Provide exact cook times, such as, “Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.” If necessary, describe what the finished dish looks like – “The potatoes should have a crispy exterior and a creamy center.”Īfter all the recipes are compiled, create a table of contents. An 8-inch cake pan holds far less batter than a 10-inch pan, and it could overflow during baking. For instance, “preheat the oven to 350F,” or “have all ingredients at room temperature.” That also means that pans and bowls should be defined by size.

Then write the instructions in clear and logical steps, including anything that should be done in advance. Be specific about advance preparation, such as “1 pound of apples, peeled, sliced,” or “2 yellow onions, finely chopped.” Include any standard measurements, such as cups, teaspoons and ounces. Be specific about how many servings the recipe makes, and maybe include a description.Īs you write the recipes, list ingredients in the order they are used. Many family recipes have incomplete directions, such as “bake until done,” or “add a little sugar.” Ensure that directions make sense and are clear, with exact measurements. If you have time, test the recipes yourself. Or create your own illustrations if you or someone else has that talent. Or organize by primary ingredient – fruit, beef, vegetables, poultry and so on. Then assemble them into categories, such as appetizers, soups and main dishes. Many of these sites, and others like them, also will provide ideas for cover designs, and they’ll even provide printing services. Some places to investigate include /cookbooks, or, or. Just pick your design, enter all the data, add photos and have it printed. In fact, you can make professional looking cookbooks using a variety of templates from online.

Today, making a family cookbook is not so labor intensive. No longer did we have to make expensive trips to the photocopy shop. My sister Susan and I created several pen-and-ink illustrations because photos would have been impossible to reproduce.Ī few years later, my sister Mary Ann’s husband copied it all onto CDs, which made it a lot easier to share. It was only a step up from using a typewriter, and it required plenty of photocopying, three-hole punching, and loading into ring binders. It also helped us share our own personal recipes that might not have been passed around to the rest of the family.īack in the early 1980s, it was a difficult undertaking because we were working with early-model computers and daisy-wheel printers. I’ve appreciated that we’ve been able to hand these treasures down to our kids and grandkids. It helped us preserve all the great dishes we’d grown up with – Dad’s broccoli with pasta, Aunt Mel’s mid-eastern tabbouleh, our friend Angelo’s lemon cheesecake, Grandma’s juicy meatballs. Many years ago, I pulled together a cookbook of our favorite family recipes.

Photos large set of family feud