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Recipe books have a way of bringing people together. We pass them on from generation to generation, give them to friends, and share them with neighbors. And it doesn't matter who made recipe books: famous chefs or great-grandmothers; in any case, it is a great family value.

Spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing lunches for the kids, holiday dinners, or simply creating a homemade menu for the week ahead can help you find those successful recipes that you'll want to make again. 

Why not make your own unique recipe book with your family's favorite recipes? If you want to do it but don't know where to start, check out the guide on how to write a book for Amazon correctly. In the end, you will not only have your own recipe book but will be able to sell it on one of the biggest platforms. 

Here, we will show you how to make your recipe book dream come true from scratch.

Photo by Katya Wolf

Way 1: Collect all the recipes for delicious dishes

Collection

The recipes you want to include in your cookbook can come from a variety of sources. You will have to spend time collecting them. These can be traditional family recipes passed down from generation to generation. Ask your mother or grandmother about recipes in detail, and find out all the subtleties and little secrets of their preparation. Often, successful recipes are shared among friends. A lot of information about cooking can be found on the Internet, in culinary blogs, and in thematic communities. And, of course, use your personal experience and recall your masterpieces in the kitchen.

Don't be afraid to keep up with the times and apply new technologies. Sharing albums and online documents is an easy way to allow multiple people to contribute to a book at the same time. This will significantly speed up the recipe collection stage.

Digitalization

Most likely, as a result of collecting, you will end up with a mixture of recipe papers, notes on your phone, and bookmarks in your browser. To use all this in a photo book, you need to convert them into digital form. Scan handwritten sheets of paper, insert them into a Word document, and convert images into text.

Systematization

Once you have enough recipes and the process of collecting them is complete, create a rough table of contents. As you work on creating a photo recipe book, this will help you take inventory of your recipes and organize them in a logical order.

Way 2: Find or take your own photos

There are several ways to create illustrations for your recipes. You can ask the chef to send you a photo of the dish they prepared. Many professional chefs have their own pages on social networks and will be happy to help you. Look for a suitable photo on the Internet. You can also draw a simple illustration with your own hands or take a photo of a freshly prepared dish yourself.

Cooking food and then photographing it can be a very fun and creative process! One of the best tips for creating a family recipe book is to involve the kids or your spouse in the kitchen. Photos with their participation will give the whole event additional meaning because you are creating not just a collection of recipes but a future family heirloom. Why not use pictures from small home parties? What will they be like? Will it be carefully thought out (perhaps you will buy new dishes for this occasion), or will everything flow naturally? It's up to you to decide! Try any options. Experiment!

Way 3: Add your recipes 

Once you have roughly imagined the layout of the future recipe book, you can start adding recipes:

• Add the recipes that you have collected
• Create categories and move recipes according to them
• Read the recipes and correct any mistakes.

Each person will be pleased to bring their ideas to life and to see their recipes designed in the form of a beautifully illustrated recipe photo book, which you will keep for many years.