Saturday, January 7, 2012

Recipe Scrapbook

I wish I were really crafty.... but I'm not.

I try to create things but the vision in my head is never quite what ends up as the finished product.

So I flit from blog to blog, looking at all kinds of cute things that all you creative people create.  The beautiful jewelry, the beaded bags, the darling decorations made out of shells, knitted hats, crocheted  leggings, handbags, and totes and so many marvelous things.

Anyway, Chablis has never had the least bit of interest in cooking.  In fact, up until about 2 months ago she was lucky if she could boil water or make mac and cheese.  Suddenly she decided that she might want to learn a little about cooking the basics.  So for the past couple of weeks she's been picking out recipes and helping me cook.  Or rather I stand and boss her around the kitchen.  And then I take pictures of her making everything and the finished products.

Well, that gave me a great idea for a Christmas present for her.  I went over to our local Archivers store and bought a big recipe album.


It came with recipe cards and blank album pages and stickers.

I found a tutorial on how to make Subway Art in the Picnic program over at "You Seriously Made That?"  And then I made this cover sheet and printed it on an 8 x 10 photo page.   I put all of Chablis' favorite foods on it.  And no, I didn't spell shallots wrong.  Shalet is a rice and bean dish that my grandmother taught me to make.



Then I started filling out the recipe cards with all the foods she's been learning how to make. I slipped each recipe into a clear photo page and on the back of each recipe I slipped in a photo of the meal on the card.





I made sure to include our favorite Gingerbread cookie recipe...



And the very 1st cookie recipe she ever made all by herself!



I included some photo's of the whole family as well....


I wrapped it up and gave it to her for Christmas and she loved it!  Now, I know that all you people who can scrapbook can do a much better job, but I have to say that I was pretty happy with the finished product.  Chablis has already started adding more recipes to it and every time she cooks something she's screaming for me to come take her picture.

Not only will she have a personalized recipe book to treasure, but it will also contain photos that she can go back and enjoy many years from now.  And since everything is placed inside the plastic photo sleeves, everything is protected from spaghetti sauce drips, or cookie dough, or whatever.

So if you're looking for a cute gift idea, you might want to consider making one of these recipe scrapbooks.  It's a great way to create some memories while you're cooking and preserve them at the same time.

Bon Appetit!

14 comments:

  1. This is truly the best gift idea I have seen in years. Wonderful!

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  2. What a great gift! You did a wonderful job!

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  3. Cute idea Kim. Those recipe cards will be more of a treasure years from now because they are written in " her Mother's" handwriting". She looks so cute wearing an apron and I notice in one picture that you are wearing an apron that your mother made for you. Treasure the moments you spend with each other while she is learning.

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  4. Mom: My own favorite recipe cards are the ones that you and grandma had written out. Some of those cards I have are over 40 years old. That apron you made for me is probably 35 years old and Chablis and I made her apron together about 4 years ago.

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  5. Perhaps she would like to learn to roast a turkey next Christmas. I would gladly come over and take pictures. Vbg

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  6. Once again we run in parallel!! For my daughter, Jess' 21st birthday I did exactly the same thing, but I collected recipes from the entire family....had them send them to me with comments, I put the comments at the bottom of each recipe and added a picture of the person who provided the recipe....even pictures of my dad when he was just a boy! It ended up being a huge project, but it is one we both cherish! She continues added recipes to it today!! See How much we have in common??! It's almost scary!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  7. Such and awesome gift idea. The photos are really waht makes it!

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  8. Shell: I really like your idea. I think I'll have my family do that too. Love it. Great minds think alike!

    EJ: Yes, the pictures are what makes it!

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  9. what a wonderfully delicious idea! :o)

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  10. What a great idea! I love it! And you did a beauatiful job.

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  11. Oooops, I meant beautiful. Sorry.

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  12. I love that the photos are included with recipes! Dang why didn't I think of that? Two years ago I made a recipe box for my daughter and included her favorite recipes. Now at every holiday, I give her 5-10 more recipes to add to her collection. I may have to change things up a bit now that you've set the bar so high ;)

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  13. I think you did an awesome job on this, and Chablis will cherish it forever! I made recipe books for my girls several years ago, but mine didn't include pictures. I typed everything into my computer and printed them off to fit in the book.

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  14. Brilliant idea, my sons are squabbling as to who gets my handwritten recipe book, i should make them one each. Thanks for sharing this.

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