It is family reunion time again here in the United States and Canada. I can already taste my mother’s peach tart. I can’t tell you how many times I called my mom and said “mom, I just have to have your recipe for your homemade cake and ice cream.” It’s been a slow build-up of recipes over the years, but she gives in every time I ask for another recipe.

Many of the recipes are actually from my grandmother, who passed them on before she passed away many years ago. You know, I can still remember baking oatmeal raisin cookies with my grandmother even though it’s been almost 35 years since I last had that chance.

Now that I have an adult son and daughter, my wife and I who love to cook, we really wanted to pass the recipes to both of us as well. Many of these recipes that you grew up with and now that you have kids of your own, you are just beginning to ask for them. My wife also has a recipe book for her grandmother on her father’s side. It is too old and tattered now to use it regularly so it is time for them to restore and update it.

So many wonderful memories of the kitchen … so many more that I have lost in time.

I wish the idea of ​​a recipe album had existed when I was just a kid.

Recipe scrapbooks can be gifted to brothers, daughters, cousins, kids, or just about anyone. An 8.5×11 scrapbook works perfectly here in the US and Canada and can be printed on any standard printer. They’re large enough to hold a 3×5 index card, a couple of photos, and any diary memories you create. You can also use an 8×8 scrapbook and bind the recipes in a square format.

I think it is a great combination to combine your photos and recipes. Digital scrapbook templates are perfect for this. For example, combine a group family photo from your reunion at the beginning of the album with a signature page of everyone in the photo. This is a great way to start the album before the index page. If you have ordered prescriptions from all family members who attended, please post a photo of the recipe sender on that recipe page with the recipe on the opposite page. I like to put a photo and lined journal page for keepsakes on the left with the recipe, instructions, and photo of the finished item or cooking fun on the right.

Here’s another great tip I got from my wife’s sister … help your reader by having a shopping list at the bottom of each recipe or on the back of any recipe cards you use. You may also consider putting the actual recipe on a recipe book page of a scrapbook and placing the shopping lists separately at the back or end of each section.

Note: While using recipe cards is great so you can remove them and bring them straight to market … my personal experience has shown that the cards get lost from time to time. They also add volume to what is already a voluminous cookbook scrapbook. I found that having the list printed at the bottom of each page makes it easy to copy when needed and much easier to combine common ingredients for various dishes.

Another tip from the family recipe scrapbook is to create a little history with your recipes. If you are adding a recipe inherited from generations or from a family member who is no longer living, you may want to have the photos on the left, the recipe on the right page, and a bit more historical information about the author on a third page. . with even more pictures. Most scrapbooks are very expandable, especially digital scrapbooks, so there is room for many pages in one album.

If necessary, divide the family recipe scrapbook into volumes by food type or by sides of the family tree.

Almost all cookbooks have a measurement chart and a conversion chart, so when making a recipe scrapbook, it’s a good idea to add this information to the previous or next index.

In addition to family gatherings, recipe scrapbooks are the perfect gift for a new girlfriend, especially if the recipe comes from her husband’s side of the family with his favorite dishes he grew up with.

Whether the family recipe scrapbook is for you, your family, or a new girlfriend struggling to cook for her new husband. The only ingredient that will make it worth its weight in gold is the memories that you keep safely inside.