Showers of love....

Yesterday was G's bridal shower and it truly was a showering of gifts and love from so many family members and good friends. I've been waiting until this special day to tell you about the gift I made for my daughter.

I had it in my mind for a long time that I would compile many of my tried-and-true recipes into one spot and make a cookbook. I had many recipes in my computer files and when I felt that I had everything entered, I still had the task of publishing them some way. I figured I'd use some pretty paper and clear plastc page covers and organize them into a 3 ring binder that I would decorate somehow. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I saw another HUGE, overwhelming job towering before me. So I went online to find some ideas and help. That's when I ran into Taste Books. Oh my goodness! This was an answer to my prayers.

I began to study the Taste Book site, examined samples like this one from Elise on Simply Recipes, and I was SOLD! I figured that $34.95 was about the price of one colored ink cartridge for my printer, and I was sure that it would take me all of that to start production on this project on my own. Plus, I could never achieve the results that Taste Book could offer me. So I did it! I entered over 100 of my recipes on Taste Book's site (copy/paste) and added quotes, notes, family memoirs, descriptions, and even photos of the recipes or of the people I received them from! From my recipes, I selected 99 for G's cookbook. You can put up to 100 in each Taste Book, but if you only put in 50, for instance, Taste Book gives you credit to add another 50 recipe pages of your choice.

After I was all done, I chose a title: "G's I Do Cookbook," entered my credit card information and my order was in progress. The cookbook was printed within 5 days of my submission and shipped immediately. I was absolutely THRILLED with the results and after the shower gift was delivered yesterday, The Bride was thrilled too. A number of the guests asked how I did it and so I gave my source to them gladly. Many of the women there had daughters who were soon-to-be-brides and they thought that a personalized cookbook would be a fantastic Christmas gift to work toward. After writing my first book..... a cookbook, my sons are now bugging me to make them one. Won't this be a terrific idea for birthdays or Christmas?

I think I'll be gradually adding more and more of my recipes to the Taste Book data base and hopefully, I'll be able to write even more cookbooks to share with the ones I love.