I am a radio geek. When I putt around the house on the weekends, I listen to many of the public radio informative programs. At noon  I listen to “Wait Wait” and a bit later I listen to “The Splendid Table” with Lynn Rosetta Casper. And last week I was taken a back when a listener called in and wanted to create a memory cookbook with her Grandmothers recipes written in her handwriting and Lynn had no real good answer to help her.

One reason that it startled me is that I have tried to get on her show and talk about creating your own cookbook for over three years. I am constantly checking all the places on the web and figuring which is the best way to go. If I had a chance to talk to the caller I would have evaluate the topics below before deciding to use an on-line service

The person was talking about putting her recipes on-line to have relatives add their recipes and stories. Here are two issues: do all the relatives (older ones) who may have some of the best stories may not be comfortable on-line. My own mother is the perfect example and my mother in law would be very comfortable i.e. her listing one of her old recipes on the Facebook page for Plate Full of Memories. This is the first point.

Secondly, if you use a service make sure who owns your recipes. You need to read the fine print to make sure that your not giving the rights to them away.  Many of the companies out there would have you use their service but they now own the copyright to your recipes. I would check Heritage Cookbooks that allows for mall runs and lets your family come into the sight.

BUT if you are trying to keep the artwork as her Grandmother’s handwriting you may want to create everything on your computer.But then you are responsible for collecting all the elements…recipes and stories. And you are probably gong to be responsible for it all even when you do it one line. If your family is like mine it might take more effort to get them to post the recipes.

Then you will need to print them at a discount place like OfficeMax or Office Depot. She could decide if she wanted to use a spiral binder or a 3-ring notebook. Either method allows you to make a limited amount of cookbooks at a reasonable price and if you use really good quality paper the cookbooks make a real family collectable.

If you know Lynn you may want to her to read this blog so that the next time someone calls with heirloom cookbook questions, she refers them to me.