SECRET INGREDIENTS

Gift Certificates are Now Available!

2006-12-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

Finding the perfect Holiday gift is hard, especially if the person you are shopping for has everything! If you are like me, finding an unique gift is important. I try to give my loved ones special, personalized gifts that they instantly love. For example, every year I make my sister Whitney a beautiful photo book that captures her family's memories of the year and her two growing children. Of course, this year she is also receiving a Keepsake Cookbook with my favorite recipes of the year!

Giving your loved ones a gift certificate for a custom cookbook is a gift that will be remembered for years to come! Whether your recipient is the family matriarch, a new mother, a gourmet chef/foodie or your family's favorite cook, she/he will love making their own cookbook.

Gift certificates are available for Heirloom and Keepsake cookbooks. Email us at info@HeirloomCookbook.com or call us toll free at (866) 697-3247. We are happy to help you give the perfect gift! Gift certificates will be available until December 22, and will be sent by priority mail or email.

Creative Ways to Give Secret Ingredients Gift Certificates:

Fill a Christmas stocking with cooking utensils, recipes, and the gift certificate. Precious!

Include a several handwritten recipe cards with the gift certificate. They could be your favorite, time-tested recipes or family recipes that have survived generations!

Bake your favorite Holiday treat, wrap it up beautifully, and affix the gift certificate to the packaging.

Quick & Simple Recipe Contest: Win an Heirloom Cookbook!

2006-12-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

Do you have a cherished recipe that was passed down to you? Maybe it’s your great-grandma’s chicken dumplings or your mom’s delicious spaghetti sauce. Tell Quick & Simple your recipe and you could win a Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbook!

The first-place winner will win a $250 gift card from Boston Market Catering, a Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbook and a Rose’s Cocktail Infusions set- a total value of $555?! Four runners-up will win an Heirloom Cookbook and a cocktail set, valued at $305/each.

Check it out! All entries must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on Dec. 12, 2006.

Winners of Secret Ingredients 10 Heirloom Cookbook contest will be annouced tomorrow! Check our website for details.

Choosing Photos for Your Family Cookbook

2006-12-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

The photos in your cookbook can make a powerful contribution to the feel of the project as a whole. To make the most of this opportunity, think about connections between the photos you'll use and what your cookbook is all about. You don't necessarily need the prettiest scenery, or the most professional or flattering photos of family members. Photographs that speak of the warmth of home, and the connections between and among the generations of your family are just the thing.

So, if some of the recipes you are including have been in the family for a long time, you may wish to include pictures from farther back in the past as well. Kitchen pictures are of course a natural, but pictures of a home's exterior, yard, or any well-remembered living space may work just as well.

If the book you are making has at its heart the recipes of the family matriarch, or if in some other way, the essence of the book centers on a smaller group than the whole list of people who will be receiving it, then its only natural to choose photos consistent with the book's focus. But in most cases it's desirable to include a good balance of photos of the people who will be receiving a family cookbook. Its nice for as many of the recipients to feel as much ownership of the cookbook as possible.

Go through those albums, and happy hunting!

Delicious Rum Cakes Make Perfect Holiday Treats

2006-11-27T16:48:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I appeared on the KGUN (ABC-9) morning show in Tucson, Arizona. I shared my favorite holiday recipe, Rum Cakes, with the audience and the crew. They were a huge hit! Not only are these cakes the perfect size to give your favorite people as a holiday treat, but they are also incredibly yummy... and, well, a little addictive!

Secret Ingredients Rum Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Glaze:
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum

Directions:

Grease and flour bundt pans. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pans. MIx all cake ingredients. Pour batter over nuts. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Prepare glaze while cake is in the oven.

For the Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Cool cakes. Invert on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle and smooth glaze over top and sides. Allow cakes to absorb glaze. Repeat until all glaze is used.

Be sure to enter our contest for your chance to win one of ten FREE Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbooks!

Giving Beautiful Gifts

2006-11-22T13:40:00.001-05:00

Gift wrapping presents doesn't have to be boring! Here are a few of our favorite tips and tricks:

~ For items 4 x 6 inches and smaller, you can use a sheet of 8.5 x 11, beautifully decorated paper. You can find papers like the one we chose at scrapbooking stores, art stores, and stationery stores. Be sure to choose a paper that bends easily; handmade papers with fibers and plants often crack or separate as they bend.

~ Satin ribbon is an inexpensive, elegant way to dress up your gifts! Satin and grosgrain ribbons can b purchased for very little money, often 99 cents per roll, at craft stores such as JoAnn's and Michael's. Ribbons can be used alone on hard-to-wrap gifts, or tied over a beautiful, matching wrapping paper!

~ Making your own wrapping paper is a great project to do with kids, and a wonderful way to get them more involved in the holiday preparations. Choose bright colored butcher paper, and stamp or color onto the paper with sponge stamps, markers, watercolors or crayons. Encourage your kids to fill the whole paper, edge to edge, with their own creative holiday designs!

Here at Secret Ingredients, we hope your holidays are bright and festive!

For wonderful gift ideas, remember to check out our website. We offer Heirloom and Keepsake custom cookbooks; gifts full of traditions, memories, and holiday cheer.

Yummy Thanksgiving Recipes

2006-11-21T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Thanksgiving is one of the greatest times each year to enjoy family and delicious food. So, have you planned your meal?

This year I will be traveling to Tucson to spend Thanksgiving at my friend Beth's house. I will also be stopping by KGUN, Tucson's ABC station, to appear on their morning show on Friday the 24th. Super exciting! If you are in Tucson, tune in!

Beth and I will be cooking our Thanksgiving meal together. She is planning some Thanksgiving classics with a southwestern kick, while I will be preparing Southern family recipes that date back several generations. I thought I would share them with you.

Mamaw's Rolls
Guests beg for the leftovers! This recipe really is incredible.

Ingredients:
1 cup cold water
1 cup shortening
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold water
2 well-beaten eggs
1 package yeast cake
6 cups flour, unsifted

Directions:
Place first four ingredients in boiler.
Heat until dissolves. Add another cup cold water and 2 well-beaten eggs.
Put 1 package yeast cake in lukewarm water. Put yeast in other mixture when it gets warm-cool.
Add 6 unsifted cups of flour (not quite full cups). Set aside. Let rise, double cover, and put in refrigerator.
Cut on floured board. Pat with melted butter and fold over. Cook at 400° till done.

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Buttered Peas & Carrots

Ingredients:
½ cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound carrots
10 ounce package frozen peas, thawed

Directions:
In a large skillet, combine ½ cup water, 1 stick butter, cut into pieces, 3 tablespoons sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt over moderate heat until the butter is just melted. Add 1 pound carrots, cut into 1/16 inch slices, and stir them to coat with the mixture. Cook the carrots, covered for 4 minutes; stir in a 10 ounce package frozen peas, thawed, and cook the mixture for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

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My mother added this recipe to our Thanksgiving meals about 8 years ago. We love it!

Mom's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust:
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12
single crackers)
½ cup ground pecans
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup butter, melted

Filling:
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
3 egg yolks
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground mace
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds natural cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 yolk
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon sifted cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon extract
Whipped cream and whole pecans for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Make your crust by combining all ingredients. Mix - coating crumbs with butter well. Pat crumb mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Place in freezer while preparing filling.

Prepare the filling: Mix ¾ cup sugar, pumpkin puree, 3 egg yolks, cinnamon, mace, ginger, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Beat cream cheese and 6 tablespoons sugar until smooth. (I use my electric mixer.) Add cornstarch and blend well. Add vanilla and lemon extracts. Mix again until very smooth. Add spiced pumpkin puree to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until you don't see any traces of white to make sure it is extra smooth.
Pour filling over crumb mixture in springform pan. Bake 45 minutes, or until sides have risen. The center will still be somewhat soft. Remove from oven. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and release the side. Remove cheesecake from pan bottom.
Garnish with whipped cream rosettes and whole pecans.

Be sure to include your favorite Thanksgiving recipes in your Secret Ingredients custom cookbook. Also, be sure to enter our contest for your chance to win one of TEN free Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks.

Unique Holiday Cards

2006-11-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

As Thanksgiving draws closer, so does the season for Holiday Cards. Personalizing Holiday Cards can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for people with extensive mailing lists. Here at Secret Ingredients, we’ve put together a few neat ways to make personal, quick cards to celebrate the people you love!

1. Recipe Cards:

Buy pretty Holiday cards, and insert a copy of a recipe that reminds you of the recipient in each. Be sure to copy onto simple, pretty paper, and include a little note about the recipe. Using family recipes, handwritten and stained from use, makes it all the more personal and memorable.

2. Keepsake Cookbooks:

Secret Ingredients recently introduced a new product, Keepsake Cookbooks, which are postcard-sized, personalized perfect-bound cookbooks. These books are perfect to send as both cards and gifts! The books have a customized Dedication Page, where you can include a Holiday Letter to all the recipients. We offer two beautiful Holiday styles, as well as two all-purpose Family styles. These unique and stylish cookbooks are both personal and useful.

3. Holiday Books:

A friend of mine makes Holiday Books to send out every year instead of cards. Each member of her family creates 2 index-card sized pages, and then they are printed onto blank index cards, stacked together, and the edge is sewn with bright red thread on a sewing machine. The little books are a wonderful alternative to store-bought cards, and it is wonderful to hear the stories of the year from many points of view; hers, her husband, and their children. These books are surprisingly easy to make, and are a perfect blend of personalization and ease of creation.

Best wishes to each of you as you make your own Holiday Cards! Please let us know any wonderful ideas you have, or any neat things you’ve seen, as we’re always looking for new takes on Holiday classics!

Add Your Favorite Quotes to Your Heirloom Cookbook

2006-11-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

If you are creating a family cookbook for your children or future generations, favorite quotes can make your cookbook even more personal! Our Heirloom Cookbooks can accommodate up to 250 recipes, and our Recipe form helps you enter your recipes quickly and easily. The form includes fields for a Caption and personal notes or stories. The Caption field is the perfect place to add your favorite quotes.

Here are some of the SI team's favorite quotes:

“A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness.”
- Elsa Schiapirelli

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
-Laurie Colwin

“Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on know-how; it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”
-Georges Blanc, from ‘Ma Cuisine des Saisons’

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”
-John Ruskin

“Laughter is brightest, in the place where the food is.”
-Irish proverb

“My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.”
-Buddy Hackett

Of course, your quotes don't have to be cooking related. If you need help finding good quotes, check out the following websites:

Wisdom Quotes

The Quotations Page

ThinkExist.com

Quoteland.com

**Reminder for Holiday Orders: If you are building an Heirloom Cookbook for a holiday gift, we ask that you finish your cookbook project by December 1. To guarantee that you get your favorite customized options (Binder and Dividers), go ahead and Checkout. You will have time to finish your project after you Checkout. This just allows us to pull your inventory.

A Healthy Make-Over of a Thanksgiving Tradition

2006-11-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

My best friend Beth has been in the kitchen again, creating another delicious
Secret Ingredients recipe. We wanted to give a Thanksgiving Tradition, Sweet Potato Casserole, a healthy make-over. The result is this jewel of a recipe:

Secret Ingredients’ Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped sweet potatoes
2 cups baby carrots, peeled
4 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Zest of ½ orange
1 cup crushed canned pineapple with juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Crumble:
½ cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Boil sweet potatoes and carrots in large pot until soft- about 15 minutes. Drain and mash until smooth. Add brown sugar, ginger, orange zest, pineapple with juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Combine well and pour into a greased square casserole or individual ramekins.

Combine crumble ingredients and sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake in a 400˚ oven for 10 minutes. Serves 8.

Note: This recipe is low in sugar, low in fat, and absolutely delicious! Leave the peel on the sweet potato for maximum nutrient intake. For a fat-free variation omit crumble topping.

Did you know that Secret Ingredients is giving away ten FREE Heirloom Cookbooks at the beginning of December? Click here to enter.

Keepsake Cookbooks are here!

2006-11-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a lot of excitement at Secret Ingredients. On Thursday we launched our new product line, Keepsake Cookbooks- just in time for Christmas! If you haven't checked them out, click here to read all about them.
Our new Keepsake books are perfect for Holiday gifts for friends, neighbors and family members. They are also the perfect size (4" x 6") to give as wedding favors or at family reunions.

Each Keepsake Cookbook includes the following features:

A full-color photograph

A personalized Dedication page

Include 25 recipes or as many as you like (Keepsakes accommodate hundreds too if needed)

Customize your cookbook cover!

Table of Contents

On Friday, ABC7 Chicago WLS welcomed Secret Ingredients and me on their morning show to discuss our Heirloom and Keepsake Cookbooks. Thank you WLS!

Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

2006-10-31T09:04:00.000-05:00

This recipe is so warm and delicious. Everyone will want seconds! Serve it with our Oven Fried Chicken recipe, and you'll have a wonderful meal.

Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
About 10-15 white skinned or yellow skinned potatoes
1 package extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
2 cloves pressed garlic
Milk
2 tablespoons green onion
Salt

Directions:
Chop the potatoes into uniform pieces, and boil till soft. No need to peel them. While they cook, grate the cheese. Drain the potatoes, and put back in the pot. Mash them with a masher or whisk, adding milk until the potatoes are the consistency you like. Add the grated cheese, chipotle, crushed garlic, green onion, and salt. Stir. Taste. Adjust.

Put potatoes in a casserole, and top with additional grated cheese. Bake or broil at 350˚ until the top looks delicious.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2006-10-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Pumpkin Day! Looking for a great way to make use of your pumpkin seeds? Elise at Simply Recipes tells us how to toast your seeds! Not only is this festive, but your kids will love this healthy snack.

Comfort Food Recipe: Oven Fried Chicken

2006-10-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

There's something about fall that sends me into nesting mode! Not only do I feel a sudden need to organize every drawer in my house, but I also crave comfort food.

Last weekend my dad and I decided to cook up a wonderful, warm meal of Oven Fried Chicken and Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. Below you will find our favorite Oven Fried Chicken recipe. Not only is this delicious... it is also a healthy alternative to our southern staple, fried chicken.

Perfect Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts (We used boneless, skinless, but we both agree it would have been even better
with bone-in)
2 cups Pepperidge Farm stuffing
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons parsley
1/4 teaspoon thyme, dried
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine stuffing, cheese, almonds, garlic, parsley, thyme, and salt & pepper. Pour olive oil in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken in the oil then cover in the crumb mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. Oh, and don't forget to enter our contest for your chance o win one of ten FREE Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks!

A Special Sneak Preview: Secret Ingredients Keepsake Cookbooks!

2006-10-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

Next Friday, November 3, Secret Ingredients will launch a new product line of custom cookbooks- just in time for the Holidays!

Our new Keepsake Cookbooks are the perfect book for any situation- from holiday recipe collections, gifts and wedding favors to family reunion cookbooks. Not only are these books very affordable (starting at $29.95 for only one cookbook!)... they are also adorable.

You will be able to choose from 4 different cover designs and customize the cover. Each book is the size of a postcard (4" x 6")- perfect for favors and gifts.

Each Keepsake Cookbook will include the following features:

With a minimum of only 25 recipes, these books can also accommodate hundreds!

Customize the cookbook cover with your title and subtitle
A full-color photograph

A personalized Dedication Page

Table of Contents

We know you’ll love these books! Please email me if you have any questions, and be sure to check them out on our website next Friday (Nov.3)!

Create a Family Cookbook for the Perfect Holiday Gift!

2006-10-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

Give an unforgettable gift to your loved ones for Christmas this year: A Secret Ingredients Family Cookbook!

Do you still have time?

Sure! Your Heirloom Cookbook Project will need to be complete by December 4 to ensure delivery in time for the Holidays. To guarantee that you receive your favorite customized choices (Binder and Dividers), go ahead and place your order by clicking the "Checkout" button.

Your cookbook project does not have to be complete to checkout. You may finish your project at your convenience. Simply click the "Cookbook Complete" button when you're finished, and the Secret Ingredients elves will make your cookbooks and deliver them to you within 14 business days!

Looking for the perfect gift for friends and neighbors? Our new Keepsake Cookbooks will be released on November 3. You may submit as few as 25 recipes or as many as you would like. They are perfect for Holiday gift giving. Stay tuned to our blog for a sneak peak... coming very soon!

How to Enter Recipes with Multiple Sections

2006-10-25T19:31:00.000-04:00

Recipe Sections are one of the great features included in each Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Because the Secret Ingredients team alphabetizes your recipes for you, we wanted you to be able to link recipes within a recipe. This way recipes that are related to one another won't be separated when they are alphabetized!

Do you have a cake recipe that contains two parts- one for the cake and one for the icing?

This is the perfect example of when you would use our Recipe Section feature. Here's another example: My mother always serves Bordelaise Sauce, Horseradish, and Yorkshire Pudding with her favorite roast beef recipe. So, when we made our family cookbook we used Recipe Sections to link the three sides with her original roast beef recipe.

How do you use Secret Ingredients' Recipe Sections?

Enter the first section in your "Add Recipe" form. For example, if you have a cake/icing recipe, enter the cake recipe first.
Instead of clicking "Recipe Complete" after you type your recipe, click "Next Section."
Enter the second recipe section. This is when you would enter the fabulous icing recipe for your cake.

Continue until you have added all recipe sections. Then click "Recipe Complete."

To review your Recipe Sections, click on "Recipes." Find your recipe by clicking on its category. You will notice that the recipe sections are listed underneath the first recipe title. Each section can be edited separately. How handy is that!

You do not have to use Recipe Sections if you don't want to. Enter your recipes exactly as you would like them printed.

Don't forget about our Heirloom Cookbook contest! Click here to enter for your chance to win a FREE custom cookbook.

Family Recipes from the Domestik Goddess

2006-10-24T06:44:00.000-04:00

Our blogger friend Jen, the Domestik Goddess, keeps us up-to-date on the latest and greatest news for our homes each day. Jen also has an incredible collection of family recipes that she posts regularly on her blog.

Jen does an incredible job of giving her readers the story behind her recipes. For example, here is an excerpt from her War Cake recipe:

"Our family often serves this War Cake on Remembrance Day — Veterans Day to our cousins in the USA — as a reminder of what life was like on the home front in the Second World War. But this heavy dark cake is a tasty family favourite. In fact, my sister liked it so well that as a child she always demanded it for her birthday cake!

War cake recipes vary, but they are traditionally butter-less, egg-less, milk-less, and sometimes sugarless, reflecting those difficult days when many "luxury foods" were in short supply and prohibitively expensive, or even under wartime rationing controls.

This particular old recipe comes from the well-worn pages of Grandmother's own handwritten cookbook. It does call for a bit of butter but substitutes brown sugar for the refined white sugar which was hard to come by in Atlantic Canada. It is well-suited to a topping of boiled frosting or whipped cream, but of course Grammie used to serve it plain."

Click here to read the recipe.

Not only does her recipe note tell us about her family history and memories, but it also fills us in on world history at the time in which the recipe was created and gives preparation tips. Now that's a recipe! To read more of Jen's recipes, check out her recent Recipe Round-Up.

The great thing about writing detailed recipes in your family cookbook is that it will make your children and future generations aware of their family history and the events that shaped past generations. Unlike most heirlooms, family cookbooks are used on a regular basis- not stored away in closets and unused drawers. How fun will it be to share your family history with your children as you make Holiday cookies or a special dessert?!

Do you have a family recipe that has a neat story? Share it with us, and you may win one of ten free heirloom cookbooks! Check out our current contest for more details.

The Perfect Fall Soup

2006-10-20T11:44:00.000-04:00

Fall has settled into the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, Secret Ingredients' home base. The changing leaves are beautiful, the temperature is cooling, and I am craving a warm, fall soup to celebrate the new season.

I searched my mother's recipe collection for the perfect recipe, and I found it!

With colorful veggies, fresh herbs, and warmth, this recipe celebrates the best of the season. My mother's note on this recipe reads, "This will warm your body and your heart!"

Harvest Soup

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
7 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup turnips, cubed
1 cup diced sweet potato, peeled
1 cup peeled carrot
salt & pepper
1 cup celery, diced
2 cups chicken breast halves, skinned, boned, and cut up
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon

Directions:

Heat oil on low heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Remove cover; heat to medium and add garlic. Stir in broth, turnips, sweet potatoes, carrot; boil.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer until crisp tender- about 20 minutes. Season. Add celery and chicken. Simmer until chicken is opaque- about 10 minutes. Add herbs last.

How to Restore Old Family Photos

2006-10-19T13:17:00.000-04:00

Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks are the perfect way to share and document old family photographs. Many of our members have restored old family photographs just so they can use them in their cookbook project.

How do you restore old photographs?

If your photographs are faded, scratched, or torn, it is possible to have them fully restored. You will be surprised- sometimes the restored image is even better than the original. Look at this photograph of my grandparents at a high school dance...

My family had this photograph restored by a professional. The original photo had worn edges and significant fading.

Here are some tips to help you restore your old photographs:

Photocopying does not work. Although it will somewhat flatten any rips or tears, photocopying does not fix color, fading, or scratches.

This is an example of a photocopy of an old family photograph. Notice that the image is not sharp and the gray lines at the top of the image were not as dark on the original image.

Computer software. There are many computer programs that will help you remove scratches, tears, and other imperfections. This software can be expensive and complicated, so if you have savvy friends or family members, ask for their help!

Photo Kiosks. If your photo only needs to have the color restored, you can do this from a photo kiosk at your local drugstore, photo shop, or large retailer. At a photo kiosk you can scan your image, adjust the image, and order prints. To read about Kodak's photo kiosk's and how to use their features, click here.

Ask a professional. If your photograph has a lot of damage, it would be worth the expense to have it restored professionally. Call or visit your local photo shops. A professional restoration could cost up to $30, but your family will be very appreciative.

Purely Organic sample

Tips for Taking Great Family Photos

2006-10-17T11:31:00.000-04:00

Your Secret Ingredients cookbook has two major elements: your recipes and family photographs. It is this combination of family memories, stories, recipes, and photographs that make your cookbook project so special. Because photographs play a major role in creating your custom cookbook, I want to give you some tips for taking great photographs!

The photographs we frame and share are the ones that evoke emotion and capture our most favorite memories or the personality of our loved ones. The following tips will help you make your photographs even better!

The Rule of Thirds. Did you know that placing your subject in the middle of the picture is generally not the best option? The Rule of Thirds is one of the best photo tips out there! Simply divide up your image into thirds vertically and horizontally by imagining a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Where the lines intersect are the most powerful points for placing your subjects. Click here to see an example from Kodak’s website.

Make sure that you are on the subject’s level. If you are taking pictures of kids or pets, actually kneel down to take better pictures.

Avoid distracting backgrounds. A plain background always compliments your subject.

Know when to use your flash. Turn your flash on to take pictures of friends and family outdoors on a sunny day. If you are taking pictures of people who are more than five feet away from you, make sure your flash is on. If your subject is within five feet of you, use your fill flash. If you are taking photos of Holiday lights at night, be sure to keep that flash turned off!

Double-check your lighting. Make sure that the lighting is complimentary of your subject. Shadows and bright sunlight can produce shadows or highlight your subject too much.

Be sure to check out Kodak’s Top Ten Tips for Great Pictures for more tips. Also, check back with us tomorrow to learn more about enhancing and editing your old family photographs!

Butter Cookies for Cookie Month

2006-10-16T10:12:00.000-04:00

Did you know that October is National Cookie Month? I've googled, queried wikipedia, and even asked Jeeves and I can't figure out why October is National Cookie Month. Does anyone know?

I'm glad to join in the celebration of one of my favorite things- cookies! Everyone loves cookies, and I wanted to share one of Secret Ingredients' favorite cookie recipes with you. This recipe came from one of the first cookbooks I made, and its author, Susan Lapis, was happy to share it with us!

I made these cookies this weekend and handed them out to my neighbors. One neighbor knocked on my door yesterday to see if I had any left. These babies are good! With a little creativity and patience, you can turn this recipe into a masterpiece.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks, softened in microwave)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt (unless you used salted butter)
Icing:
1 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add flour, vanilla extract, and salt (if needed) and combine. Chill the dough for 10-15 minutes. This makes it easier to work with, although you may skip this step if needed. Make sure not to chill dough too long or it will harden beyond being pliable.

Roll dough on a floured board using a floured rolling pin. Cut out the cookies using your favorite shape, and bake them on a greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. They are done when the edges barely begin to brown.

When cookies have cooled, combine ingredients for icing. Add powder sugar slowly until you reach your desired thickness. For ideas on decorating your cookies, check out this article on Martha Stewart Living.

The cookies I made below are, well, a little sloppy! I was cooking several dishes at once, and my cookies didn't get the attention they needed. BUT they were absolutely delicious!

To learn about the history of cookies check out this article on whatscookingamerica.net. Did you know that Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for almost 90 years?!

To add this recipe to your Secret Ingredients cookbook project, simply look under "Cookies" in the Stock Pot. Then, find Butter Cookies and click the "Add this recipe" button.

Reminder: The Secret Ingredients contest is still underway. Enter now for your chance to win one of ten free custom cookbooks!

Celebrate World Egg Day with an Incredible Soufflé

2006-10-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

I really love any good soufflé recipe, and since today is World Egg Day, I thought I would pass on my most favorite soufflé recipe. From my great-grandmother's kitchen comes this jewel of a recipe, Cheese Soufflé.

Cheese Soufflé

Serve immediately!

Prep Time: 30 min. • Cook Time: 30+ min.
Yields: 4-5 servings • Oven Temp: 350°

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup grated cheese (sharp cheddar)
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Place butter and flour in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Smooth into paste. Add salt and milk- a little at a time as to not have lumps. Add cheese and stir until melted.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with a whisk until lemon yellow and a little thick. Add yolks to cheese mixture.

It will look like this...

Finally, with electric mixer, beat whites until very stiff- takes almost 7-10 minutes.

With large spoon, pour cheese mixture a little at a time into whites and gently mix in.

Affix a wax paper collar to greased soufflé dish, pour in batter and place in 350° oven to bake for 30 or so minutes. Do not remove until thoroughly done.

This recipe is so delicious! Your guests will beg you for the recipe. I fixed this recipe for my group of girlfriends last night and received rave reviews.

If you would like to add this recipe to your cookbook project, you may do so very simply by checking out our Stock Pot. For directions on adding Stock Pot recipes to your Secret Ingredients cookbook, click here.

To learn more about creating your own family cookbook, check out Secret Ingredients.

Bring Back Family Meals

2006-10-12T10:51:00.000-04:00

Last night I had another great meal with my mother! Although Mom and I have very busy schedules (she is in graduate school getting her second master’s degree at 57!), we meet every Wednesday night for a sit-down, home cooked meal and a movie.

I grew up in a very traditional family. Every night I enjoyed a delicious family meal with my parents and sister, and on Sundays we would join the extended family for brunch or dinner at my grandparents’ house.

My grandfather Bud loved to make his grandchildren laugh during our family meals!

The comfort and warmth of a meal with family makes us feel grounded and connected. It is the perfect time to catch up and to enjoy each other’s company in the midst of busy days. The American Psychological Association published a study in 1997 that proves that family meals take a major role in the lives of teenagers and young children. The association’s studies found that well- adjusted teenagers (teens with healthier friendships who are more motivated academically and avoid common peer pressures) ate dinner with their families at least five times a week. The University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina found similar results in their study on family meals.

Even if your family is spread out all over the country, getting together with your social family is equally important. I do both! On Wednesday nights I eat dinner with my mother and on Friday nights I get together with my closest friends. These meals break up my busy work schedule and are very refreshing.

HOW TO BRING "FAMILY" MEALS BACK INTO YOUR LIFE:

Begin slowly. The trick is to not get overwhelmed with preparations or burned out on the concept. Start adding one sit-down meal to your schedule each week. Gradually increase your family meals at a comfortable rate.

Choose easy meals. The quality of the food at your family meal should not be the initial focus; although, later you will find that offering picky children healthy food will become easier as your sit down meals become more familiar. In the beginning, keep it simple. Even make-your-own-pizza night would be fun for your entire group and low stress for you! For “social families”, stick to potlucks. Let everyone bring their favorite.

Get everyone involved. Children love to be included in projects and to feel “helpful”. This is especially true in a low stress, happy environment. Ask your children to help pour beverages or to set the table. You may also get them involved with meal planning. This will give you the opportunity to guide them towards healthier options.

Keep family meals enjoyable. Give each person time to talk about their day, and avoid negative conversation. This is also a great time to discuss upcoming events and holidays.

Turn off the TV and cell phones. Taking time out of your day to enjoy your loved ones without interruption is refreshing and can make you feel more efficient when you return phone calls and return your focus to work.

Be creative. Family meals can take place at any meal time and anywhere! If your schedule is too busy at night with sporting events and board meetings, pack a picnic dinner to share between events, meet for lunch instead, or plan to have breakfast together.

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Choosing Photographs for Your Family Cookbook

2006-10-11T10:28:00.000-04:00

Do you have drawers and computer folders filled with family photographs? Choosing photographs for your Secret Ingredients cookbook project can be a lot of fun. Not only will you walk down memory lane as you choose the perfect photographs for your recipe scrapbook, but you will also see your cookbook project come to life as you tell your family's story through recipes and photographs.

Today I wanted to offer some tips to help you choose the perfect photos for your custom cookbook:

Include both old and new photos. This year I am creating a special Secret Ingredients cookbook for my sister, Whitney. I decided to alternate old black & white photographs of our grandparents and parents with more recent color photographs of Whitney's wedding and her two beautiful babies. This combination highlights some of our most favorite memories together and celebrates the people we love so dearly.

Be creative with color. If you are familiar with photo editing software or know someone who is, you can enhance your photographs by changing the color levels and cropping. Play with your photographs to find your favorite color settings. Use filters to sharpen the image or remove noise (scratches, specks, etc.) on your older photographs.

If you do not have photo editing software, consider downloading Google's Picassa. This is a free program that will organize your photographs and make your life a lot easier! Picassa includes basic photo editing features that are easy enough for anyone to use. Picassa's features include the following: color adjustment, a cropping tool, and a red eye tool.

Groups: Make sure to include everyone. Ask your friends and family to send you their favorite photographs via email or snail mail. If you are doing a family reunion cookbook or a group cookbook, devote one divider to each branch of your family or social group. This works out perfectly!

Consider your divider set. Before deciding where your photographs will be placed in your Secret Ingredients cookbook, you may find it very helpful to look at our divider samples. Simply click on the name of the divider set that you have chosen to flip through an entire sample set. Your cookbook will look even better if your photographs match the backgrounds on each divider.

Think about creative placement. Consider matching your photographs with the divider category. For example, the Secret Ingredients recently finished a very cute heirloom cookbook for a young family. On the Pasta divider, the family included a photograph of their young daughter eating spaghetti- red tomato sauce covering her hands and mouth. It was so cute! The same family added a photograph of their two daughters in standing on the front stoop of their house dressed in their Halloween costumes.

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Create a Family Newsletter

2006-10-10T17:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mentioned that family newsletters are a great way to keep your family up-to-date on your Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Have you ever considered making a family newsletter? It's a wonderful way to stay in touch with your family around the world...

How do you organize a family newsletter?

Create a Mailing List. Although it is perfectly fine to make a handwritten address list for your family newsletter, we recommend using spreadsheet software so that you can do a simple mail merge later.

Need to find addresses? Send an email to your family members and ask them to send you their addresses along with their children's contact information. Be sure to call your family members who are not electronically connected!

Choose a Format. Although email newsletters are very convenient, they may be difficult to pull off. Unless you are very computer-savvy, creating a newsletter with beautiful graphics and photographs is pretty difficult. Also, email can be difficult for older generations. If you would like to send an email newsletter, you can always create a plain text email and send photographs as attachments.

We recommend sending your family newsletter the old-fashioned way- snail mail. Not only will it be a great keepsake, but your family members will be more appreciative and excited to receive it!

You can easily design your family newsletter in a word processing program. Microsoft Word users- Click here to download family newsletter templates. How cool is that!
If you are creating a handmade newsletter, simply take it to your local copy shop or office supply store to make color copies.

Find Out about Upcoming Events. Before you create your newsletter, it's a good idea to contact your family members for an update. Ask them if there are any important dates, recent achievements, memories, stories, or recipes that they would like to contribute. Don't forget to ask your children to get involved. Perhaps they could draw a picture, write a funny poem, or share a story!

Include Family History. Mix up old stories with the new! Include photographs of older family members when they were younger. Your children will get a kick out of seeing their aunts and uncles in their high school fashions! Also, include funny stories about grandparents and the favorite family recipes.

What a great way to stay connected! It is also the perfect way to let your family know about your Secret Ingredients cookbook project.

Did you know that Secret Ingredients is having a contest and that 10 lucky winners will win a free custom cookbook? If you haven't submitted your entry, click here to check out the contest.

Keep Your Group Members on Track!

2006-10-09T11:50:00.000-04:00

I spoke with a Secret Ingredients member this morning who has been planning her family cookbook for an entire year. Not only has she collected the family photographs, journals, and recipes from past generations, but she has also asked her family members to contribute their favorite recipes and stories as well.

The entire family is very excited about her project. They ask her for updates each time they get together for a meal or outing and are thrilled that they can order their own personal copies. However, she is having a very hard time getting everyone to submit their recipes on time.

When you are working on a family project with a large group of people, it can be very difficult to keep everyone focused! Over the years, I have helped many large families and social groups coordinate cookbook projects, and I would like to share the most effective ways to keep your group on track...

Updates: Send your group updates on your cookbook project regularly. This reminds them about the project and creates excitement. You may consider including a list of the recipes that have been submitted so far. You would be surprised how effective this is. No one wants to feel left out!

Family Newsletters: Include cookbook updates in your family newsletter along with stories and memories that will be documented in your cookbook. Need ideas for family newsletters? Stay tuned to the Secret Ingrediets blog tomorrow for more details.

Plan a Get-Together: Why not plan a recipe potluck to celebrate your cookbook project? Each person can bring his/her favorite dish from the recipes that they will be adding to the cookbook. This is a great way to make your cookbook project more fun, and you get a delicious meal! Read about the Sobel/Pirtle family's Secret Ingredients party that took place in Tucson this summer for ideas.

Procrastinators: If you have group members who are particularly busy or are a little lazy, why not ask if they need help? Teenage children will have fun entering recipes for anyone who needs help.

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Potato and Green Bean Salad

2006-10-06T16:45:00.000-04:00

Today we have another great family recipe for you! Just look how delicious...

POTATO AND GREEN BEAN SALAD

4 cups potatoes (I use a mix of the little red ones and the little yellow ones)
4 cups green beans
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pressed garlic
2 teaspoons salt

Cut up the potatoes into uniform, bite sized pieces, and boil until soft. Drain them. Cut the green beans into 1 inch pieces, and steam them until done.

Combine the pressed garlic and salt, and let the mixture sit for about 1/2 an hour. It's important to actually let them sit for that long. The salt chemically changes the garlic and makes it about half as spicy, so three tablespoons of garlic doesn't knock you over!

After that time, squish the garlic and salt up with the back of a spoon until pasty. Put the garlic/salt paste into the ¼ cup of olive oil and stir it up. Put the potatoes and green beans in a bowl, and toss with the olive oil mixture. Serve cold.

This recipe is included in the Secret Ingredients' Stock Pot, our special database of recipes that are contributed by people just like you- the real home cooks! Remember that you can add Stock Pot recipes to your cookbook project quickly and easily. If you need extra recipes for your custom cookbook, this is an easy way to find filler. At the click of a button, you can save Stock Pot recipes to your cookbook project, and you can edit them at your leisure. Click here to read more.

If you don't have a Secret Ingredients account, don't worry. Set up a free trial account today to peruse our Stock Pot and website. (No obligations.)

Want to win a free Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbook? It's the perfect wedding gift and holiday gift. Click here to enter!

Tips for Storing Your Paper Heirlooms

2006-10-05T08:58:00.000-04:00

The Secret Ingredients team was busy yesterday finding the best ways for you to store your family history documents. We found solutions for all your paper heirlooms from family journals to newspaper clippings and photographs...

Storage Environment: Don’t store your family history documents and other paper heirlooms in your attic or basement with your off-season clothes and tools! Basements and attics are often too hot, dry or humid. Also, remember to store your heirlooms away from water sources- pipes, plumbing, or areas that could be at risk for flooding.

Important Books: Be sure to store books on smooth shelves that are sealed or coated. Unsealed wood can release acidic vapors that will damage your pages.

Newspaper Clippings: If possible, laminate newspaper clippings and loose papers. Newspaper becomes very fragile when it is exposed to light and may damage other paper items or photographs if it is not laminated or stored separately.

Photographs: Store your photographs in high quality photo albums or in plastic sleeves. You can find inexpensive clear envelopes with an adhesive strip at ClearEnvelopes.com. Do not store photographs in acidic paper envelopes or with rubber bands, paper clips, or poor quality adhesives. Keep your photographs away from any products that contain sulfur dioxide, cardboard, plywood, or fumes from paint or cleaning supplies.

Archival Boxes: Store your paper heirlooms in high quality, archival boxes. This website, ArchivalMethods.com, has many options in all price ranges. Also, check The Container Store for affordable options for all document types.

Make copies: Make several photocopies of articles with photographs and graphics. Type a back-up copy of journals, articles, and handwritten notes. Remember that ink may fade over the years, and handwriting can be difficult for future generations to interpret.

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News (Old and New!) at Secret Ingredients

2006-10-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

Guess what? Secret Ingredients will be launching a new product line very soon. How exciting! Our new line of custom cookbooks will help you create recipe scrapbooks for all occasions. Short on time or cash? No worries- our new cookbooks are elegant, affordable, and you may enter as many or as few recipes as you would like!

Stay tuned to learn more about our new treasures. We hope to launch the new product line at the beginning of November- just in time for Christmas gifts. Our new books even come in a holiday theme- perfect for giving friends and neighbors during the Holidays.

This week I am putting the finishing touches on the new cookbooks. My mother is so excited about our new Holiday books that I am using her favorite recipes to create the samples for our website. Each year, my mother makes miniature rum cakes, Friendship Soup mix, homemade oyster crackers, and peach preserves for her friends and neighbors. This year she is so excited to include a Holiday collection of her favorite recipes!

Last week she gave me the family cookbook her grandmother made for my mother's wedding gift, so that I can add these recipes to her holiday cookbooks.

Reading the recipes from my mother's handwritten family cookbook was quite a chore. Not only is my great-grandmother's handwriting difficult to read, but the pages are starting to age and the ink is fading.

I even enhanced the picture below with graphic filters to make it easier and clearer for you to see!

Lately we have received a lot of phone calls from customers who want to include scans from old family journals, cookbooks, and news clippings in their Secret Ingredients cookbooks. Including these items in a family cookbook is ideal, because it is difficult to protect, preserve, and share these documents with your family members and future generations.

Because of my own experience with my family's handwritten heirloom cookbook and because there has been a lot of talk about preserving older documents and photographs with our customers, I've decided to devote special attention to storing and sharing heirloom documents and photographs on the blog this week.

Stay tuned tomorrow for tips on storing your family cookbook, journals, and other paper items...

Recipe Gifts: Make Your Own Baking & Soup Mixes

2006-10-02T20:34:00.000-04:00

In today's world, where families are spread across the globe and family dinners are becoming more of a special occasion than a daily occurrence, it's important to share and cultivate family traditions, recipes, and stories. Recording favorite recipes into a Custom Heirloom Cookbook is one way to ensure that those precious memories and flavors stay with your family through the years and generations. An Heirloom Cookbook is also a great way to share your recipes and traditions with friends, family, and loved ones.

Another wonderful way to encourage your friends and loved ones to try some of your favorite recipes is to make it so easy for them that they can't say no! Making your own baking mixes and soup mixes is a simple way to give your friends and family a few new flavors to add to their meals.

The most important part of making your own baking mix is choosing the right recipes. You want to choose a recipe whose ingredients are primarily either dry or wet. Recipes with things like canned fruit, jam, canned tomatoes, meats, and other ingredients that your friends and family might not keep at hand, and that are impossible to pack and ship, are recipes to be avoided.

Baking Mixes:

Baking mixes are simple and fun to assemble, not to mention pretty!
Choose a container that you know will fit all the ingredients you need to use. I love using beautiful, antique canning jars.

Once you've chosen your container, look at your recipe. Write down all the dry ingredients in one list, and all the wet ingredients in a separate list. Ideally you should have just a few wet ingredients; eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, etc.

Using your list of dry ingredients, carefully measure and pour those ingredients into your container in layers, patting each layer smooth with your fingers. Once you're finished, cap the container, and your mix is done!

Be sure to include instructions for use that tell the recipient what they need to add to the dry ingredients (all the wet ingredients), how to prepare the mix, what to bake it in, at what temperature and how long. Decorate your container with a lovely satin ribbon, or a square of cloth screwed into the lid, and give a gift that will warm someone's heart and kitchen!

Soup Mixes:

Soup mixes are a wonderful seasonal gift, and especially good as we enter the colder months. To make a soup mix, first choose your recipe. You want to choose a recipe without a lot of prep work (for example, a meatball soup like Italian Wedding Soup would not work well), and with a lot of dried ingredients. Bean soups and stews and soups with pasta work great.

Choose a container or bag, and begin pouring in the dry ingredients in layers. Be sure to pour the fine ingredients, like herbs or cornmeal, first, and the big ingredients, like beans or pasta, last.
This way, the layers will stay crisp; if you reverse the order, the fine ingredients sift down through the spaces in between the larger ingredients, and your layers get jumbled.

Again, be sure to include all the instructions the chef would need to complete the recipe, and finish your packaging with a pretty detail.

Making mixes is also a perfect way to create economical, personal wedding favors! Make a mix that is relevant to the location of the marriage, or make a mix of the groom's favorite food! Wedding guests will be surprised and pleased to be given a favor full of the flavors of the area!

Secret Ingredients is currently offering free trial accounts. Set yours up today and explore the recipes in our Stock Pot! Some of them are perfect for baking and soup mixes, and your account is free.

Local Flavors: Wedding Favors, Gifts, and More

2006-09-28T17:54:00.000-04:00

Giving recipes is a wonderful way to introduce your family and friends to your favorite local specialties. One great way to give local recipes is to assemble your favorites into a local recipe scrapbook, being sure to include recipes from all the great local chefs you know! What sorts of foods are prized where you live? Do you love soul food? Do you make your meals with a Southwestern kick?

Another wonderful way to gift local flavors is through the mail. A few months ago my friend Beth sent me a package of her favorite local delicacies. She lives in Arizona, so she included some fresh ground chipotle (yum!) and a great Blue Corn Muffin Mix. Included in the package were some of her favorite recipes using chipotle. What a great way to give someone a feel for where you live, and the flavors that color your day-to-day life!

Local foods also make a wonderful wedding favor for fall brides.
Wrapping up some beautiful glass jars of spices with a recipe card is an inexpensive way to give your guests something to remember your wedding by, and a taste of your life! Pretty glass spice jars can be found for under a dollar at places like Crate and Barrel and the World Market.

Remember, Secret Ingredients is holding a great contest to give away ten custom heirloom cookbooks! Enter today to win yours, and fill it with your own favorite local specialties!

Make Custom Gift Jars & Labels for Secret Recipes

2006-09-27T10:31:00.000-04:00

Sometimes rather than giving recipes as gifts, you can give gifts that celebrate recipes. Making a family recipe book and giving it as a gift is a wonderful way to celebrate recipes. Another one of my favorite ways to celebrate recipes is to make beautiful custom labeled bottles to present to the chefs in my life. Giving them professional-looking packaging for their special recipes is a great way to show them how much I value their recipe, their cooking, and their place in my life.

Making custom labeled bottles and jars is easy to do. There are two components: the label and the jar. Both labels and jars are easy to order online. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.

Labels:

Creating a label for your special chef is fun! Be sure to think about their product and their personality when designing. For example, take a look at the labels I made for a friend who is a fun salsa chef, and my mom, whose taste is more classic:

I made salsa jars to give my friend James a.k.a. "The Salsa Man" for his birthday.

This label was made to celebrate one of my mother's favorite recipes, Peach Preserves!

In James' label, the design references his hometown in the Southwest as well as his current home in Seattle, and is as colorful and spicy as his salsa and his fun personality! My mother's design is a more elegant, traditional approach, and I included some special uses for her preserves on the label. Personal design touches like these make a really special present.

Once you've designed your label, it's time to print them! In labeling food products, a waterproof label is a must. I use a wonderful online company called Performance Labels and Graphics, which provides waterproof labels in small quantities at great prices. I like this company because not only are their products high-quality, but you don't have to order five hundred!

Jars:

Choosing the right jar is important for a successful gift. You need to make sure that your jar is both safe and appropriate for the food that it will contain. Glass jars with metal lids are usually universally suitable for canned foods, but be sure to ask the recipient what features the jars they use have, if you need to.

A good source for ordering jars is SKS, which carries a number of great jars for a variety of foods. Make sure that the jar you choose has enough room for your label design.

A tip for giving the gift:

When presenting the gift, assemble one jar and label, but keep the rest separate. In the canning process, jars are often boiled, and if you affix all the labels onto the jars, they'll only come off during the canning process. Give one finished example, and allow the recipient the fun of putting on the rest of the labels!

Be creative, and have fun!

Be sure to drop by the Secret Ingredients website to enter to win one of ten free customized cookbooks!

How to Turn Your Recipes into Meaningful Gifts

2006-09-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

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.

Fall Colors

2006-09-25T08:28:00.000-04:00

Fall is a season of colors. Saturday, September 23rd was the official start of fall, which means that it's a great time to be cooking with wonderful, colorful fall produce. A few of the crops which are harvested in the fall are Acorn and Butternut Squash, Apples, Belgian Endive, Cauliflower, Figs, Garlic, Ginger, Grapes, Mushrooms, Parsnips, Pears, Pomegranates, Pumpkins, Quince, Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard.

Looking for recipes in your collection that feature these ingredients is a wonderful way to take advantage of fresh produce, and also a colorful and delicious way to bring fall to your table. If you're looking for extra fall recipes, set up your free Heirloom Cookbook test account and browse through the great collection of recipes in our Stock Pot!

The naturally colorful food that we see so much of in fall is not only a beautiful way to dress up your plate, it is also healthy. The pigments most often found in vegetables and fruits are called flavonoids. Flavonoids are antioxidants, which means that they destroy free radicals in the human body. Free radicals are naturally occurring scraps of molecules which can do such damage as kill healthy cells, promote heart disease, and "induce DNA damage that might foster cancer" (Science News). Maintaining a diet rich in naturally colorful foods and the variety of flavonoids that comes with that colorful food, is a wonderful way to treat both your palate and your body!

Be sure to record and save the best fall recipes that you try, so that you can make them again next year. A recipe scrapbook is the perfect way to preserve seasonal recipes.

This week on the Secret Ingredients blog, we're going to be exploring the idea of recipes as gifts. Be sure to check back in, as we have lots of wonderful tips on gifting which are economical and personal ways to give during the upcoming holiday season!

An Apple A Day

2006-09-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Autumn is the season for apples, and we're seeing more and more fresh, crisp varieties of apples available in grocery stores and farmer's markets. Apples have incredible health benefits, are high in fiber, low in sugar, and are a perfect refreshing fall snack. You can enjoy them fresh, or use them in a pie, a Brown Betty, bake them, or enjoy them in products like Apple Butter, or, my favorite fall treat, Apple Cider. We've even included a favorite apple recipe from one of our customers in an earlier posting, THE Apple Cake! Just remember, when eating apples, that it's a good idea to either eat or include their skins; over half of the vitamin C in an apple is in the thin layer of fruit just below the skin.

Apples are also a wonderful way to lower your sugar intake during the day. Instead of grabbing crackers or cookies, reach for an apple!? In the 1800s, average sugar consumption per person in America was 12 pounds per year. By 1990, Americans were eating 137.5 pounds per year! (Food Consumption, Prices and Expenditures, United States Department of Agriculture, 1991). Choosing fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks can help limit the amount of sugar we eat, and replace the empty calories of refined sugar with healthier fare.

Do you have a favorite fall apple memory? If so, send it in and enter to win one of ten free Secret Ingredients cookbooks! We can't wait to hear from you!

(When drinking cider, Center for Science in the Public Interest has this reminder:
"Unpasteurized apple cider is a holiday food that may contain harmful bacteria. Check the label to see if the cider is unpasteurized. If serving cider to the elderly or young or those with weakened immune systems, buy pasteurized apple cider. If you want to buy unpasteurized cider or are unsure if the cider is pasteurized, mull the cider by heating it to 160° F or boiling it if you don't have a thermometer. Serve it warm or cold.")

Secret Ingredients Contest: Win a FREE Cookbook

2006-09-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

TEN lucky contest winners will win a free Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbook!

Do you have a funny or sentimental story about a family recipe? Tell us all about it, and you may win one of TEN free heirloom cookbooks.

The contest starts tomorrow. Tell us your story in 250 words or less, and feel free to include the recipe behind the story… if it’s not a huge secret!

Entries will be accepted until December 1, 2006. Winners will be announced by December 8, 2006- just in time for Christmas! Each free cookbook is valued at $195.

Have Their Cake & Eat It Too: Email Recipe Requests

2006-09-19T09:51:00.000-04:00

Email Recipe Requests are a special feature exclusive to Secret Ingredients' online cookbook projects. Recipe requests make cookbook projects so much easier. It will save you time, help prevent carpal tunnel, and get your cookbooks finished more quickly!

Here are some advantages and ideas for using Secret Ingredients' Recipe Requests to make your own cookbook:

The Good Cooks!
Do you have a sister or aunt who is an incredible cook? Now you can ask her for her recipes through the Secret Ingredients website, and you won't even have to type them yourself! Bingo!

Creating a Cookbook with a Large Group of People
We have had several families use Recipe Requests lately to create a family cookbook for birthday or wedding gifts. If you would like to create a cookbook quickly, simply create an account and send your family members and friends recipe forms that they can fill out at their convenience. Usually the more people involved the more quickly your cookbook is finished. That, of course, depends on the number of procrastinators in your group!

A Surprise Gift
If you want to create a family or heirloom cookbook as a surprise gift, but you need to get recipes from the gift recipient... you can! Sending Email Recipe Requests only allows the recipient to add recipes. They will not have access to your cookbook project, and therefore will not figure out your surprise!

To send Recipe Requests simply log into your Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Click on Email Recipe Requests. Add your email addresses, and we will take care of the rest!

If you do not have a Secret Ingredients account, be sure to sign up for a FREE Trial Account today!

Stay Tuned tomorrow for a very special announcement! This week we are launching a HUGE contest and will be giving free Secret Ingredients cookbooks to our winners!

A Family Recipe with a Southwestern Kick: Fried Green Tomatoes

2006-09-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

Wanting to get a last minute dose of sunshine before fall officially sets into the mountains of Western North Carolina, I made a last minute dash to the shores of Pawleys Island, South Carolina last weekend. This is the perfect time of year to head to the beach. I was welcomed with perfect weather, less crowded beaches, and no wait at some of South Carolina’s best restaurants. Southern food and South Carolina seafood is hard to beat. It is definitely comfort food for me!

Full of southern soul food spirit, I made these delicious fried green tomatoes last night and wanted to share this recipe with you!

This recipe came from a Secret Ingredients family cookbook I created last spring. It adds a nice southwestern kick to a southern staple! I demonstrated this recipe on the local news in Asheville, NC in July. Not only did the audience love the creativity behind this recipe, but the crew gladly cleaned my plates!

Perfect Southwestern Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:
5 tomatoes
1 cup milk
½ cup flour
½ cup yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon ground chipotle
2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil

Directions:
In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, corn meal, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, chipotle, and salt. Pour the milk into a separate bowl.

Slice the tomatoes about 1/3” thick. Only keep the pretty, center slices and discard the tops and bottoms.

Cover a large skillet (12-inch) with a thin layer of olive oil. Heat it on medium until hot but not smoking.

Dip your tomato slices into the milk, and then cover them in the dry ingredient mixture. Pat the mixture around them until they are well covered.

Place them in the pan and fry. Resist the temptation to flip them until you see the edges begin to curl slightly up. This will help keep the breading on the tomatoes.

When fried to a lovely golden brown color on both sides, remove from the oil to a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the tomato slices!

To make a napoleon (2 choices):

1. Add sour cream between each layer of tomatoes. Top with salsa and cilantro.
2. Add goat cheese (heat slightly so spreadable). Top with green salsa.

Note: Your tomatoes do NOT have to be green, but they do need to be hard! Buy the hardest tomatoes you can find!

You will find this recipe in our Stock Pot. Give the recipe a try. I think you’ll find that it is a crowd-pleaser- hands down! Also, feel free to add it to your cookbook project. For instructions on adding Stock Pot recipes to your cookbook project, click here.

Belly DuJour & A Free Apple E-Cookbook

2006-09-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

Belly DuJour, our favorite foodie newsletter, gave us some great apple tips today and a link to Chef Scott Carsberg's (of Seattle's Lampreia restaurant) All About Apples downloadable cookbook.

Click here to check out Belly DuJour's Apple-icious newsletter. To skip to the free apple cookbook download check out this site: All About Apples. The cookbook, filled with beautiful photographs, is absolutely gorgeous.

What is Belly DuJour?

Belly DuJour is a free twice-weekly email newsletter. It is the "definitive insider sourcefor epicureans, gourmands, foodies, gastronomes, bon vivants, hedonists, gluttons, and all-around eating enthusiasts seeking delectable specialty foodsfoodies, gastronomes, bon vivants, hedonists, gluttons, and all-around eating enthusiasts seeking delectable specialty foods."

Click here to sign up for Belly DuJour. It is a Secret Ingredients' favorite!

Another Great Recipe Website

2006-09-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

Today I found another great recipe site from the one and only Williams-Sonoma. Recipes are categorized by course which is really helpful, and you will find "Basics" under each category. Each recipe has an irresistible photograph. The website is clean, easy to use, and delicious!

Check out Williams-Sonoma Recipes now!

Recipe Showers for the Fall Bride

2006-09-15T09:31:00.000-04:00

Looking for a new way to celebrate the new bride? How about a Recipe Shower?

What is a Recipe Shower? At a recipe shower, each guest brings his/her favorite recipes to share with the new bride. This way she will have a new collection of proven recipes from the people she loves to start off married life.

Most brides receive many kitchen gadgets and gizmos, place settings, and pots and pans as wedding gifts. Now she will have a reason to use these kitchen gifts!

Don’t forget that Secret Ingredients can help you create the perfect wedding gift for the bride. Simply enter the Recipe Shower recipes into our website, add some pictures of the bride and her family and friends, and we’ll do the rest! Secret Ingredients wedding cookbooks last a lifetime.

The Perfect Wedding Gift for the Fall Bride

2006-09-14T21:41:00.000-04:00

Fall wedding season is here! Although weddings are now celebrated all year long, many brides will be walking down the aisle this fall.

Finding a unique wedding gift can be difficult. If you are like me, you always have to buy “the perfect gift.” Something unique. Special. Memorable.

Although it’s very important that the bride and groom get the things they need to begin their life together, how do you find a gift that will be even more meaningful and memorable than silver and place settings?

We have the perfect solution- a Secret Ingredients wedding cookbook! With recipes and photographs, it’s the combination of personal cookbook and scrapbook that makes this gift so great.

How do you create a SI wedding cookbook? Members of the bride and groom’s families contribute recipes and photographs and customize a Wedding Dedication page for the couple. This way the happy couple will be able to celebrate the traditions and family recipes from both families.

Another idea is to gather all of your friends and give your friend, the new bride, a wedding cookbook from the girls.

Check out a sample of a wedding cookbook here. Be sure to click on "Fashionably Late."

Whether you are a family member or friend, our website will help you out tremendously. Click here to set-up an account. Then, send out Recipe Requests to your friends. This is an email that contains a re-usable recipe form, so your friends can enter the recipes they would like to include at a time that is convenient for them. This makes a wedding cookbook project very simple and fun. The recipes will be added to your account, so you can see what’s been added and even edit the recipes.

You will then upload or send us 15 photographs for the cookbook and customize the Wedding dedication page. It only takes the Secret Ingredients team 14 business days to complete your cookbook! The new bride will feel so honored with this gift, and you will feel satisfied knowing that she has been celebrated appropriately!

Set-up a FREE trail account today! No obligations.

Finding New Recipes and Cookbooks Online

2006-09-13T20:37:00.000-04:00

As we all know, the Internet is an amazing resource... especially for food and recipes! We have categorized some of our favorite recipe sites to help you organize your online recipe hunting.

3 Huge Recipe Sites

AllRecipes- Allrecipes has more than 30,000 free recipes - all created, tested, reviewed and approved by home cooks worldwide.

Epicurious- Epicurious is the online home of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines. The website features recipes, menus, chefs, wine, drinks, and cooking demos.

RecipeZaar- This site boasts over 170,000 free recipes. Recipes are shared and rated by users.

Specialized Recipes

FoodTV: Get Healthy- If you are looking for low cal, carb, calorie, cholesterol or fat recipes, this is your answer! You will also find diabetic recipes, a whole grains guide and a fat & calorie calculator.

Southwest Cuisine- The photos on this site make me hungry! This website has delicious recipes, and each one has a photo of the final presentation.

Great Cajun Cooking- From Gumbos to Jambalaya this website covers all of the Cajun favorites.

AsiaRecipe.com- Search recipes by area. From Afghanistan to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, this website covers some culinary territory!

French Selections- You will find most of the French classics on this site. The Dessert recipes look particularly delicious, but then again.. don't they always!

Funky Munky's South African Recipes- Try something new with these traditional South African website. The Funky Munky has even included a list of links to businesses in various countries that sell South African goods.

I know that we barely covered the realm of international cuisine. We noticed that the 3 Huge Recipe sites (listed above) cover most of the other cuisines better than independent sites. If you have suggestions, please let me know and we will continue to post recipe links.

Cookbook Websites

Looking for new cookbooks? These two websites are great resources that will save you money:

E-Cookbooks.net- Why buy cookbooks when you can download them for under $10? You can find cookbooks on this site for any occasion, theme, or specialty. Great value!

ECookbooks.com- Cookbooks are heavily discounted on this website. They also have a closeout section.

In my experience you are lucky to find a cookbook with more than 4 or 5 recipes that you absolutely love, although there are classics that are an exception to this rule. That's just one more reason why Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks are so great! Our cookbooks ONLY have recipes that you love! Create your family cookbook today. Your family recipes will never go out of style or sit on the shelf.

Minnesota State Fair: Food on a Stick Video

2006-09-12T12:27:00.000-04:00

Kate at the Accidental Hedonist, another one of our favorite blogs, posted a link to Belly Dujour's Food on a Stick video from the Minnesota State Fair.

Last week we discussed local food festivals. State fairs are also food festivals of their own sort...

This video is really funny! Who would have known that so many different types of food could be served on a stick!

Click here to see The Accidental Hedonist's post. To find the video simply click the words "on a stick" in Kate's post.

Learn How to Cook Online

2006-09-12T10:38:00.000-04:00

If you are like me, you are a passionate foodie and home chef who daydreams about becoming the ultimate chef with the most impressive culinary skills. I have promised myself that someday (in the not-so-distant future) I will make time for official culinary lessons and cooking vacations...

For now, I have found some wonderful resources on the web to help me become the master of my kitchen, and I thought that I would share them with you today.

Julia Child holds up a monkfish on her television show Julia Child and Company in 1979

Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs

In my life experience, I quickly figured out that it pays to learn from the best. Who was the best home chef? No other than Julia Child! She made complicated cooking techniques very do-able with her step-by-step directions and explanations. Today, thanks to PBS, you can access cuts from her cooking videos on the web!

Simply click on "Prime Video Cuts" and search by category, ingredient or chef. These videos show you how to make the most elegant of dishes very simply. They are also entertaining, because the chefs' personalities shine through as they demonstrate incredible recipes. In one of my favorite videos, the "Chocolate Dome Cake with Michel Richard," Michel says, "Yeah. I'm a good chef. My mother is proud."

Note: You can email your favorite videos to friends and family... or yourself!

eGullet

The eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters has an online culinary academy, The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI). Here you will find lessons on an array of culinary subjects from Thai Cooking to Basic Knife Skills to Evolving Cocktails. Each lesson includes step-by-step directions, photographs, and explanations.

Want to see an example? Click here to see a lesson on Basic Condiments.

Although you may access the eGullet Culinary Institute for free, you will need to join the eGullet Society to be able to get full benefit of the website- like posting privileges.

To learn more about the eGullet Society and how it got started, read this Wikipedia article.

Remember that teaching your children to cook is an amazing gift- one that they will use to nurture and nourish their bodies as well as their loved ones. Be sure to document your family recipes and memories. Secret Ingredients will help you create a family cookbook that your family will cherish for generations.

Start today with a Free Trial Account!

Squash Souffle Recipe

2006-09-11T16:33:00.000-04:00

Here is another recipe that is perfect for fall. The first time I ate this Squash Soufflé was at a family friend's Thanksgiving celebration. I fell in love with this dish and immediately asked for the recipe. This has become a favorite in my extended family. Rarely are there leftovers!

Squash Soufflé

Ingredients:
2 pounds squash, sliced (I slice them in fourths- see above)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1- 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
season salt to taste
breadcrumbs

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the squash, onion, salt and sugar and boil until soft. Drain and mash using a potato masher. Be sure to drain well. Extra water will make your soufflé too watery.

Add the butter, flour, milk, cheese, eggs and seasoning salt to the squash mixture. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a greased, round casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt a dab of butter and mix with a handful of breadcrumbs (about 1/2 cup). Top the soufflé with the buttered breadcrumbs. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Note:
You may want to make smaller soufflés to serve as individual portions. I tried this and it turned out beautifully- see above. This is perfect for entertaining! This recipe should make about 6 small soufflés .

Sign up for your FREE Secret Ingredients trial account today to peruse our recipe database, The Stock Pot. Cookbookers, remember that all Stock Pot recipes can be added to your cookbook project at the click of a button. Super easy.

Do you have any favorite family recipes for fall? Please share them with us! Also, if you are interested in receiving a Secret Ingredients brochure via snail mail, simply fill out this form. Our brochures include font samples and coupon codes... You can't beat that!

Also, be sure to check out this article that Jen shared on one of our favorite blogs, So You Wannabee a Domestik Goddess, yesterday: 4 Steps to an Organized Refrigerator.

Remembering 9/11 & the Importance of Family

2006-09-11T16:01:00.000-04:00

Today is a day of remembrance for all of us. For some of us, it is a day to remember and pay tribute to those who lost their lives on the tragic day of September 11, 2001. For others, it is a day to remember loved ones and memories with them that feel so far away- almost as if they were part of another lifetime.

This day reminds me of how simple and powerful life really is. Although we are a species made up of different backgrounds, opinions, experiences, and preferences, we are united emotionally. When tragedy hits, we are in pain together. We are angry together. And all of us feel the natural pull to what's most important, the roots of life: family, friends, community, and life's beautiful simplicities.

It's amazing how each family on this planet has a story unique to only its members. Yes, we are all affected by historical events, but we are all affected differently. Today it is important to remember how our own families are special; to celebrate the memories we have with each other; to be thankful for life's simplicities; and to share and document our family's history for future generations, so that what's special about your family continues...

A Favorite Fall Recipe: Zucchini Frittata

2006-09-08T18:05:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went back to my home town to celebrate the birth of my sister's second child. While I was home, I decided to spoil my father with all kinds of delicious foods, including this Zucchini Frittata and Daniel's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This recipe is so easy and delicious. Your family will beg for more! Unlike most egg dishes, this one tastes great the next day (if not better). Also, it is the perfect time of year to break out the zucchini recipes. Even non-veggie lovers will love this one. Enjoy!

Zucchini Frittata

Ingredients:
3 cups grated zucchini
1 small chopped onion
1 cup Bisquick mix
½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning
½ tsp margarine
½ tsp salt & pepper

Directions:
Mix it all up, pour into a buttered 10" pie plate, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes- or until a knife in the center comes out clean. Easy as that!

Don't forget to make plans to celebrate the grandparents in your life. Sunday, September 10th, is National Grandparents' Day!

Secret Ingredients Family Cookbookers:
This recipe is in The Stock Pot. Don't forget that all Stock Pot recipes can be added to your cookbook project with the click of one button. Simple!

Make Cooking Easier for Older Generations

2006-09-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

We are on a roll this week, helping you get prepared to celebrate Grandparent’s Day on September 10th.

My childhood friend Sarah grew up in my backyard. (Of course, she likes to say that I grew up in her backyard, but that’s another issue!) We were inseparable in our teenage years and were welcomed into each other’s homes as family.

Sarah and I now live five hours apart, but twice a year we meet halfway at her grandmother’s house. Sarah’s grandmother, Gammie, fixes us a delicious “comfort food” meal while Sarah and I catch up and giggle like school girls!

Gammie is one of the most dignified, elegant women I have ever met. She’s an incredible hostess and cook, and I feel so warm and fuzzy each time I come for a visit! Recently I met Sarah at Gammie’s, but something was different. Gammie had slipped at the grocery store and broken her arm and cooking was very difficult for her.

Sarah and I gladly took over the meal and set out to make things perfectly easy for Gammie who has shown us so much love in the past. However, I was upset to see how difficult things were for Gammie.

I did some research this week, and I have found a list of items that will make cooking and daily life much easier for people suffering with injuries, arthritis, etc. I thought this would be very helpful information for Secret Ingredients’ Grandparents’ week…

Grip N Flip

Utensils-
These utensils are perfect for flipping, lifting, and serving hard-to-hold foods.

Lids Off™ Jar Opener

from Black n'Decker®-
Lids Off™ makes opening jars effortless and is perfect for anyone who suffers arthritis or weak hands. Now you can open a jar with only one hand!

Black n’ Decker Cordless Can Opener-

Battery Operated Sifter

Sifting is close to impossible for weak hands. This lightweight sifter does all the work.

Bag Opener with Magnet

The bag opener is ideal for people who find it difficult to open sealed plastic bags.

The Spreadboard-

The Spreadboard holds bread in place while spreading jam, butter, or whatever you choose. Perfect if you only have the use of one hand.

Starfrit Rotato Potato Peeler Express

- The Rotato® Express is the amazing peeling machine that peels away potato, vegetables and fruit skins – in seconds – in one fast, easy motion.

Toastmaster Chopster

Honor your favorite family cook by creating an heirloom cookbook full of family recipes!

Honor Thy Family Cook!

2006-09-06T11:05:00.000-04:00

September 10th is National Grandparents’ Day, and we are celebrating!

Do you have warm, fuzzy memories of eating your grandmother’s home-cooked meals?

I will never forget eating wonderful Southern meals every Sunday at my Grandmother Lois’ house. These meals were an act of love! Her family recipes instantly take me back to those days of warm, delicious meals and family laughter…

Today I hope to inspire you to celebrate the cooks in your family who have shown their love for you through food…

Family Cookbook-
Create a family cookbook to celebrate your favorite cook. Fill it with photographs of the cook in his/her kitchen and the entire family enjoying the food. Document the family recipes so that future generations can celebrate and continue the traditions.

Scrapbook-
Honor each family cook in a scrapbook! We recommend devoting several pages to each cook. Add a photograph of each chef in their own kitchen and include their favorite recipes. Remember to ask each cook for their cooking tips and about their times in the kitchen, as well as stories about memorable “food occasions”.

Frame Idea-
Find a picture of your family cook in his/her kitchen. Also, find a recipe card that has a favorite family recipe written in handwriting. Have the two items custom framed together.

Video Camera-
Bring out the camera and video your family’s cooks in their kitchen. Ask them to talk about their recipes and tell stories about the recipes and special foods. You’ll be so glad you did this! Not only will you have the stories documented but you’ll capture their voice and presence on film. Your video will be cherished for generations!

I hope this inspires you to celebrate and remember the meals and foods that have been made for you out of love! The times we have with loved ones around the table and in the kitchen are some of life’s most beautiful moments.

Slow Food USA

2006-09-02T12:44:00.000-04:00

Secret Ingredients and I have recently joined Slow Food USA.

Slow Food is “an international organization that promotes food and wine culture.” It boasts 83,000 members in over 100 countries and is organized into more than 800 local convivia. The local convivia organize food and wine events and promote local artisans and wine cellars.

Slow Food “believes the enjoyment of excellent foods and wines should be combined with efforts to save traditional cheeses, grains, vegetables, fruits, and animal breeds that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and agribusiness.” Read more about their Mission here.

If you are looking for local foodies, this is a great cause. Check it out!

Celebrate Your Favorite Foods: Check out Local Food Festivals

2006-09-02T12:39:00.000-04:00

What better way to celebrate the food we love than Food or Drink Festivals! It just so happens that September is an incredible month for food festivals…

The following festivals take place in September:

Apple and Applejack

Beer and Hops

Black Walnut

Cranberry

Country Ham

Peanut

Onion

Potato

Sweet Corn

Join in the fun and support your local food community!

We’ve found the perfect site to help you find food festivals that are up your alley:

All American Food Festivals-
Search by State, Month, or Keyword and you will be presented with all the options. Once you find an event that interests you, click the Details button. This is all the information you need to attend: Location, Admission & Parking and Website listing.

Get festive and celebrate food! Be sure to tell us about any fun festivals that you attend!

Maybe the festivities will inspire you to create some new original recipes for your Secret Ingredients family cookbook.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

2006-09-01T14:04:00.000-04:00

My best friend, Beth, is an amazing cook! She is also very generous with her recipes- yay! Beth's chocolate chip cookie recipe is definitely the best way to celebrate the upcoming holiday weekend...

Yumm-O! Don't these look delicious!

The story behind the recipe:

One of the first Secret Ingredients cookbooks I made was a wedding gift for Beth and her husband, Daniel. The pages were filled with recipes from both Beth and Daniel's family members as well as Beth's original recipes. It was a wonderful gift for them to share and explore as they started their life together.

After they met, Beth quickly discovered that chocolate chip cookies are Daniel's favorite treat. She decided to perfect her recipe by changing it one batch at a time until Daniel said, "This is the one!" This recipe was included in their wedding cookbook...

Daniel's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 bag milk chocolate chips (use fine chocolate)
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups salted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚. Zap the butter in the microwave until partly melty. Put into a BIG bowl... I use my large cooking pot. Add sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking powder, and stir to combine. Add flour, and stir slowly until mixed. Add all the chocolate chips, and stir until combined.

Cut parchment to fit your baking pan. Spoon out the dough in large clumps (I use a 2 tbsp. stainless steel coffee scoop, and mound the dough in it slightly, as a measure) on the parchment. I fit about 8 cookies per sheet, to give them room to spread.

Bake at 375˚ for about 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top browned in places... they will be soft in the center, but cook a bit more out of the oven and firm up as they cool. To cool, lift the parchment and cookies off the cookie sheet and place on a counter. This makes a bunch of glorious cookies, and these cookies freeze beautifully! __________________________________________

Beth shared this recipe with me several months ago, and it is my absolute favorite cookie recipe. Enjoy!

Note: You will find this recipe in The Stock Pot. To add it to your cookbook project, simply click the "Add this Recipe" button at the bottom of the cookie recipe!

Brighten Up Your Family Lunches

2006-09-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

Jen at So You Wannabeea Domestik Goddess (one of our favorite blogs) has a wonderful idea to brighten up your family lunches!

Check it out!

The Secret Ingredients Family Cookbook Story, Part Two

2006-08-31T23:39:00.000-04:00

Eureka!

As I mentioned yesterday, I was exploring the world of e-commerce and graphic design in tech school when my handmade family cookbooks started taking off. One day I was sitting in school when I realized, “Hey, I can marry my two favorite things in life- the Internet and family cookbooks!”

Family Cookbooks Meet the Internet

I quickly realized that the Internet would give my cookbooks exactly what they were missing- interactivity. Now family members and friends could create heirloom cookbooks online- no postage or long distance fees. This made the process so much easier and more fun for the families… and me! Plus, I could add really cool features like spell check, recipe requests, and our recipe database, The Stock Pot. (I am a computer dork after all!)

Handmade Paper and the Tsunami

For months and months, I worked to perfect the handmade product. The “kitchen- friendly leather” cookbook binders were designed at this point, but I wanted to keep the dividers handmade. So, I ordered most of the handmade paper from Thailand and India, as well as printed papers from Florence. (See yesterday’s post for a visual.) The product was almost ready for the Internet when the Tsunami hit Southeast Asia on December 24, 2004, taking some of the handmade paper artisans. Such a sad event! I had to come up with Plan B…

Plan B: The New Generation of Secret Ingredients Dividers

I was determined to make the Secret Ingredients cookbook dividers as beautiful as possible. Throughout the creation of the cookbooks I kept three factors forefront in my mind: quality, organization, and customization. I have found that these are the most important things to remember when creating an heirloom.

After exploring all the options, the dividers you see on our website (and below) were created, and I am so excited about their design and quality. I wanted the cookbooks to fit every personality, and we were able to focus on this with these divider sets. Check out our Static Sample to flip through each set.

Fabulous Fruit Dividers

Fashionably Late Dividers

Purely Organic Dividers

.. And let's not forget Surf 'N Turf. Click here to see this vibrant set.

If you have any ideas for future divider styles or product designs, please let me know. I would love to hear your ideas!

The Secret Ingredients Family Cookbook Story, Part One

2006-08-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

Secret Ingredients has a pretty amazing story, if I don’t say so myself! The ideas behind Secret Ingredients and the creation of the product have led me on an incredible journey…

Why do I want to share the Secret Ingredients story?

It is such an honor to be a part of a meaningful family project. Speaking to people about their family stories and helping them document their history through recipes is a great passion of mine, and I want to share it with you.

In addition, the creation of the product is a very neat story, and I’m hoping it will inspire you to share your memories and create meaningful gifts for your loved ones. The possibilities are endless!

Creative Book Beginnings

The “creative book gift” idea came to me very early. I was always a stubborn child and had no interest in giving my family members what they actually wanted on gift occasions. I believed that every gift had to be meaningful! I remember sneaking photos out of our family album, hoping to copy and replace them before anyone noticed. I made books for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, and Mother’s Day, and through the process learned how to create quality keepsakes.

A Mom’s Banana Bread Recipe

A family friend asked me to help her create a family recipe scrapbook for her children five and a half years ago. Her daughter and son had called her throughout the year asking about family recipes (particularly her delicious Banana Bread Recipe), and she decided that a family cookbook was the perfect Christmas gift. I happily accepted the challenge thinking, “This is right up my alley!”

The first SI Cookbooks were completely handmade!

The First Secret Ingredients Family Cookbooks

The Christ Family Cookbooks, my first creations, turned out beautifully! The recipe pages were organized inside of a 6”x 9” binder that I covered with cotton batting and fabric.
(Tip: If you ever make a fabric binder for the kitchen, remember the Scotchgard™!!)

To divide the recipes by category, I created dividers using file folders and handmade paper:

The Original Purely Organic

The Original Fabulous Fruit

The Original Fashionably Late

Word of the beautiful cookbook spread through the neighborhoods of my home town. Over the next two years I continued to make the handmade books. Each book took 3 months and many, many hours. It was a full-time job! After attending tech school, I decided to use the Internet to make cookbook projects completely interactive and simple, so that families everywhere can make beautiful family cook books easily!

Tomorrow the story continues… Stay tuned to hear how the Tsunami changed the way our cookbooks look today!

Family Cookbook Tip: Add Stock Pot Recipes to Your Cookbook

2006-08-29T16:18:00.000-04:00

We just added a new feature to your cookbook project, Secret Ingredients cookbookers! Today we announce the arrival of another great interactive feature of our website... (drum roll please):

The Stock Pot "Add This Recipe" Feature!

Are you short on recipes and need to borrow some from our Stock Pot? Would you like to add Anne's delicious Apple Cake recipe (see yesterday's post) to your Secret Ingredients cookbook? Now you can! We even let you edit the recipes to your liking!

Here are simple directions:

Log into your Secret Ingredients account or set-up a Free Trial account.

Browse through the Stock Pot and find delicious recipes from family cooks everywhere!

Click on a recipe title that catches your attention.

At the bottom of the recipe you will see a "Add This Recipe" button. Click it!

Now edit the recipe to your liking!

How cool is this! Remember each Secret Ingredients cookbook holds 250 recipes, so be sure to fill up any extra space with other's proven family recipes.

Why was this feature added?

I've been making family cookbooks for five and a half years now, and I've learned a lot about family recipe collections! Each Secret Ingredients family cookbook is very unique because of the family history, recipe origins, and stories; however, I have noticed that most family recipe collections have several things in common. Usually cookbookers have a pretty extensive Desserts section, but some people need help with sections like Beverages and Sauces. This should fix the problem!

Do you have suggestions that would help us improve the website? Please email your suggestions to me!

Another Family Favorite Recipe: THE Apple Cake

2006-08-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

Who says that dessert has to be unhealthy and terribly fatting? Not so, my friends…

Anne Fawley of Baton Rouge, Louisiana decided to share a delicious dessert recipe with us that won’t make you feel terribly guilty and heavy- THE Apple Cake. As Anne says, “This recipe is almost healthy and entirely good!” The large quantity of apples adds fiber and reduces calories, and the canola oil is a healthy replacement for butter.

This recipe is low in calories, sugar and fat but will bring you rave reviews! Anne told us that she made this recipe for a dinner party several weeks ago. Her guests were all “foodies” and she felt very accomplished when every single female at the table asked her for the recipe!

I made this recipe last weekend to test it. All I can say is YUMM-O!

THE Apple Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:
4 cups chopped apples, skinned if you like
2 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Glaze:
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the apples and sugar and let stand for a few minutes. Add all the other cake ingredients, and stir. The dough will be very stiff, more like cookie dough than cake batter. Press the batter into a well-oiled bundt pan. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. Prepare the glaze by mixing the lemon and powdered sugar. I leave it lumpy, as it makes for a festive cake. Poke holes in the top of the hot cake with a knife, and slowly pour the glaze over the cake. Serve and enjoy!!!

Anne’s “foodie” social group joined together in a Secret Ingredients group cookbook project last month. If you are interested in creating an heirloom cookbook with your friends, check out Secret Ingredients. Our interactive website makes the project fun and easy. The best part is that you get an incredible collection of recipes that are proven within your circle!

Anne: Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe!

Learn from Linde: Adding Fun to Your Family Recipes!

2006-08-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

To complete our Recipe 101 series, I thought we should give you an example of fun, clear recipe writing. We see a lot of great family recipes at Secret Ingredients, and our team laughed and smiled their way through family recipes from Linde of Reno, Nevada.

We asked the fabulous, brilliant Linde for permission to share some of her recipes on her blog... and thankfully she agreed- yay!

Linde's Mother-In-Law Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh green beans (if you’re in Iowa, feel free to use canned or frozen)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (if you’re in Arizona, use the reduced fat kind, due to more
opportunities for bathing suit wearing)
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste French fried onions (the ones in the can, baby!)

Directions:
Steam green beans until soft (if you don’t steam them long enough, your green bean casserole purists will spit them out). Combine soup, milk, salt, and pepper. Put beans into a baking dish, and cover with soup mixture. Bake at 375˚ for 20 minutes. Cover with onions, and return to oven to brown.

Note:
This is a bona-fide recipe from the heartland, straight from the mother-in-law’s kitchen. My mother-in-law is a champion in the casserole department (girlfriend can turn any 5 ingredients into a one-dish meal), and this is my husband's favorite. If you’re looking for a traditional holiday side that will stick to your ribs and get you through a long winter, this one will definitely serve the purpose.

Linde's Feel Good Truffles

Ingredients:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons rum extract
½ cup powdered sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan on low heat, melt chocolate chips in the whipping cream. Add rum extract and whisk until blended. Pour this mixture into a pie pan and refrigerate for about an hour until the consistency is like soft fudge. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa together into a shallow bowl. Shape the fudge into balls using 1 tablespoon of mixture per ball. Roll the truffles in the cocoa and sugar mixture, and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Note:
This recipe is all about mood. Studies have shown that chocolate affects brain chemistry to invoke good feelings. Bonus. If you or a loved one are feeling a little down, whip out a batch of these babies, and you will have cooked up your very own, home-grown antidepressants. After eating a few of these truffles, you’ll find yourself wandering around your neighborhood, a beatific smile on your face, complimenting everyone you see. Side effects of taking truffles are limited, but can include a larger-than-usual rear end, pimples, and chocolate stains on your favorite top.
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Isn't she a hoot?! Isn't it amazing how much of your personality can shine through your family recipes? We hope that Linde has inspired you to have fun and enjoy your Secret Ingredients online cookbook project.

Want to see more of Linde's recipes? Be sure to check out The Stock Pot, our recipe database. Linde has kindly added her recipes to our collection. If you are not a member of Secret Ingredients, be sure to sign up for your Free Trial Account.

A Special Thanks to Linde... Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes and delightful personality with the Secret Ingredients community!

Substituting Ingredients in Old Family Recipes

2006-08-24T14:05:00.000-04:00

Several years ago, I jumped on the healthy living bandwagon, and now there's no turning back! I have found several resources on the Internet to help me substitute unhealthy ingredients in my favorite family recipes, and I want to share them with you.

There are several occasions when you may need to substitute ingredients in family recipes:

To make an old recipe healthier

If your recipe was written before 1896 when standardized measurements were put into place. (Wow, that's an old one!)

If you are missing items for a recipe and you have no time to run to the store

These websites have some of the best Recipe Substitution information:

JoyofBaking.com Ingredient Substitution Table

Land O'Lakes Substitution Table

eHow Article: How to Substitute Missing Ingredients

As you know, some recipe substitutions can be very simple- like using olive oil instead of butter when sautéing or pan frying. However, other substitutions can be very tricky, especially when it comes to baking...

Finding the best substitutions is a trial and error process because the taste, texture, consistency, and aroma of your recipe may change. So, do not try a new modification before a big party!

Here is an awesome article by Valerie Phillips of the Deseret Morning News:
"Pinch hitting: Substituting ingredients can be tricky-- and rewarding".

When baking my favorite cakes from my Secret Ingredients cookbook,
I make few modifications.
I am a health nut, but when I cheat... I cheat!

If you need a resource for converting measurements in historic recipes, click here. Or if you need information on converting international measurements, click here.

There is a book that is a wonderful reference for recipe substitutions. You would be surprised how many times it comes in handy!

No matter how old, new, fattening, or healthy your family recipes are... don't forget to document them for future generations by creating a family cookbook!

How to Write Clear Family Recipes

2006-08-23T14:08:00.000-04:00

My grandmother Lois cooked huge, delicious meals for my extended family every Sunday. When my sister Whitney started cooking on her own, she asked for these recipes, but most of them were ingrained in Lois’ memory- not written on paper. So, Whitney would call Lois for particular recipes, and she would dictate directions over the phone.

I am so thankful that Whitney recorded these recipes. Now they are included in my family’s Secret Ingredients cookbook and will be there for future Walling generations.

My mother and I cook one of our favorite family recipes- Cheese Soufflé. Yummy!

Today we want to share tips that will help you write clear family recipes…

A family recipe generally consists of 4 parts:

Caption -
Include any notes that cooks should be aware of BEFORE they cook your recipe. Examples: Certain recipes shouldn’t be made on rainy or humid days. Other recipes may require a great deal of patience or you may want to include information on hard-to-find ingredients.

Ingredients-
- Order
  You want to list ingredients in the order in which they will be used in the recipe. Each ingredient should be on a separate line. You may consider dividing the ingredients into parts. For example, the ingredients for my favorite sticky cake are divided: ingredients for the cake then ingredients for the icing.
- Measurements
  Give detailed measurements of each ingredient. Remember to give the exact measurement or weight of any packaged items because grocery stores usually offer a variety of sizes. Also include how the ingredient should be prepared- chopped, diced, drained, seeded, etc.

Step-by-Step Directions-
- Equipment
  If any special equipment is needed to complete the recipe, you may want to mention it before giving step by step directions. It will much easier for your reader to get the mixer out before they begin adding ingredients to the mixing bowl! You may also want to alert readers to prepare equipment. For example, they may need to preheat the oven, position oven racks, or grease/flour a pan before starting.
- Visualize and Describe the Process
  Think about every step you take when preparing your recipe. Write down every little thing you do highlighting specific tasks like mixing, sifting, beating or folding. Be sure to write your recipe to use time effectively. For example, you can make the icing for the cake while the cake is in the oven.
  
  Also include notes about how the food should look at various cooking stages. Describe your favorite methods. You may even include recipe variations or presentation tips at the end.

Your Notes
Yesterday we discussed using recipe notes to tell your family stories and memories.
Click here to read more.

Now tap into your inner- Julia Child and start recording your original recipes!

If you are creating a Secret Ingredients family cook book, our recipe form will make this process very simple!

Use Recipe Notes to Document Your Memories

2006-08-22T18:42:00.000-04:00

Creating an heirloom cookbook is one of the most valuable gifts you will give to your family. Not only will your recipes be documented and cherished, but you will have the opportunity to pass on cooking tips and family stories as well.

We've made a list of things you can document on your recipes for future cooks. These tidbits will also make your family cookbook so precious!

Dates and Methods:
It can be very helpful to write down any recipe modifications on the back of your recipes. This way you will be able to remember your process if you would like to pass down or share your recipe. Remember to record the date!

Most of us have special food memories from our birthdays.
Occasions:
Do certain foods remind you of childhood meals or special occasions? Add notes to your recipes to describe the occasion and any memories associated with the event.

Example: My favorite cake growing up was my grandmother Lois’ Chocolate Cake with Sticky Icing, and I would request it for every birthday. On the back of her recipe is a note: “Kate’s favorite cake.”

Watermelon was a childhood comfort food for many of us!

Stories & Anecdotes: Do you have any picky eaters in your family? How about eating habits? Write these precious bits down! Your family will love reading about it later.

Example: In my own family’s Secret Ingredients cookbook, my mother wrote a note about my great-grandfather who always combined unusual ice cream flavors with his pie. He would eat mint ice-cream with peach cobbler- weird!

Here are some other questions that may spark your food memories:

Where did your recipe come from?

Is/was this a "regular" on your family's menu?

Do you have suggestions for preparation or presentation?

Remember that the Secret Ingredients website makes adding your Recipe Notes very simple. Be sure to sign up for your Free Trial Account today!

Protect Your Favorite Recipes

2006-08-21T15:23:00.000-04:00

This week on the Secret Ingredients blog...

RECIPE 101: How to Organize, Protect and Write Your Recipes!

Today we have several tricks to help you protect your recipes from kitchen spills and splatters.

1. Recipe Cards:
Guess what? Recipe cards fit perfectly into photo albums! You can arrange your cards according to category (desserts, salads, etc.), or you may want the recipes you cook most often in the front of the album.

This prevents your cards from looking like this-

My grandmother Lois' recipe above has been in my mother's collection for years.
Can you tell we got some mileage out of this card?

2. Recipe Cut-Outs:
Do you clip recipes out of your favorite magazines and publications? If you are a clipper, the best way to protect your recipes is to laminate them. You can purchase lamination paper at any office supply store. This is a cheap (about $12 for a 50-sheet pack) and easy solution!

3. Cookbooks:
Are most of your favorite recipes in cookbooks? Protect your open cookbooks when you are cooking by using a cookbook stand with a clear shield.

Here’s one of our favorites:

Cookbook Users- We also suggest making a simple index of your favorite recipes and cookbooks. Simply write down or type the cookbook title, recipe title, and page number. This will make menu planning so much easier!

By the way, if you are creating a Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbook, don't worry! Each custom cookbook comes with 2 Splash Guards so that you can protect your recipe pages from "kitchen incidents"!

Virtual Recipe Sharing is Del.icio.us!

2006-08-21T14:26:00.000-04:00

For the grand finale of our Virtual Recipe Exchange series we have a delicious idea...

Do you find most of your recipes online? If so, this idea will surely inspire you, and you'll find the website address quite fitting!

Track Your Favorite Recipes Online with Del.icio.us & Share Them with Your Friends!

What is Del.icio.us?
This is the superhero version of a Favorites list. It keeps track of all of your favorite links and allows you to share them with your favorite people. Get this- you can access your Favorites from ANY computer! Definitely check this site out: http://del.icio.us/.

How does Del.icio.us work?
All you have to do is register and download the Del.icio.us application. The application will install a button in your browser. Then, when you are on a site that you want to record or share, simply click the "Save this" button on your Del.icio.us tab in your browser.

What does this have to do with recipe sharing?
If you and your friends want to see each another's favorite online recipes, here's what you do:

1. Everyone will need to sign up for a Del.icio.us account.
2. Save all of your favorite online recipe website links to your Del.icio.us list.
3. Log into your Del.icio.us account and click on "Your Network".
4. Add your friends to your network.

Voila! This is so simple and fun! Try it out and tell me what you think...

TIP: If you like looking for recipes online, then you should definitely sign up for a Free Account at Secret Ingredients so that you can have access to The Stock Pot, our recipe database. The recipes in The Stock Pot are contributed by members of the Secret Ingredients community who love to cook- just like you. The database is pretty new, but it is growing every day!

Don't forget! You can always use the Secret Ingredients website to do a group recipe exchange. Simply choose a group leader (a.k.a "Head Chef") to set-up your group's account. Each member of your group will be able to add his/her own favorite recipes by logging into our interactive website. Then, if you decide that you want a beautiful heirloom cookbook, Secret Ingredients will organize and print your cookbook for you!

I hope you have enjoyed our Virtual Recipe Exchange series. Please email us if you have any ideas that we should know about!

Virtual Recipe Exchange: Create Your Own Flickr or Google Group

2006-08-18T16:56:00.000-04:00

I'm back on the Virtual Recipe Exchange train today with two VERY cool ideas....

Wouldn't you be more interested in a cheesecake recipe if this
photograph accompanied the recipe?

I would! This next option may be the one for you....

Create your own Flickr Recipe Group:
What is Flickr? Flickr is a FREE photo sharing website. You can store, search and organize your photos on this site, and if that's not enough... you can even share them with friends and family. Definitely check it out: http://www.flickr.com/. It is very easy to use and really comes in handy when Aunt Marge wants to see the pictures from the family reunion!

How can Flickr be used for a Recipe Exchange? After you sign up for an account, you will be able to set-up your own group. Simply click "Groups" and then "Create Your Own Group." Flickr will walk you through the process. It is very easy!

** Your Flickr group may be public or private.**

Once your group is created click "Invite" to send out your invitations. Ask each member to share their recipes and photographs of the final presentation. How cool is this!

If you would like to see a current Flickr recipe group click here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/recipes/. You can view this page without creating an account.

If you like the idea of a creating a web-based Recipe Exchange group but you're not really feeling the photo-thing, try Google Groups....

Creating a Recipe Exchange Google Group:
This is very similar to creating a Flickr group. Go to the Google Groups site: http://groups.google.com/. Click on "Create a new group" at the bottom of the left-hand column. Like Flickr you may choose the level of privacy.

Speaking of family pictures, did I mention that each Secret Ingredients custom cookbook includes 15 of your favorite photographs? Black & white or color- the choice is yours. The photographs are placed on gorgeous dividers in a vinyl pouch. The pouch protects the photographs, makes them look very shiny and beautiful, and allows you (or future generations) to change them up later!

Virtual Recipe Exchange: Email Option II

2006-08-17T17:12:00.000-04:00

Here is one reason why a Virtual recipe exchange is so nice!

Reading someone else's handwriting is hard enough without the spills and splatters!
Electronic recipes cut out the mess.

Today we have another option for your Virtual Recipe Exchange, so that you can expand your recipe collection from the comfort of your own home...

Email Option II: Include only those you know- friends, family, and good cooks!

If you are uncomfortable with the "chainletter-ish-ness" of our Email Option I: The More the Merrier from yesterday's post, then Option II may be more your speed.

Here's how it works: Send an email invitation to everyone you want to include in your exchange by adding each person's email address in the "To" line of your email message. Remember to include your yummiest recipe to seal the deal!

Each participant will send everyone in the group their favorite recipe by clicking the "Reply to All" button in your original invite message. Depending on the size of your group and the number of recipes you would like to receive, you may ask the group to send more recipes.

Here are some text directions to include in your email:

You've been invited to be part of a recipe exchange!
Please share one of your favorite recipes with our group by clicking the "Reply to All" button in this message. Not only will you be sharing your recipe, but you will receive recipes from everyone in the group! What a fantastic way to spice up your recipe collection!

Now your friends and family will rave about your new dishes and treats!

If your own recipe cards look like the pictures above, you should consider creating your own cookbook. If you are interested, I'm your woman! Simply send an email to info@heirloomcookbook.com or check out www.TheSecretIngredients.com. We will help you organize your recipe cards into a masterpiece!

Virtual Recipe Exchange: Email Option I

2006-08-16T16:27:00.000-04:00

Is your recipe collection getting a little stale? We have the perfect idea to bring new flavors to your dinner table... A Virtual Recipe Exchange!

Here's the concept: Share your recipes with friends and family members and get a new collection in return... all from the comfort of your own home!

One of the most wonderful things about the Internet is that it connects us to friends and family and makes it so much easier (and cheaper!) to communicate. We have the perfect solutions to help you organize a recipe exchange with friends and family all over the world!

Today we will begin the Virtual Recipe Exchange series of posts with...

Email Recipe Exchange I: The More the Merrier
This option is slightly chainletter-ish but may allow for more variety in the exchange. Here are the directions: You will send the first email to ten friends inviting them to be part of your recipe exchange. (Include your yummiest recipe to seal the deal!)

Your friends will need to copy your invite and instructions (see bottom of post) into a new email and add this information to the very top of the message:

1. [Your email address]
2. [His/her email address]

Your friend will then send the message to 10 of his/her friends! Each person will send one of their favorite recipes to the email address listed in the #1 position and send the invite to 10 friends. And the chain continues....

What a great way to spice up your recipe folder! Here are some text directions to include in your email:

You've been invited to be part of a recipe exchange!

Please send one of your favorite recipes to the person who's name is listed as #1 at the top of this email. You may not know this person, but I do and the more recipes the better!

Next copy this letter into a new email and make my email address #1 and your email address #2. Only your email address and mine should appear at the top of your message. Send this email to 10 friends!

Once you have tested your new recipes, you may want to organize your collection by creating your own cookbook. That's where Secret Ingredients comes in handy!

Thank you to our Secret Ingredients member, Edward of Johnson City, Tennessee, for sending us this recipe exchange idea!

Secret Ingredients Family Cookbook Party in Tucson!

2006-08-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

We love celebrations at Secret Ingredients, and we were so excited to hear about this birthday celebration in Tucson last weekend...

Seventeen members of the Sobel and Pirtle families gathered their favorite family recipes and memories and created Secret Ingredients cookbooks to celebrate the birthdays of the family matriarchs, Fair and Klaire. A special party was planned to celebrate the two women, and each person prepared their favorite recipe. How neat is that!

Thank you to the Sobel/Pirtle clan for sharing these pictures with us! We are so glad that we were able to help you celebrate these two special women!

If you are interested in looking at some of this Tucson clan's recipes, check out Secret Ingredients' recipe database, The Stock Pot! You do not have to be a paying member to look at our database. Simply fill out the Get Started form and you will have free access to our recipes!