How to Create Your Own Cookbook

If you like to cook, it might be a nice idea to create your own cookbook with a collection of your best recipes. It's very easy to do, and it doesn't take much to make it. Decide what kind of cookbook format you want to have. You can make it as simple as a 3 ring binder with recipes in it, or you can make it fancy, like in a photo album, with pictures of your foods. I chose to make my cookbook a combination of both. Here's how you can create your own.

First, you'll need to buy a nice 1 inch 3 ring binder. The binder with the clear view page in the front is nice, because you can make your own cover and add pictures to it. It's a little more expensive than the regular binders, but worth it because this will be something you'll have for a while. Next, make categories for your recipes. These are the ones I used: appetizers and snacks, beverages, breakfast foods, salads and dressings, sandwiches wraps and burgers, poultry entrees, pasta entrees, beef entrees, pork and ham entrees, pizza and calzones, breads and muffins, slow cooker recipes, sauces condiments and marinades, holiday and special occasion foods, and desserts. I also have a section in the back with tips I've learned about cooking, storing food and more. You decide on the sections you want in your cookbook, but it is nice to sort your recipes by section, so that they are easier to find.

Next, decide how you want to present your recipes in the cookbook. Are you going to handwrite each one, or type them instead? Personally, I think it looks nicer and more uniform when the recipes are typed. Use the same font throughout the book, and it will look more organized. Be sure to include all the ingredients, with accurate measurements, along with complete directions for your recipes. You'll most likely be sharing these recipes with friends and family, so make them presentable and easy to follow.

Once your recipes are typed or written, decide how you will store them in the book. The best way is to store the pages in clear plastic page covers. This not only keeps the pages clean and flat, it makes the pages look nice as well.

You can add pictures to your recipes, whether they are your own photos or pictures you've cut out of magazines and cookbooks. I decided to use both, along with food stickers to accent my pages.

There are websites out there that will create a cookbook for you with your own recipes, but I think it's better and much more fun to make one yourself. If you have the time and patience to do this on your own, I definitely think it's worth it. It's also easy to add more recipes to your book when you find more that you like. If the 1 inch binder becomes too small, you may want to opt for a larger binder, such as a 2 inch. The choices are all yours, have fun!