As American as Apple Pie

Family Cookbook Project would like wish all of our Editors and Contributors in the United States a happy Independence Day.

And what could be more American on the 4th of July that mom's homemade apple pie. Here are some of our favorite apple pie recipes from the editors of the Great Family Cookbook Project:

 Apple Pie from Scratch
From the cookbook "Made with Love from Girl Scout Troop 3437"

Aunt Jack's Fried Apple PiesFrom the cookbook "Nanny's Recipes" 

Bullocks' Southern Cream Apple Pie 

From the cookbook "Mrs. Parsley Remembered"

Mom's Apple PieFrom the cookbook "Our Family Heritage"

Grandmother's Apple PieFrom the cookbook "Devin's Cookbook"

Sugarless Apple PieFrom the cookbook "The Ewers Family Cookbook Project"

Warm Mini Apple Pies with Cinnamon Caramel SauceFrom the cookbook "The Gourmet Galley"

APPLE CRUMBLE PIEFrom the cookbook "COOKING AND BAKING WITH ROSE, ROSIE, ROSA"

Surprise Apple PieFrom the cookbook "The 170th Mp Co Cookbook"

Apple Crisp PieFrom the cookbook "Honey's Cookbook"

Easy Apple Pie RollsFrom the cookbook "40 Something Cowgirls Restless Riders Cookbook"

Apple Pie CupcakesFrom the cookbook "Mick's Favorite Recipes"

 

  

 

Freezing Cookie Dough

The best cookie recipes can be frozen and used as needed

In our house, there is nothing like a warm, soft cookie right out of the oven. However since it is not practical to make dough for only a few cookies at a time, the next best thing is to freeze your cookie dough and pull out enough cookies for your immediate needs.

Freezing cookies also provides time saving opportunities when you want to get ready for a holiday cookie swap in October or getting ready for a school bake sale anytime.

How you best freeze cookies depends on what type of cookie you are making. The FamilyCookbook Project had collected thousands of cookie recipes if you need a suggestion.

Cookies like chocolate chip and oatmeal-raisin freeze best if you make the actual cookie beforehand. Scoop out the dough just as if you were about to bake it and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat (they can be close, but not touching). Instead of putting it into the oven, but them into the freezer for atleast 6 hours instead. Once frozen, the dough balls get sealed inside a plastic freezer bag and when it is time to bake, you are ready to go.

Cookies like shortbread or sandies, or any smooth slice-and-bake cookies can be pressed into logs, wrapped in wax paper and frozen solid. Prepare the dough as usual, then shape it into one or two logs that can be covered with wax paper and placed in a plastic freezer bag. When you're ready to bake, let them warm on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. You might also want to let the logs thaw in the fridge for a few hours before you’re ready to use the dough. Slice the cookies into thick disks and you’re ready to put them in the oven as usual.

The third type of cookies that can be frozen are cut-out cookies, like sugar cookies and many holiday cookies. The dough for these cookies can be frozen in disks and then stacked together with wax paper between them. When ready to bake, thaw until bendable and continue with the recipe.

Most frozen cookies will need an extra minute or two in the oven. Otherwise, prepping and baking the cookies is exactly the same as in the recipe.



Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!

5 Ways To Improve Your Family Cookbook Over The Holidays

The holidays are a time when we get all of our family together and celebrate together with food, fun and festivities. It is also a great time to motivate others in the family to contribute to your family cookbook project.

Here are some ideas to help you improve your cookbook during the holidays:

1)    When you see family members, remember to talk about the cookbook and how excited you are as it moves forward. Others will see your enthusiasm and be more willing to help contribute. event

2)    When someone brings a delicious dish to a family gathering – ask for the recipe. People are often proud of their food creations and love to share recipes. If they don’t have it with them, let them know contributing recipes is easy on the FamilyCookbookProject.com website. Encourage them to give it a try.

3)    Take photos of all the great food being shared. Photos of dishes really bring recipes to life. Photos can be easily added to your recipes on FamilyCookbookProject.com and can or do not have to be included in the printed version.

4)    Ask for suggestions for the cookbook cover and recipe layout design. FamilyCookbookProject.com currently has 21 cookbook covers to choose from including your own custom cover - with more on the way. It also allows you to select from 15 different recipe layout options. Print a hardcopy of several of the designs and ask family members what they think. Not only will the choice be easier to make with feedback, but you will get them more interested in contributing to the cookbook.

5)    Use the index to show family members the recipes in the cookbook. If you’re close to having your cookbook completed, bring the cookbook’s index and a cover page printed from your printer to family holiday events. Show it around and let people see who and what has been submitted already. Maybe they will see a recipe that is missing and want to contribute or maybe they will place an advance order for the final edition.

With so much time spend in the kitchen around the holidays, it’s no wonder that cooking and recipes and cookbooks and food are talked about constantly as everyone pitches in to prepare our holiday get together. Creating your family cookbook will become a valuable resource for generations to come.

Season’s Greetings from The Great Family Cookbook Project!



Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!

Holiday Recipe Book and Cookbook Printing

Happy November 2nd!
(well, it's a not a holiday, but have fun anyway!)

As we prepare for the holiday season, many family cookbook editors are working to finalize their projects in order to give as gifts this year. Cookbooks must be submitted for printing by Saturday, November 30th to guarantee delivery without expedited shipping before the Christmas holiday.

So now is the time to contact all of your contributors with your reminder tool and tell them to enter their recipes now before it is too late. We recommend using a recipe submission deadline of November 15th in order to give you time to review the recipes, make sure all of the extra spaces are removed and words are spelled correctly, and still have time to place your order before the printing deadline.

Family cookbooks make wonderful gifts for family and friends alike. The effort you put into your cookbook now will pay off for your entire family for years to come.


Get Our iPhone or Android App
Announcing our new App for iPhone and Android! You don't always have to have a printed cookbook to use your recipes - you can always access them from the web on any PC, Mac or iPad with a nice larger screen. But what about your phone? Well, now we have an app for that! Here are links to get the one for your phone:
iPhone App here    Android App here

Check out our Cookbook Accessories Shop
Need a great extra to go along with your cookbooks - like a nice cookbook stand? Check out our Accessories Shop powered by Amazon!

Make a Halloween or Holiday Recipe Book Time!

Trick or Treat!

As we prepare for the holiday season, many family cookbook editors are working to finalize their projects in order to give as gifts this year. Cookbooks must be submitted for printing before the deadline of Thursday, November 1st to receive your cookbooks by Thanksgiving. Friday, November 30th is the deadline to guarantee delivery without expedited shipping before the Christmas holiday.

So now is the time to contact all of your contributors with your reminder tool and tell them to enter their recipes now before it is too late. We recommend using a recipe submission deadline of November 15th in order to give you time to review the recipes, make sure all of the extra spaces are removed and words are spelled correctly, and still have time to place your order before the printing deadline.

Family cookbooks make wonderful gifts for family and friends alike. The effort you put into your cookbook now will pay off for your entire family for years to come.


Get Our iPhone or Android App
Announcing our new App for iPhone and Android! You don't always have to have a printed cookbook to use your recipes - you can always access them from the web on any PC, Mac or iPad with a nice larger screen. But what about your phone? Well, now we have an app for that! Here are links to get the one for your phone:
iPhone App here    Android App here

Check out our Cookbook Accessories Shop
Need a great extra to go along with your cookbooks - like a nice cookbook stand? Check out our Accessories Shop powered by Amazon!

Refer-a-Friend and Make Some Cash!
Want a little extra money? Refer a friend or two our way - they'll get 50% off our Lifetime Membership and you get a $50 Gift Card to Amazon.com! Click here to sign up!

Featured recipe from the database

The Great Family Cookbook Project has a huge amount of public recipes in the system thanks to you! If you need a fun recipe idea that's not in your own cookbook, go to our home page and use the search function to see what's available - lots of good eats!

Here is a recipe we tried recently for a fun party:

This recipe for Halloween Party Punch, by Micki Clark, is from The Clark Family Cookbook. Search   for more great recipes here from over 400,000 in our family cookbooks!

Halloween Party Punch Recipe

Contributor: Micki Clark Category: Appetizers & Beverages Ingredients: 1 3oz. pkg orange gelatin 2 c. boiling water 1 6oz can orange juice concentrate 1 46 oz. can unsweetened pineapple juice 1 qrt. ginger ale Directions: Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Mix orange juice with three cans of water and add to gelatin mixture. Add pineapple juice and chill. Add ginger ale just before serving. Makes 30 1/2 cup servings

Tips to Ease the Holiday Hustle 

(NewsUSA) - The holidays are supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but they may also be the busiest. As the guest list grows, so does the grocery list, not to mention the piles of laundry and dirty dishes.

But there's no need to be a Grinch. Turn on the holiday cheer by taking advantage of some simple tips from the experts in Whirlpool brand's test kitchens:

·         Prepare ahead. Over-estimate the number of guests expected to attend, and bring full recipes to the grocery store to make sure every ingredient makes it home. This can help you avoid being a plate short or having to dig out old frosting for the last batch of cookies.

·         Make sure the refrigerator can handle the shopping list. French-door refrigerators offer wide shelf space to keep large cakes and deli trays fresh leading up to the big holiday meal. A side-by-side refrigerator may fit the bill if fresh ingredients typically fill the shopping cart.

·         Make it a team effort. Kids can help wash potatoes or arrange platters, and everyone can help clean up. Also, keeping recipes handy in plastic sleeves ensures everyone is on the same page.

·         Put appliances to work for you. Convection cooking allows you to bake potatoes and roast turkeys much faster than a traditional oven, while a double oven range can cook two different meals at once, toast crusty breads or keep one dish warm.

"Holiday cooks no longer have to play musical pans when trying to broil steaks and warm rolls at the same time, thanks to new double-oven ranges," said Monica Teague, senior manager, brand experience, Whirlpool. "In addition, knowing how to properly load the dishwasher can ease clean-up once everyone is stuffed. Greasy pots and pans go on the bottom rack face-down or at a slight angle for optimal cleaning, and delicate stemware stay up top, where water pressure is not as strong." 

·         Don't overlook laundry as guests shuffle in and out. Pre-sorting clothes into designated baskets for lights, darks and whites can streamline the process, while some of latest features enable consumers to do laundry at times that fit their hectic holiday schedule.

Fit in a quick nap -- and a load of laundry -- before the guests arrive. The holiday season will feel more "Hava Nagila" than "Bah, Humbug."

For more information, visit www.whirlpool.com. 

Editors Ideas - how to keep your contributors motivated

The holidays are here. Remember, it may take a full 3 weeks to get your cookbooks at this time of year - so start today! When you do get together in the coming weeks, bring a printed recipe or two from your cookbook and hand them out. Let folks know that you plan to print the book in November or December - and get all their email addresses so you can add them to your book. Have fun!

What they are saying "I LOVE the website...it is so easy to use and the e-blast feature has made managing this project a breeze!" --Susie Dvorak, The Kadavy Family Cookbook

Famous Quotation "Non-cooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet." Julia Child (1912 - 2004)