order number and that it is a reprint.

    Coming Soon to Family Cookbook Project

    We are really excited here at Family Cookbook Project. Our site continues to
    help families, schools and churches bring people together to create wonderful
    cookbooks to share and treasure for years to come. To date we have editors have
    created more than 7,000 cookbooks with more than 29,000 contributors and nearly
    175,000 recipes!

    In the next few months, we will be launching several new programs to help you
    make your personal cookbook even more valuable to you. Stay tuned for more
    exciting things from FamilyCookbookProject.com.

     

    Featured recipe from the database

    The Great Family Cookbook Project has a huge
    amount of 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
    Halloween party:

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

    Halloween Party
    Punch Recipe

     

    Contributor:

    		 Micki Clark

    Category:

    		 Appetizers &
    Beverages

    Ingredients:

    		 1 3oz. pkg orange
    gelatin

    2 c. boiling water

    1 6oz can orange juice concentrate

    1 46 oz. can unsweetened pineapple juice

    1 qrt. ginger ale

    Directions:

    		 Dissolve gelatin in
    boiling water.

    Mix orange juice with three cans of water and
    add to gelatin mixture.

    Add pineapple juice and chill.

    Add ginger ale just before serving. Makes 30 1/2
    cup servings

     

    Ways to Simplify The Holidays

    (NewsUSA) – Putting together the perfect celebration can feel like a
    chore, but there’s no reason that you can’t hold your holiday party and
    enjoy it, too.

    Here are some tips for stressed-out Americans hoping to relax this
    holiday

    season:

    – Determine your priorities. With holiday invitations rushing out, RSVPs
    coming in and

    visits with relatives filling up your calendar, it’s easy to become
    overwhelmed. If thoughts of caroling, baking, partying, shopping,
    volunteering, wrapping and traveling incite migraines, you might want to
    cut back on activities. Picking one or two events or traditions that you
    thoroughly enjoy will free up your schedule and let you enjoy the
    celebrations.

    – Stop stressing about the holiday dinner. Getting together for the
    holidays is

    about the company, not five-star food. Plan your dinner ahead of time.
    Reduce the number of side dishes -; two vegetable dishes and some rolls
    will perfectly accompany your main dish.

    – If cooking’s really going to stress you out, why not avoid preparing
    the holiday meal altogether? Catering your holiday meal means all of the
    satisfaction but none of the stress. Omaha Steaks (www.omahasteaks.com),
    for example, offers complete meal packages, including steaks, seafood,
    appetizers and desserts. The entrees come with gourmet sides, like
    potatoes au gratin, pepper jack risotto cakes and asparagus with
    hollandaise sauce, so you can enjoy an elegant holiday meal without
    slaving away in the kitchen.

    – Plan your holiday shopping. No matter how early you start shopping,
    you always wind up scrambling for a last-minute gift. But finding that
    perfect something doesn’t have to mean pushing through lines or credit
    card debt. Make yourself a cup of cocoa, then sit down at a computer.
    Shopping online can prove fast, easy and simple. You can have packages
    gift-wrapped and shipped directly to their recipients. Shopping online
    can also help you avoid state taxes, helping ease your wallet’s holiday
    burden.

     

    Editors Ideas – how to keep your contributors
    motivated

    The holidays are here. 
    Remember, it may take a full 3 weeks to get your cookbooks at this time of year
    – so start today!  When you do
    get together in the coming weeks, 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!

  • August 2008 Newsletter: It’s August – the Dog Days of Summer!

    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

  • July 2008 Newsletter: Happy Independence Day, U.S.A.!

    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!

  • Family Cookbook Project Surpasses 100,000 Searchable Recipes!

    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.

  • There Are Pitfalls To Sharing Aunt Betty’s Secret Spaghetti Sauce With The Digital World

    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.

  • Grandmother’s Cookbook

    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.

  • Parade Magazine Tips for Family Cookbooks

    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.

  • The Top 3 Family Cookbook Mistakes

    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!

  • Try a New Way to Cook Your Turkey This Holiday

    (NewsUSA) – Nearly 70 million turkeys are consumed throughout the country during the winter holiday season, estimates the National Turkey Federation. Given the leading role that turkey plays in holiday meals each year, home cooks are always looking for new ways to spice up their turkey preparation to impress their holiday guests, while still having time to enjoy family festivities. Originating in the southern states, but quickly spreading across the country, is the trend toward making quick and tasty holiday meals by deep-frying holiday birds in peanut oil.

    Fried turkey is a Cajun tradition that has increased in popularity because of its rich, juicy flavor. A deep-fried turkey has a golden brown, crispy exterior, while the interior remains juicy and tender. The natural juices are sealed in without leaving a greasy or oily aftertaste. Frying your turkey also takes less time, about an hour, so you’ll have more time to spend with your friends and family outside of the kitchen.

    “Frying your turkey is a wonderful way to spice up your traditional turkey dinner and create a delicious meal for family and friends without devoting hours to preparation,” said John McLemore, president of Masterbuilt and a turkey-frying expert.

    His secret is frying with pure peanut oil, which he uses with his favorite recipe and top-quality Masterbuilt Electric Turkey Fryer. Crisco® Pure Peanut Oil contains zero grams of trans fat per serving and is a cholesterol and sodium-free food. In addition to fried turkey, use Crisco Pure Peanut Oil to make great side dishes like French fries, tempura vegetables and even peach pie.

    The makers of Crisco Pure Peanut Oil created this Succulent Deep-Fried Turkey recipe for you to try this holiday season.

    Succulent Deep-Fried Turkey

    1 10-12 pound turkey, completely thawed
    3 gallons Crisco® Pure Peanut
    Oil for frying

    Rub
    Crisco® No-Stick Cooking Spray
    1 tablespoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    Spice Injection Mixture
    1/2 cup chicken broth
    1/2 cup butter
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    1 tablespoon onion powder
    1 tablespoon garlic powder
    1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
    Several dashes hot pepper sauce
    2 teaspoons salt
    1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

    Pat turkey dry with paper towels; coat completely with no-stick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine rub ingredients; rub over turkey.

    In a small saucepan, combine spice injection mixture ingredients; cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Let cool to barely warm. With a spice injector, inject the mixture into several spots on both sides of the turkey breast and thighs, making sure not to inject too much into any one spot. Tie the turkey legs together. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Pour peanut oil into deep fryer; heat to 375º F. Fry according to fryer manufacturer’s directions. ©/® The J.M. Smucker Company.

    For more recipe ideas, visit www.crisco.com

  • Holiday Deadline for Family Cookbooks

    The holidays are almost upon us and we would like to remind all of our Family Cookbook Project editors that if they are planning to give their family cookbook as gifts this year, they need to have their cookbooks finalized and order submitted and paid by Monday, December 3rd.