the Cookbook Chronicles
Looking for a special gift for a friend or family member?
How about mixing up memories and menus to create a bespoke cookbook:
a collection of recipes shared by family and friends, liberally seasoned with photos.
Sound delicious? Follow along for the where and when and whatnots…
Where I started…
I created my books at Shutterfly.com, but you can use any site that produces photo books. Save time by using a site with cookbook templates. My first cookbook was created in 2015, when Shutterfly was the only site I found with a cookbook template.
I recommend finding a site and sticking with it if there is a possibility you’ll make another book. Don’t waste precious time reinventing the charcuterie board, save your project! When you’re ready for volume two, copy the original and personalize the next edition.
When…
Perfect for bridal showers and wedding gifts
Check the site you’re using for expected delivery dates and be prepared to add expedited or rush shipping fees to get it in time. You do NOT want to pour your heart and soul into a gift that does not arrive on time.
Shutterfly has specials and sales regularly. I’ve been visiting the site to prep for this post and Shutterfly offers have been popping up in my social media left and right. Get your book compiled ASAP so you have breathing room to take advantage of special offers.
Save this gift for last at the shower, it’s a show stopper!
How…
(note: see gallery below for illustration of many of the points that follow)
Include a request for recipes and photos with shower invitations
Set deadlines for guest submissions well in advance of the shower and pad your estimate with time for editing, formatting, proofreading, etc.
Create a folder on your computer specifically for recipes and photos and upload files and photos to folder as you receive them
Review the types of recipes you’ve received and make a loose outline to help structure your book
My books followed a simple structure:
all included pages for: intro/dedication, attribution, main dishes, sides, treats and lots of photo pages.
later editions had edits and additions: salads to salads, sides, snacks; treats to desserts; drinks to liquid refreshment; breakfasty stuff, fun and weddings were added
2nd and 3rd additions included images of associated invitations
family recipes were recycled in each book (unless someone sent something new) and photos of the new honoree replaced the previous
contributions from the other side were replaced in each edition, obvi
the same font was used for recipes in each edition, with changes to fonts of section titles and editorial comments
There are lots of extras to spice up your book, watch for the discounts to make the bottom line palatable. These are the extras I used:
Extra pages - sometimes they’re unlimited or discounted
Hardcover binding for a durable, long lasting keepsake
Deluxe Layflat pages so the book opens flat, photo spreads are seamless across pages
Matte finish is better for wiping off spills, but you can’t write notes on them
Removing the Shutterfly logo
Gift box
How much for the magic…
I never know if people will gasp in horror or be totes okay with the cost of the book. My books ranged from $122 to $145, including discounts, tax and shipping. I’ve included the order info for each in the gallery below. I enjoyed both the process and the final product so much that it was definitely worth it to me.
What prompted this creativity…
While I sometimes wish we’d had cell phone and digital cameras when my kids were little, I shudder to think about how many terabytes of storage I’d be paying for now, had that been the case.
I made albums the old-fashioned way: unedited prints of dubious quality inserted in plastic sleeves in binders picked up at Michael’s back in the ‘80s. At least, I did that for my older kids. When our youngest Kyle was born in 1989, the others’ albums were frozen in time at the ripe old ages of 10, 7 and 4. Kyle never let me forget that the older kids at least had photo albums.
When Kyle turned twenty-one, fueled by years of mom guilt mixed with expanding technology, I scanned old prints, report cards, school photos, certificates, recital programs and memorabilia of all sorts, uploaded them to a photo site and spent weeks arranging and editing to produce a hard bound volume chronicling the first twenty one years of her life. K is for Kyle.
When the book was finished I had a much better understanding of the time and effort it takes to create such a work. I resolved to make albums for my other kids. Some day.
Years passed, as they are wont to do, but without another album being produced.
When our older daughter Ali was getting married, it seemed a golden opportunity to make her an album. Except I hadn’t forgotten the effort involved. And I had amassed considerable digital clutter in five years – more bytes than experience had taught me I could comfortably chew. When I was planning her bridal shower, I had an idea to combine the spirit of an album, a collection of photos, with the old bridal shower classic of guests sharing a recipe card with the Bride-to-Be. We could create a bespoke cookbook.
Invitations to Ali’s shower included a request for recipes, with bonus points if the guests included pictures of themselves with Ali.
My daughter Kyle helped with entering, editing, and proofreading recipes. I collected photos of Ali with recipe contributors, as well as a healthy selection of photos spanning the years up to that point. It was a loose compilation of her life, interspersed with the recipes shared by her family and friends and it was a bigger hit than anticipated.
When Kyle got married a few years later, Ali and I pulled together a similar cookbook for her, an outpouring of love from family and friends dating from her 21st birthday to her marriage.
My younger son Jason got married last summer and Ali and Kyle and I compiled a book for him and his bride, Coco. Coco’s family and friends sent recipes and photos and we had piles of photos of Jason and Coco over the ten years they’d been together. The book is a sweet celebration of the two of them.
My oldest son Adam married long before this idea occurred to me, so I’m not sure what shape his album will take. At the rate I’m going though, he probably shouldn’t look for it before his forty-fifth birthday. Maybe fiftieth.