Our most popular blog post series is an epic resource on how to make your own family cookbooks. We touch on everything from turning your recipe cards digital, food photography tips and how to include family photos in your family cookbook project. We knew families would love this content, but the proof is in the dozens of recipe books that our readers have since asked us for.
Capture Your Quarantine Cooking Memories
From mastering the art of sourdough to digging into old recipe card boxes, sheltering in place during quarantine has meant more time in the kitchen for many of us. If you’ve added many great new recipes to your regular repertoire during the COVID-19 crisis, read on to learn how you can capture this historic moment in time to share with future generations through a cookbook.
The cookbook saga is an in-depth guide on crafting these beautiful tributes to food and family. For now, we’re releasing an easy-to-follow infographic that breaks this process down for some quick-and-dirty tips.
The DIY family cookbooks infographic will touch on each part of our full-blown series:
Click on the summaries below the infographic to review the entire previously published guides.
Family Cookbooks Part One: Organizing Family Recipe Cards
You simply can’t have a cookbook without recipes. Before BlueApron or AllRecipes.com, recipe cards were grandmothers’ go-tos for holidays and special events. That doesn’t mean they’re all worth saving, though!
Part one shows you how to make sense of a cluttered box that’s packed full of recipes. You’ll learn about the three-pile method for picking the best dishes, and smart ways to group these cards when planning your dream cookbook. We’ll also give you tips on making your recipe cards digital so you can include the originals in your family recipe book.
Part Two: Photos, Family History and Digitizing
Stained and yellowed cards might have tasty recipes, but they’re not enough to make your family cookbooks beautiful. Follow the next step in our series to make your book more engaging and personal.
We’ll give you tips on adding family photos and other memories, like grandpa’s infamous quotes, to make the whole gang smile. Bonus points for shots from the kitchen or dinner table. You’ll need to scan most of these items, so let us walk you through the process we use to digitize photos and recipe cards before you get started.
If you’re feeling ambitious, there are tips for simple food photography and how to get the whole family involved in your personalized family cookbook.
Part Three: Designing Your Heirloom Family Recipe Book
Part three wraps up the series with resources to help you style and print the final product. We touch on the best design apps, websites and templates to give your family heirloom a polished and professional look.
Not a graphic designer? Don’t miss our notes on layout, image resolution, and what to look for in a printing service before you get copies for the whole family. The way things look on a screen doesn’t always translate well to the printed page.
