How to Turn Your Recipes into Meaningful Gifts

The planning, preparation, and consumption of food is a major part of family histories. The recipes that carried your family through the years are precious, and hold in them not only ingredients, but also stories, laughter, and love.

Today we begin our series on Recipes as Gifts. Giving recipes is a wonderful way to show someone you care, and an economical way to make someone feel special during the holidays. Recipes are free, but they carry with them the memories of every time a certain dish was made.

Was there a casserole that you and your sisters and brothers loved when you were younger? Give the recipe to your siblings. Was there a special breakfast that your mother made on Sunday mornings? Give your mother those recipes to show her how much those breakfasts meant to you, and how you remember still the food she carefully prepared. Was there a dish that your friends shared laughs over? Give the recipe to them in appreciation of the laughter that they brought to your life.

Now that we have recipes to give, we need to find the best way to give them. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

~ Write out the recipe on some beautiful handmade paper. Include some relevant ingredients or utensils in the gift package. For example, for southwestern recipes, include some fresh, local spices. For baked goods or casseroles, slip the recipe into a lovely oven-to-table baking dish.

My best friend Beth sent me her favorite recipe and chipotle from Arizona.

~ Write out the recipe and frame it in a shadowbox, using decorative stick pins to secure it in place. Include some sprigs of whole dried herbs that are used in the recipe for decoration. This is a great way tell someone how important their special recipe is to you.

~ Create a beautiful recipe scrapbook, and include all the recipes that are meaningful to you. Don't forget to tell the stories behind the recipes... often those tales are as juicy as the recipes themselves!

When planning your gifts for the holiday season, keep in mind that we're running a contest to give away ten free Heirloom Cookbooks. To enter, visit the entry page and send us a story about a special recipe in your life.