Maxine’s Heavenly all started because Maxine wrote down her famous cookie recipe on a 3x5 index card. She had a recipe that everyone loved, and she wanted to pass it down and make sure that her family could continue enjoying it long after she was gone.
We don’t do that as much anymore. We go online for recipes or order out and if we had recipe boxes at all, they mostly get dusty in the back of a drawer, forgotten.
So how do we take the 3x5 recipe cards of yesterday and upgrade them for today? We’ve got a recipe for that!
Step 1: Choose your recipes.
What are the recipes that are iconic in your family? Does everyone rave over grandma’s magic bars or even ooh and ahh over the special way you make a cup of coffee?
Whether you have just one recipe or 1,000 - create a list of the recipes that are special to you and your family. The ones you want your great great great grandchildren to remember and make!
Step 2: Decide where to store them.
While we’re not opposed to a good old fashioned recipe box, that is more and more likely to get lost, destroyed, and forgotten as time goes on. We suggest a digital/physical hybrid.
There are sites that will help you store your recipes. But we suggest going a little more basic with Google or Word docs, as those platforms are unlikely to disappear any time soon or disappear without an alternative.
You can type them out very simply or use the plethora of recipe templates that are available online.
We highly suggest including a picture of the finished product and definitely include a note about whose recipe it is! It's fun to be able to say, "I'm making Aunt Jane's famous dinner rolls," even if you don't know who Aunt Jane is anymore. Aunt Jane is a family - and a part of you!
Step 3: Decide how to access them.
Some of you would never open a cookbook to make a meal, and for you - popping open a Google doc when you want to make a recipe is probably just fine. If you’re a digital person, create a shortcut on your phone home screen where you can easily access your files.
For others - you’ll want to have a physical book. There are many ways to do this. The simplest way is to just print out a Word doc at home and staple it together. But you can totally have fun with it! You can create fun designs, have someone design it for you (look at Etsy or Fiverr) and then get it printed someplace like Shutterfly or Kinkos.
Step 4: Share your recipes!
The real joy in a recipe is in sharing it with others! Make copies of your files and/or your book and give it to family members. You can even request that they add their own to the list.
This can be done anytime, but makes a great gift for birthdays and holidays!
Pro Tip: Even if you give out a physical book, include a USB with the digital files on it. You can even have a personalized USB made with your family's name on it!
