Creating A Family Recipe Scrapbook

I can not tell you how many times I’ve called my mom and said “mom I just have to have your recipe for such and such”. It’s been a slow accumulation of recipes, but she chuckles each time I realize I need yet another recipe from her.

Now that I have an adult daughter of my own I really wanted to pass the recipes on to her also. Many of these recipes she’s been eating since she was old enough for solids. My daughter also has a recipe book from her aunt on her dad’s side.

Recipe scrapbooks can be given to aunts, uncles, cousins, children etc. A 6x6 scrapbook works wonderfully. They are large enough to hold a 3x5 index card. You can also use an 8x8 scrapbook and have the recipes on paper, instead of index cards.

I think it’s a great mix to combine photos and recipes. For example, a group family photo at the beginning of the album is a great way to start off the album. If you’ve asked for recipes from multiple family members, put a photo of the recipe submitter on one page and the recipe on the opposite page.

It’s also a great help to have a shopping list. Consider the actual recipe on one page and a shopping list on the opposite page. I very often take a recipe to the market with me and shop off the recipe page. By creating the list, the recipe book holder just needs to remove the shopping list page and take it to the market.

Another idea is to create a bit of history with your recipes. If you’ve had several family members contribute recipes, consider having the recipe on page, photos on one page and a bit of information on the author on a 3rd page. Most scrapbooks are very expandable, so there is room for many pages in one album.

All of my cookbooks have measurement charts and converters in them, so when making a recipe album, it’s great to add this information to either the back or the front.

Recipe albums are a great gift for both the new bride, especially if the gift comes from her husband’s family with recipes for all of the dishes he grew up with and for the college graduate setting up their first home.