What could i divide my recipe book that i am making?

My mom loves cooking and collecting recipes but the thing is she does not have a decent recipe book so I am making a recipe book for her for Christmas. It will include her favorite recipes and some of the families and, it will also include some I get off the internet. So how should I divide it into sections and organize everything. And what else should i put in it like pics and other stuff. Ladies please help and give me some ideas i am only 15 and love to cook myself but it is just easy stuff like hamburgers or bacon and egg. So please help. Thanks.What could i divide my recipe book that i am making?
Mike's given you a very classic breakdown of cookbook construction. Since this is your gift to your mom, how you organize it should be up to you.





Perhaps sections like ';Family Favorites,'; ';Mom's Specialties'; and ';Kids' Treats'; would be more appropriate. A nice touch might be to include some small notes with some of the recipes (from yourself and others) about why that particular dish is a favorite, or a positive memory tied to that particular meal.





The style and layout of the book will be the least important part of it to your mom, so don't sweat it too much. Organize it in a way that's easiest for you to work on and is still understandable.





Great idea, and best of luck with it!What could i divide my recipe book that i am making?
What a great kid you are! Seriously. I'd love it if my kids tried to do something like that for me. It makes it that much more special.





The categories you use, are really up to you, but the basic ones are the ones Mike gave.





You could put in the ones that are the family standards, and ones your mom really likes, as well as a few new recipes that you find, that sound good to you. My son (11) is always looking for something different to try and most of the time, they become family favorites.





I'll even give you a dessert, that you can adapt to your family's tastes. It's one that has been in my family for a LONG time, and is an instant hit at parties and family gatherings.





Cherries In The Snow





You will need: An angel food cake, broken up into bite size pieces.


An 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened


An 8 oz container of Cool Whip, thawed


1 cup of powdered sugar


1 or 2 cans of cherry pie filling, chilled





Place the pieces of cake in a 9 x 13 cake pan. Mix together the cream cheese, Cool Whip and powdered sugar (also called 10x). Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake pieces. Pour the chilled cherry pie filling on top.





TA-DA!!!! Easy... no baking required and you'll be touted as a terrific dessert maker. lol





Good luck with your project. Your mom will be absolutely thrilled with it.
Most of the better cook books I have are broken down by type of food, for example Vegetables, soups, meats, poultry, fish, seafood etc...





But since you want to maybe personalize it include sections with ideas and list foods in form of a menu refering to the pageses where your mom can find the recipes.


for instance: Thanks giving Dinner


Stuffed Turkey- page 23


stuffing- page 95


sweet potato pie - page 38


...etc





also you can give recipes original names like: Tim's favorite chicken


Steak ala Dad


...etc





Have fun with this ... she will love it





also you can add Ideas like:


Friday nite favorites


dinner under the gun (easy quick recipes)


Family get 2gether


...etc...
Get some pictures (images) from Yahoo search for different foods, such as a dessert, appetizer, meat, bread. These can be your pictures put on divider pages to divide your recipes by catagory. You would divide them as I have listed above. if your mom likes pastas you could also add a section on pasta.
Since you are making one for her why don't you make one to give to the rest of your relatives. My friend did a family cookbook last year for christmas and it only cost her like 200 dollars and she sold the leftovers to other family members.
the chapters should be by the foods and in alphabetical order like


appetizers barbecues bread cookies casseroles deserts fish meat poultry salad soup vegetables


and then mom's fav and holiday stuff
also you might include holiday family favorites. I would enjoy hand written inserts from my son and pictures of him eating. I know you can find pictures of you and your loved ones eating. Add a few pictures, a few recipes, and some personal touches. You need to make sure and only add the recipes you know she will use. I collect cookbooks and out of the hundreds I usually refer to just a few. Keep it simple. Do not make it to commercial.. she can buy that at the store.


You might add a letter in the front, of a food memory that you shared together to make it more personal.


Good luck, your mom sure is blessed!