Keepsake Cookbooks: From Weddings to Reunions
(ARA) - Summer is the season for weddings, family reunions, graduation
parties, garden parties and barbecues. For every such gathering, the
one thing that is always present besides family and friends is the
food. Many times, these occasions are special enough and deserve a
family recipe cookbook.
Good food guides the conversation from appetizers to dessert -- who
brought what, if it’s a new recipe or if it’s a cherished one: Aunt
Helen’s famous barbecued meatballs, grandma’s anise candy and the plum
pudding with lemon sauce -- handed down for generations.
When someone leaves the “nest” to begin their own family or graduates
from college, it’s important to pass along recipes to keep the food,
and the memories, alive. A favorite family recipe is cherished like an
old photograph. And like an old photo album, family recipes put
together into one book becomes a cherished family heirloom.
Here are a few ways to use a keepsake cookbook:
* A keepsake cookbook as a bride’s gift sends the bride into her new
life with a wealth of family recipes.
* Passing the cookbook out to wedding guests shares the family’s
“history” with everyone.
* At a family reunion, providing everyone with a copy of the cookbook
-- full of family stories, notes, photos and food -- makes the reunion
complete with something for everyone to share.
“I just wanted to put out my own cookbook with my family’s recipes so I
could always have them,” says Tina Marizetts of Peoria, Ill. “This was
a great experience for me and I really had fun putting this cookbook
together.”
How do you make a keepsake cookbook? Go to cookbooks.com and sign up
for their free kit on how to create a family heirloom cookbook. Once
you sign in, you receive the kit, including samples of covers and
bindings, a catalog with instructions, and your own recipe Web site.
Then, you enter the recipes collected from family members and your
recipes are bound with the dividers and cover of your choice.
Choose from different recipe formats, add artwork, notes, photos and
anything else you’d like for a tailored family keepsake that can be
handed down for years. Each divider page can have a different theme,
with a family tree, childhood photos, the recipe’s history, heritage
notes or a “story” about the recipe or its significance.
“It was a fun experience; my daughter helped me pick out everything --
even the dividers between recipes, how many per page and all,” says
Peggy McBride, of Nocona, Texas. While creating a keepsake cookbook can
be a fun project that brings the family together, planning the reunion
can be overwhelming if you have a big family or group.
For help throwing a great reunion, order the free Reunion Guidebook for
tips to putting together great family and school reunions and parties.
It includes family activities, awards and registration table ideas,
such as color-coordinated name tags -- all to bring a different sense
of fun to the reunion. The Guidebook makes the task of organizing it
seem smaller.
Having a reunion can be costly so many families are using their
keepsake cookbooks as a way to fund the event. It can help to cover
traveling expenses for those families who have a long way to go and
want to bring all the kids.
Fundcraft Publishing is the largest and most respected cookbook
publisher with a guaranteed cookbook program that will guide any group,
step by step, in creating their very own cookbook.
For information on the free keepsake cookbook kit and/or the Reunion
Guidebook, log on to www.cookbooks.com or www.fundcraft.com or call
(800) 853-1364 ext. 206.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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SIDEBAR:
Check out the recipe database with literally thousands of hometown
recipes to create your own community or church group fundraiser
cookbooks. Thousands of individuals and community groups from across
the U.S. advertise their cookbooks to raise money to meet their
fundraising goals.
Sample Recipes
Onion Crispy Chicken
1/2 cup butter or margarine (melted)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 6-ounce can French fried onion, crushed
In a shallow bowl, combine the butter, Worcestershire sauce, mustard,
garlic salt and pepper. Dip chicken in batter mixture, then coat with
onions. Place in greased 9-inch square baking pan, top with remaining
onions. Drizzle with any remaining butter mixture. Bake uncovered at
350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken juice runs clear.
Yield: 4 servings.
Lavender Lemonade
1 12-ounce can lemonade concentrate
1/4 cup lavender (can get at health food store)
2 cups boiling water
Combine lemonade and 1 gallon water. Steep lavender for 10 minutes in
boiling water. Strain and pour into lemonade mix.
