Last year at Paper Possibilities I taught a recipe book class. I was Inspired by Jaimie Olivers tV series on cooking and inbetween sections of the show they would show this cook book that looked like it was hand written with doodles and bits and pieces written and drawn all over the pages. Like what your cookbook at home looks like with handwritten recipes that you scribble down over coffee at a friends place, or something hurriedly scribbled down in a Drs surgery out of a magazine. I spent hours at our Drs surgery when Maddison was about 2 or 3, she had a very severe asthma attack and we were in the surgery for hours waiting to be transferred to hospital - she slept most of the time and I wrote recipes down out of magazines. I did however leave them behind by mistake and had forgotten about them until about a week later they arrived in the mail with a little note from the Drs nurse: "I couldn't bare to throw these out after you spent so long writing them down!" :0)
So I thought I would start this recipe blog on the side, it might entice me to keep updating my recipe book. I will only add tried and tested recipes into my book, you know the type you hand down and the type that have been handed down to me, but that I have made on more than at least 2 or 3 occassions and that I know i will make again. I have my Grandmas original Chocolate Chiffon tart recipe in there that she sent me one day when I phoned to ask for it.
So I shall search for a photo here of the recipe book and shall start to share some recipes with you. I would love to hear your comments or any recipes you would like to share that I could try out on my family of 6!
This is the front cover decorated with some basic grey paper and some painted and sanded chipboard letters. It is simply made from 2 pieces of thick chipboard glued together, one for the front and one for the back, covered in paper and then held together with 3 big clip rings down the side so that I can just keep adding pages. I doubled the chipboard to make it really sturdy and it can stand up open on the bench so you can read from it while you are cooking.
I can't remember the exact sizes but I can check it out if anyone wants to know just leave a comment and I can email the details.
I have made the inside pages slightly smaller than the front and back cover and have used journalling block stamps for a bit of interest.
As well as recipes I have included little snippets along the way - which family members favourite, who the recipe came from, whether i successfully double, triple, or quadruple the recipe (rarely do I ever cook in single batches!), I have recipes the kids have bought home from school, recipes they have found or been given and come home and cooked themselves and they therefore automatically become theirs as is the one to the right "Maddisons Valentines day Cookies"
I will post a few more photos and then I will make an album with them in the sidebar, so that every time I share a recipe I shall (fingers crossed) add it to my recipe book - or that is the so-called plan anyway!!
I guess I have generally played around with pens and watercolour pencils and stamps on these pages. I have reinforced the edge of each page where the rings go with strips of paper on each side or punched out circles or shapes where the rings go through. I really stressed to the ladies when we did the class that as well as being a creation that they had made with care that I really wanted it to be something that was functional and they would use, not just something to sit on a shelf and gather dust! After all what is a recipe book without smudges of ingredients on the pages!
I have also simply ripped pages out of old books and punched holes and added them "as is" without actually writing them out again - so really whatever takes ones fancy.
So now that I have waffled on about the reason behind starting this I shall bid you goodnight and tomorrow shall share my first recipe with you!!
It is a favourite that I usually only make for birthdays, but I have made it for easter as well this year, which I will probably do as a bit of easter tradition from hereonin. It is very chocolately and i have just eaten a huge slab of it with a hot cup of tea.........till tomorrow
Annette :0)
This is the coolest cookbook ever!
Posted by: Cristi | August 27, 2010 at 03:54 PM
thanks for posting such a nice post. people will be benefited for that. i am also helpful for that. many important information are include in here.
Posted by: Recipes for food | May 17, 2012 at 05:31 AM