Brooke's Cookbook

This is a cookbook that I put together for our Pastor's daughter, Brooke, for her bridal shower gift earlier this year. I toiled over this thing, and spent a couple sleepless nights, but it turned out ok, and apparently it hasn't fallen apart yet... or so they say!

This was another one of the projects I came up with but had no idea how to do it exactly. I basically "winged" it. I held my breath when Brooke opened it, fearing that as she opened the cover, things would go flying and little bits would fall off. I'm still kinda holding my breath!

My idea was that most new brides that have always lived with their parents, may need a bit of help in the kitchen. So I went around to some of the more experienced brides in the church and asked them for their most tried and true, favorite recipes. I got a bunch of them, all to some degree of yummy! I typed them up and found accompanying pictures on the internet to put on almost every page, then printed them on 5x7 paper and laminated each page. I don't know about you, but my cookbooks are all a mess and I thought this added feature would be really good.

I then got a 5x7 three ring binder, some batting (to make the front puffy), some really pretty red and white material, and some lacy ribbon. The hearts on the front are vellum and cardstock and are attached with jump rings. They are printed with the words "Tried and True" and "Recipes with Love".

On the inside right, I used heaps and heaps of glue, tape and white cardstock, then made a pocket for loose recipes, etc. I also added some extra lined paper in the back so she could write recipes in herself, or tape any that she might cut out or get from other people.

I was so frustrated with the whole production the night before the shower, at about 1am tears were shed and I wondered what the heck was wrong with me, trying to do something like this for someone this special. But when it was opened the next day, there were plenty of "ooos and ahhhs" and looks of pride from some of the women who had contributed to the recipe portion. I had made sure that each recipe had the authors name on it. All in all, it was a nice gift I think.

Little does she know that when her baby shower comes up soon, she's getting another handmade project! ;-) At least with this one, I'll have a bit more experience!