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A Family Cookbook Makes a Great Holiday Gift

Pretty soon that jolly, fat man in the red suit will be paying us a visit. But with our current economic situation, his sleigh may be just a tad bit lighter this year. Many of us are trying to find creative ways to pay our every day bills and the thought of having to purchase Christmas gifts can be a bit daunting.

One year when money was especially tight, I came up with a Christmas present for my brother, sisters, mom, aunt, and cousin that only cost me about $30 for all. It was one of my favorite gifts and one that all of recipients still treasure.
When my 92-year-old aunt needed to go into a home she bestowed upon me all the recipes that were my great grandmothers. So it never failed that one of my siblings would call and ask me to find a recipe. It finally dawned on me that it would make a great gift to compile all our family's recipes into one book for each member of my family.

I researched our family recipesthe ones we grew up with. My mom's meatballs and gravy, the roast beef we had on special occasions, and the hotdog and bean casserole that my mom swore was delicious but only made when she and Dad were going out for dinner.
I retyped the recipes and added my own little comments to them. For example one recipe for chicken said to "pound breasts thin." I added, "Just to clarify, they mean the chicken's not yours."
I wanted my book to be something just for us, so I also contacted each family member and asked for his or her favorite meal. My five-year-old niece submitted noodles with butter and nothing else. My brother who is a gourmet submitted an answer that almost took up a whole page in the book. My dad submitted his recipe for the only dish he can cook peanut butter and crackers. These items would be useless to anyone else but to our family they are priceless.
To make this more than just a cookbook, I scanned in family photos that correlated with the recipes. There was a picture of my dad making his famous peanut butter crackers. My nephews decorating Christmas cookies that have been a part of our holidays for as long back as I can remember. And there was even a picture of my great-grandmother, which is very rare. My grandmother and great-grandmother tended to not get along real well and during one of their feuds, my grandmother went through all the photo albums and cut out my great-grandmothers face. During my research I managed to find one picture still in tack

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