How to Make a Family Cookbook

how to make a family cookbook

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It’s no secret that some of the best pastimes come from the family recipes that your grandma passed down to your mom and then they got passed down to you. But to keep those cherished recipes from ever disappearing into the universe without your children or siblings having a chance to keep the tradition alive, it’s important to learn how to make a family cookbook to ensure these famous recipes get passed on forever. 

Have no fear, making a family cookbook can be a bit intimidating but we’re going to make it so easy peasy for you to get it done in just a weekend’s worth of work. 

It’s 2022, and learning how to make a family cookbook is easier than ever. Just follow these simple steps and you’ll have a family cookbook in no time to share with all those important in your life.

Step 1 – Gather your family recipes together

I know, I know, easier said than done right? Your recipes may be scattered all over the kitchen.

You may have mounds of recipe books you pull from, recipe cards that are from many generations of stains, or maybe even some cutouts from boxes and wrappers that had recipes on them that you adore. They are all important, so take the next couple of hours gathering all those recipes on the kitchen table. 

Step 2 – Organize your recipes by category

Now that you have your recipes all in one place on your kitchen table, it’s time to categorize them by what meal they serve. Are they desserts, dinners, lunch, snacks, drinks, holiday recipes? Whatever the category start divvying them up.

Pile them into different categories. This is a great time to write down any recipes that may be stuck in your head but haven’t made their way on paper yet. 


Step 3 – Refresh any Recipes

Refresh any family Recipes

This is the perfect excuse to make some of those recipes that have been sitting on the shelf for a few years without use.

Test and tweak them before adding the final recipe to the book. This is also a great time to add little notes to recipes if there are variations that your family can try to the recipe to add variety to the original.

Step 4 – Upload to an Online Family Cookbook Software

Whether you’re a computer wiz, or prefer to keep technology at an arms-length – we recommend taking the time to upload each recipe into a family cookbook software like Morsel to ensure the recipes never get lost for years to come. 

family cookbook software

The nice thing about family recipe cookbook software is that we use secure cloud storage to host your recipes. This means that you’re not reliant on a physical cookbook or even your computer’s hard drive to last beyond its years.

The added benefit is once you upload all of your recipes, not only do you have a safe backup of them but with cookbook software like ours, you are able to easily order beautiful family cookbook designs or recipe cards directly from the work you already did. Now that’s efficiency!

Try our 14-day free trial and start uploading your family recipes!

 

Step 5 – Pick a Family Cookbook style

There are three main categories of cookbooks you can go with. 

Hardcover Family Cookbook

Likely the priciest option for designing a family cookbook, a hardcover cookbook is going to make a statement as the perfect gift for your closest relatives and significant others. The hardcover makes it a nice statement piece in the kitchen and is a high-quality option for making a family cookbook.

The downside here is the lack of versatility. Once it is printed, there is no adding to or subtracting pages from the book. This is useful if you see your family growing and wanting to continue to evolve your cookbook. The alternative here is you can always make a second and third edition later on. 

Softcover / Spiral-bound Family Cookbook

Softcover or spiral-bound family cookbooks are some of the more popular styles of cookbooks made. They are affordable, easy to make, and yes you still have the opportunity to add additional recipes over time to the book. 

If you’re on a budget or printing a lot of cookbooks this is certainly the perfect option for you. You can get these done quick and cheap and sometimes that’s what you need.

Family Cookbook Recipe Card Box

My personal favorite family recipe cookbook-style is the recipe card box. Whether you decide to purchase one of our beautiful recipe card box options or decide to go out and search for your own in various department stores, this option is delightful. 

It’s the perfect option for making a family cookbook because you have the opportunity to find a stylish recipe card box and you get the versatility for those you are gifting to add their own recipes to the box as well. A recipe card box can house hundreds of recipe cards so it will be the gift that keeps on giving. 

The tip here is to spend time finding the perfect recipe card design to reflect your family’s style. We have some fun options to choose from once you upload your recipes on Morsel.  

Step 6 – Share your family recipe cookbook with your family!

This is the moment you have been waiting for for years. Give your family the gift of a cookbook for the holidays, birthdays, or just because. You won’t believe how happy they will be to finally have a centralized place to go and find the recipes they loved while growing up. 

As an added bonus, this is the perfect time to invite your family to your Morsel family recipe group you made when uploading your cookbook. Just simply input their email addresses and they will get invited to your family. Once they’re in they can access things that you won’t be able to have in your physical cookbooks like audio stories you’ve shared for recipes and an area where they can comment, upload photos, and share when they are trying certain recipes of yours. 

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That’s it, you did it! Depending on how many recipes you have and how many people you need to get involved in the process this should take you just a weekend to learn how to make a family cookbook of your own. Don’t let it be a stressful process and instead enjoy the journey of documenting and preserving the most important history of your family – the food!