A family cookbook as a holiday gift
A book of the family's recipes is one of the few gifts people keep for decades. It takes a few weeks, not a few months, if you start with a plan.
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Work backward from the day
Pick the day you will give it, then count back. Printing and shipping are the part you cannot rush, so give them the most room, especially in December, when print shops and mail are at their busiest. Check your print service's production and shipping times before you start, and leave yourself a buffer of at least a week or two.
A plan that fits in about five weeks
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Decide who the book is for and roughly how many recipes. Ask the family to send their recipes: photos of cards, links, texts, anything. |
| Week 2 | Save everything into one kitchen. Photograph the handwritten cards, paste the links and texts, film anyone whose recipes live only in their head. |
| Week 3 | Sort the recipes into chapters. Write the dedication and the introduction, and a line or two of story on the recipes that matter most. |
| Week 4 | Read the whole book once on screen. Fix typos, check the amounts against the cards, then download the print-ready PDF and order your copies. |
| Week 5 and after | Printing and shipping. This is your buffer: the closer to the holidays, the more of it you need. |
Short on time? Make it smaller
A book of twenty recipes, done, is a better gift than a hundred, half done. Pick one person or one holiday: “Grandma's Christmas baking.” You can always add a second volume next year. If printing will not arrive in time, wrap a card that says the book is on its way, with one recipe printed inside.
Who to make one for
- Grandparents: their own recipes, typed and printed, with the family's notes.
- Parents: the dinners you grew up on, from the kids, for once.
- A child leaving home: the recipes they will call to ask for anyway.
- A new couple: the family's recipes to start their own kitchen.
- Every household in the family: one PDF, as many copies as you need.
How Snap and Simmer helps
Everyone can send recipes the way they have them: a photo of a card, a link, a TikTok, a text. Invite relatives to your kitchen so they can add comments and memories to the recipes. Then make the cookbook: chapters, a dedication, an introduction we can draft from your own recipes, and a print-ready PDF in letter, 6 by 9 or 8 by 10 inches, with a matching cover file for the paperback sizes. Print it at home or with any print service. Ordering a printed hardcover from inside Snap and Simmer is coming soon.
Questions
How long does it take to make a family cookbook?
With a plan, a few weeks for a book of a few dozen recipes, plus however long your print service needs to print and ship it.
When should I start a cookbook for Christmas?
Five or six weeks before you need it gives you time to gather recipes, write the pages and still leave room for printing and shipping.
How do I print a family cookbook?
Download a print-ready PDF from Snap and Simmer and print it at home on letter-size paper, or take the 6 by 9 or 8 by 10 inch files and cover to a print shop or print-on-demand service.
Can I make copies for the whole family?
Yes. Print the PDF as many times as you like.
Keep going
Make a family cookbook
Chapters, a dedication, an introduction and a print-ready PDF.
See how ›🗂️What to put in a family cookbook
The recipes, the stories and the pages that turn a stack of recipes into a book.
See how ›💌Preserve family recipes
From a shoebox of cards to a recipe collection the whole family can open, and a printed book.
See how ›Good food is better shared.
Start your kitchen, save your first recipe and invite the people you cook with.
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