By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
By Gabi Bourn https://www.facebook.com/gabi.bourn
When my friend Gabi showed me an incredible family cookbook that she’d created, I asked to interview her so I could pass on the idea to you.
- What gave you the idea? My mom had several cookbooks that were compilations from different groups, churches, and organizations. We had a bunch of family favorite recipes, and I wanted to make our own compilation. I take photo organization very seriously and knew we had many photos of food and family. Pretty quickly, the title Around the Table came to me, and I set out to make a cookbook that was more than just recipes. So many of life’s happy moments happen around the table, and I wanted this book to capture those.
- How did you choose the recipes? I started with the family favorites that we wanted to have at our fingertips for our own convenience. Probably 70% of the recipes are our favorites – weeknight go-to’s and holiday recipes. The other 30% are a combination of recipes from special people in our lives and recipes that had a great story or photo from the past. There are 131 recipes in the book.
- Was it difficult to snap photos of family members with their dishes? I frequently take photos, so it wasn’t something unusual to my family. If it’s a favorite recipe that the cook or baker worked hard to create, they are generally happy to take a photo with it. The most challenging part was for me remembering to take a photo before I dug into the food! When people learned I was compiling the cookbook, they would often help me remember.
- How long did the process take? Three years. During this time, I digitized every photo we have going back over 100 years. As I did that, I saved anything food or table related to a special folder within Shutterfly.
During 2020, with plenty of time at home, I got serious about typing all the recipes, organizing them by category, and connecting the photos with the appropriate recipe. I printed the first copy July 2021. So, two years of casually working on it and one year of dedicated work.
- What did you learn? I learned so much about my own family at an important time when my grandparents were getting older. I’m so grateful to have completed this project when both of my grandmothers were able to see it, verify details, and tell me what recipes were important to them and our family’s history.
As I worked on the project, I knew this would be special for our family. It has been surprising how much friends and family enjoy the cookbook. Many friends want to pore over each page, take pictures, and ask to order a copy. (One even wanted to write a blog about it!) It shows me how much family history and recipes mean to us. Even though some viewers don’t know our family history or eat our specific recipes, there is something about this labor of love that connects people.
- Did you include stories about the recipe? Why? Nearly every recipe has a story, a picture of the finished product, a picture of the person who provided the recipe, and in some cases, a picture of the original recipe in their handwriting.
There are too many great stories about the food, parties, and fiascos while cooking that I had to include those in the book! The strawberry cake fiasco at midnight; the time my mom dropped gingerbread men on the kitchen floor and their misshapen legs that made them look like they were running for their live, and the thumbprint cookies that we all refer to as “medicine” because sometimes you just need a cookie pill—these are the stories about our family and helped bring the memories and recipes to life.
During the process, I was intentional about seeing every family photo and learning every bit of family history as possible. I found where my grandmother had written a few paragraphs about the lives of her parents, my great-grandparents. It included dates, locations, and other specific information that would likely be lost in future generations. That inspired me to write similar information for both sets of grandparents and my parents. Those are the last few pages of the book in a section I call: “Stories of Those Around Our Table.”
- Did you include extra photos? The photos used in the book span 104 years. The cookbook became a family history via recipes.
- What tips or suggestions do you have for those who want to create the same type of cookbook? Understand it will take a long time. Some recipes are only made once a year during the holidays, so be intentional about getting the pictures. Get pictures of the people with the food and the process of making it. There was so much family bonding sitting around the table while the dish was being prepared. Ask for the story behind the recipe. Be intentional about using this opportunity to learn more about your loved ones. Don’t just swoop in for a photo once the food is cooked.
- How did you print the copies? Through Shutterfly you can reorder items as many times as you want. I printed the first copy to confirm it was exactly how I liked it and caught a couple of typos. Then, I ordered more copies for family Christmas gifts. Each time I reorder, I update the version number on the title page for tracking purposes.
This is the time of year when families get together, making it much easier to snap photos of those yummy dishes—and the people who created them!
Are you ready to get started with your memory-making family cookbook?
Congratulations to the 4 winners in the 🎉 Reader Giveaway Celebrating the Release of CANYON OF DECEIT!
Billie from Mississippi
Andrea from Kentucky
Kim from West Virginia
Our 4th winner chose to be anonymous.
Comments 26
I love how you organized your family cookbook and am inspired to continue working on our family recipes to include photographs. When each of my children wanted to learn how to cook, I reached out to family and close friends for recipes. Many of these recipes are our family favorites. When I compiled each of the children’s recipe books, I included a few sentences about each recipe. Now, I’m looking forward to going back to include pictures to go with them.
Thank you for sharing your ideas and how you took the time to make your family cookbook so special!
Author
Marcia, that’s a great idea. Thank you for sharing. Gabi inspired us all!
My husband’s mother, sister and niece wrote a family cookbook many years before I joined the family. Unfortunately there are no photos other than the cover. A family tree was listed beginning with his grandparents who immigrated from Italy circa 1905. Grandma Rosa’s original 5 course holiday menu and recipes was included.
Even though I never met the majority of these family members I treasure this book.
Sheila, that’s an amazing heritage. Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine how good those recipes!
I had been intending to make three identical recipe albums–one for myself and each of my two adult kids–as a surprise…but I hadn’t made it happen. After stewing over it, I gave up on the surprise element and asked both of my kids to help me. We made photocopies of their favorite recipes, my favorites, and hundred-year-old handwritten recipes from their forebears. We had papers scattered all over the room but managed to organize them with dividers, put them in plastic page protectors, and slip them into very thick binders. They are not fancy and beautiful! But it worked, got done, and is now their go-to spot for making comfort food. Gabi’s idea to include photos is so good…will try to add some now to our books! I really like that her books can be easily replicated, too, and shared with lots of family members. I recommend getting family members to help…made it much more fun!
Author
Thank you, Nancy, for sharing how your family cookbook came into being. You traveled much of the same road as Gabi, and I’m sure it’s beautiful. I keep telling myself that I’ll do the same, but it hasn’t happened yet.
What a great idea! I’ve received some family recipes over time, but putting them together with photos makes it even more special!
Author
Gary, I hope this encourages you to continue the project. Family and friends will thank you.
This is absolutely fabulous. When I got married at 19, my mom made me two cookbooks, one with savory and one with sweets, each containing recipes passed down over years. They’re little three ring binders, but it’s all her handwriting with splatters from years of use. I absolutely loved this gift and I still use it. I made them for my daughters-in-law also. Such a special gift.
Author
Maureen, isn’t it rewarding to pass down a tradition that is so loved? I hope more women – and even guys – consider creating a family cookbook.
my family made a cookbook 20 years or so ago. I am glad I have those recipes.
Author
Thanks, Deborah, I treasure the recipes passed down from my mother and grandmother. They are memory makers.
What a lovely keepsake for your family members. It was certainly a labour of love.
Author
Susan, the photos and family-memories are priceless.
What a great idea! Foods link us to memories. I remember cooking with my Oma and her asking me to probieren (taste in German).
Author
Adriane, you are on your way to creating your own family cookbook. I treasure those times with my grandma and grandkids.
Oh my! What a labor of love, but something everyone will enjoy.
Author
Barbara, are you ready to create your own?
Well. . .I just read part of your post to my husband, my response and then your response. He laughed. Then he laughed even more and his eyes even lit up and he laughed again. Then I laughed. We both remember well my some of my cooking creations e.g. peanut butter and honey tortilla wraps for my husband’s lunch at work. Guess what happened when he bit into it? Uh huh, it all squirted out the bottom. Not pleasant. I am Italian, but I do NOT possess my grandmother’s cooking skills. My husband loves lasagna. I’ve made it twice. The first time, the healthy version made with spaghetti squash and layers of cheese and meat. Beautiful. . .until it cooked. Then all the water in the squash came out and everything except the squash floated up and over the pan. But then, I made it by a real recipe and it had tons of all kinds of cheese. Ugh. It was so gross, we couldn’t eat it. BUT, there were a few flurries of hope. In 2000, I wrote a very small cookbook with simple “how to’s” in it for an ESL class project in grad school. I had to do a cooking demonstration in class, so I made fruit pizza. I got an A 🫢 Shock of the semester!
Author
Barbara, I will be laughing about this for a very long time. You are hysterical – if not cooking maybe you should consider writing humor!
I think this a fun and incredible idea.
My oldest granddaughter is a senior in HS. I’ve been working on a recipe book for her for graduation. She and I have been baking cookies since she could walk. It’s called “ cookie camp with Nana”. I look forward to sharing these times together as we create. In the recipe book I have pictures of her from little up! The mistakes we’ve made have been blessings of laughter.
I hope she enjoys it as much as I have had putting it together. 4 generations of recipes included.
Doing this is truly a labor of love.
Blessings DiAnn for sharing your inspiration to all.
Author
Joyce, I love your “Cookie Camp with Nana.” What a precious – and treasured – gift. I hope others take advantage of how they can make “sweet” memories.
One of my daughter’s created a small family cookbook many years ago. It recipes only. This encourages me to revise it adding stories and pictures. What a treasure, and I don’t even like to cook!
Author
Aw, but Cindy, you are creative, and that would make it special!
Thanks for the push to start working on my own family favorites cookbook. I had the idea a couple of years ago, but just never followed through with completing the cookbook. It is certainly on my todo list.
Author
Marcia, I hope this inspired you to continue – and push the family cookbook to the top of the to-do list!