A Simple, Useful Recipe Book

I posted a little bit about this gift I made for my niece's bridal shower but thought I'd give a few more specifics. It was such a fun thing to give. It's also something you can make for yourself to keep your own recipes in.

First, I went to Target and purchased a little plastic photo album--the kind that you slide the photos into the plastic pages. I think these cost just a couple dollars. There are 36 pages, but you can also put things inside the front and back covers if you want to too (or pull the front cover out and print on the opposite side, so the stripes are on the inside and whatever you want is on the front). I wanted this kind because you can spill all over it as you cook and just wipe it up with nothing damaged.

The pages are 4"x 6", so I purchased plain, unlined 4"x 6" index cards.

I inherited my mom's recipe book when she passed away. She was a great collector of delicious recipes, and I wanted to share these with my niece as she began her own family. I decided just to put cookie recipes in this particular book as some of them were recipes she had made with my mom when she would come to visit as a little girl. I decided that later on, I would create more books--one with main dishes, one with breads, etc. and create a series for her to receive on occasions in the future.

I typed 36 pages worth of cookie recipes into my computer and created an alphabetical list of the recipes found in the book. I also found a photo of her with my mom to put on the front cover.

I purchased two cookie sheets, a spatula and a cookie scoop to give with the recipe book. For a wedding gift, I bought she and her new husband a cookie jar.