How to create a personalised recipe book
Food is never just food.
It’s time at the table together, it’s recipes passed down through generations, it’s the comforting taste of home. It’s candlelit dinners and celebrations. It’s our special tricks, flavours, and secrets that make meals truly ours.
Food is one of the most personal things in the world, which makes it perfect for a gift. So perfect, in fact, that it’s become a bit of a cliche. So how about a food-related gift that thinks outside the box?
Not your average foodie gift
A personalised cookbook throws the boring old boxes of chocolates out of the window. It’s something that can become a huge part of a person’s life - whether as a commemoration of the amazing culinary treats they’ve invented and dished up over the years, a symbol of a new start when they move house, or a tailor-made book of deliciousness for those with specific requirements.
Personalised cookbooks are fantastic for the food-lovers who struggle with mainstream recipe books. They might be vegan or vegetarian. They might have allergies or intolerances that make certain ingredients difficult. They might be following a specific diet or lifestyle like paleo, keto, or OMAD (one meal a day).
Or they might just be a sucker for a specific cuisine - Japanese sushi, Italian pasta dishes, or good old British pub grub.
With such a power of connection from the creator to the recipient, creating a specially curated recipe book is a thoughtful gift for:
- Wedding gifts: Many newlyweds are setting up a home. Get them enjoying all their new kitchenware with a collection of family recipes submitted by their loved ones.
- A leaving book: Have a colleague who’s a foodie lover? Get everyone in your team to submit their favourite recipes along with goodbye messages for an extra special leaving present
- A hobby chef: If your partner loves to bake, cook or BBQ, create their ‘best of the best’ cookbook featuring their most enjoyed dishes. You could even add quotes saying what you loved most about each dish!
Our food-loving customers say…
“We are a mixed-race family so when it came to my parent’s 30th Wedding Anniversary, we wanted to create something thoughtful that included both cultures and felt unique to us. I contacted family in Barbados and North Wales and was overwhelmed with the response. The recipes they’ve supplied match the childhood stories my parents used to tell me. From Grandad’s famous Lemon Cheesecake to Auntie Audrey’s famous Fried Flying Fish, we now have their exact recipes to recreate these family dishes for years to come.” Nathan
How to create your own personalised recipe book
Without further ado, let’s look at the simple steps to creating your very own recipe book - whether for yourself, a friend, or a loved one!
- Gather your material. You’ll ideally need 10-15 recipes to fill the pages. If you don’t think you have enough, remember you can supplement your recipe book with ‘guest entries’. If you’re filling a book with your Mum’s best dishes, you could add in a couple of your own recipes too (or maybe Dad’s attempts!). Or maybe throw in a couple of recipes from their favourite celeb chef. And if your family are prolific bakers, and you do one recipe per single page, you can have as many as 48.
- Choose your colours. At Memory Books, you can pick from a range of vibrant foodie colours, including Lime, Wheat, Strawberry, Bubblegum, and Leafy Green. Choose the colour that suits your collection (and their personality) the very best.
- Add your title and text. It’s easy to fill in the fields of your recipe book with your chosen titles. You can then go through the book and add in your recipes one by one, as well as any other quotes or descriptions. We’ve seen lovely customer books that include heartfelt messages from family members.
- Add your pictures. Recipe books are nothing without pictures of the fantastic foods they demonstrate! You can use photos of your own, or images you find online. The ‘Add Images’ tool makes it easy to drop them in and reposition as you wish. And don’t forget to include photos of any family members sending in contributions – this makes your book unique, personal and different to any other cookbook.
- Add your book to the basket. Once you’re happy with your final piece, simply add it to your basket, and complete the check out. If you’re ordering it as a gift, make sure to allow plenty of time for delivery – avoid the stress of ‘will it or won’t it’ arrive on time.
One of the most thoughtful gifts you can give, a personalised cookbook makes people feel both special and included. It gives them fun and indulgent ideas that they don’t have to tweak or compromise on. By including guest recipes from family members, it’s also a chance to immortalize traditional family recipes for years to come, as the meals live on through the next generation.
Start your recipe book today, and create a keepsake for life.