One of my favorite recipe “books” is made up of recipes I have collected from family members through the years. Some of them are fairly new, and some of them have been handed down a few times already. My very favorite recipes in the collection are those that are on the original recipe cards, in my grandmother and great grandmother’s handwriting. These are sacred to me because it gives me the sense that I’m cooking along with them. The only unfortunate part is that I only have a couple of these because it is a large family and the recipe cards are divided up among all the family members.

One way to give everyone the “originals” is to have them scanned, as you would an old photograph. This preserves the handwriting, the smudge marks and special notes in vivid detail. The images can then be combined into a photo book that can be duplicated as many times as you need, without losing quality.

Imagine giving your mother or aunt a recipe book filled with the original family recipes and illustrated with images of the family members cooking or sitting down to special dinners. It is a delectable, and timeless gift.

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