Everyone has their favorite meal, those tasty dishes that always hit the spot and are regular picks for sharing with the family. And every family is different, each with tons of unique recipes and twists on classics that have been perfected and tweaked over time. The only problem is that no matter how cherished those recipes are, most of them are usually kept on crumpled pieces of paper or in grease-stained notebooks, which could easily be lost or damaged to such a point that the instructions might even become illegible.
Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be that way, as all it takes is to create a family recipe photo book to eternalize those dishes – and to help others recreate the meals that you love the most.
Preserving the family’s best recipes for many generations to come is not the only thing a recipe book is good for; in fact, the assembly of such book is the perfect occasion for kickstarting a family project. Whether it’s jotting down the recipes, arranging them in a logical order, choosing the book’s design and physical attributes, or picking the best photos to illustrate the featured dishes in a mouthwatering way, having a project that everybody – from elders to youngsters – can contribute to in their own way will really bring the family together. And the word ‘contribution’ can be taken quite literally here; many photo printing services provide the option for shared photo folders, while other photo book builders allow users to invite others into an ongoing project to create a convenient way for all participating family members to edit the future recipe book in real time from the comfort of their respective homes.
Even though a family recipe book doesn’t have to be a replica of a professional cookbook, there are certain things to take into consideration when intending to compile a collection of the family’s favorite dishes.
While a cookbook might be full of astonishing photos, they should still maintain functionality above all meaning that they always put the recipes in focus. For this reason – and for legibility’s sake – consider picking a simpler design or a style that was intended for being used with recipe books to begin with. Of course the book can always be customized to your liking with additional elements like text, embellishments, or extra photos.
While there is the option to categorize recipes the traditional way – from appetizers and soups through to main courses and desserts – but with custom cookbooks you have the freedom to arrange dishes however you like, perhaps into chapters based on personal preference or categorized by each family member and their favorite dishes. The same liberty goes when it comes to arranging things on each page, too, with the choice of either the traditional format of having odd pages for illustrations and even pages for recipes or mixing things up by also featuring a corresponding story with each recipe or dedicating two-page spreads to additional photos. The choice is entirely up to you and your family.
There are two approaches when it comes to photos in a recipe book, too. The traditional manner opts for a single picture of the prepared meal or a set of photos depicting the most important steps of how the dish is made. However, since this is a family-created recipe book, the second option – a more lighthearted approach – is likely the best choice. In fact, featuring the completed recipe alongside the proud chef or a montage of younger family members helping to cook the dish is certain to put a smile on the face of anyone exploring them again.
A family recipe book is a perfect gift for any occasion and it’s likely to be used quite frequently. So even though there are no limitations when it comes to the book’s physical attributes, it’s better to design something to be durable and easily reproduced.
Soft covers, for instance, can be customized in any way you like but they are also durable enough to keep the book’s content safe for years to come. As for reproducibility, there are two things to remember: photo book projects are never deleted from your personal account, meaning that it’s possible to revisit and reorder them any time. And if that’s not enough, many photo printing services provide discounts for books ordered in bulk.
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