SECRET INGREDIENTS

Gift Certificates are Now Available!

2006-12-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

Finding the perfect Holiday gift is hard, especially if the person you are shopping for has everything! If you are like me, finding an unique gift is important. I try to give my loved ones special, personalized gifts that they instantly love. For example, every year I make my sister Whitney a beautiful photo book that captures her family's memories of the year and her two growing children. Of course, this year she is also receiving a Keepsake Cookbook with my favorite recipes of the year!

Giving your loved ones a gift certificate for a custom cookbook is a gift that will be remembered for years to come! Whether your recipient is the family matriarch, a new mother, a gourmet chef/foodie or your family's favorite cook, she/he will love making their own cookbook.

Gift certificates are available for Heirloom and Keepsake cookbooks. Email us at info@HeirloomCookbook.com or call us toll free at (866) 697-3247. We are happy to help you give the perfect gift! Gift certificates will be available until December 22, and will be sent by priority mail or email.

Creative Ways to Give Secret Ingredients Gift Certificates:

Fill a Christmas stocking with cooking utensils, recipes, and the gift certificate. Precious!

Include a several handwritten recipe cards with the gift certificate. They could be your favorite, time-tested recipes or family recipes that have survived generations!

Bake your favorite Holiday treat, wrap it up beautifully, and affix the gift certificate to the packaging.

Quick & Simple Recipe Contest: Win an Heirloom Cookbook!

2006-12-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

Do you have a cherished recipe that was passed down to you? Maybe it’s your great-grandma’s chicken dumplings or your mom’s delicious spaghetti sauce. Tell Quick & Simple your recipe and you could win a Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbook!

The first-place winner will win a $250 gift card from Boston Market Catering, a Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbook and a Rose’s Cocktail Infusions set- a total value of $555?! Four runners-up will win an Heirloom Cookbook and a cocktail set, valued at $305/each.

Check it out! All entries must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on Dec. 12, 2006.

Winners of Secret Ingredients 10 Heirloom Cookbook contest will be annouced tomorrow! Check our website for details.

Choosing Photos for Your Family Cookbook

2006-12-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

The photos in your cookbook can make a powerful contribution to the feel of the project as a whole. To make the most of this opportunity, think about connections between the photos you'll use and what your cookbook is all about. You don't necessarily need the prettiest scenery, or the most professional or flattering photos of family members. Photographs that speak of the warmth of home, and the connections between and among the generations of your family are just the thing.

So, if some of the recipes you are including have been in the family for a long time, you may wish to include pictures from farther back in the past as well. Kitchen pictures are of course a natural, but pictures of a home's exterior, yard, or any well-remembered living space may work just as well.

If the book you are making has at its heart the recipes of the family matriarch, or if in some other way, the essence of the book centers on a smaller group than the whole list of people who will be receiving it, then its only natural to choose photos consistent with the book's focus. But in most cases it's desirable to include a good balance of photos of the people who will be receiving a family cookbook. Its nice for as many of the recipients to feel as much ownership of the cookbook as possible.

Go through those albums, and happy hunting!

Delicious Rum Cakes Make Perfect Holiday Treats

2006-11-27T16:48:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I appeared on the KGUN (ABC-9) morning show in Tucson, Arizona. I shared my favorite holiday recipe, Rum Cakes, with the audience and the crew. They were a huge hit! Not only are these cakes the perfect size to give your favorite people as a holiday treat, but they are also incredibly yummy... and, well, a little addictive!

Secret Ingredients Rum Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Glaze:
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum

Directions:

Grease and flour bundt pans. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pans. MIx all cake ingredients. Pour batter over nuts. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Prepare glaze while cake is in the oven.

For the Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Cool cakes. Invert on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle and smooth glaze over top and sides. Allow cakes to absorb glaze. Repeat until all glaze is used.

Be sure to enter our contest for your chance to win one of ten FREE Secret Ingredients Heirloom Cookbooks!

Giving Beautiful Gifts

2006-11-22T13:40:00.001-05:00

Gift wrapping presents doesn't have to be boring! Here are a few of our favorite tips and tricks:

~ For items 4 x 6 inches and smaller, you can use a sheet of 8.5 x 11, beautifully decorated paper. You can find papers like the one we chose at scrapbooking stores, art stores, and stationery stores. Be sure to choose a paper that bends easily; handmade papers with fibers and plants often crack or separate as they bend.

~ Satin ribbon is an inexpensive, elegant way to dress up your gifts! Satin and grosgrain ribbons can b purchased for very little money, often 99 cents per roll, at craft stores such as JoAnn's and Michael's. Ribbons can be used alone on hard-to-wrap gifts, or tied over a beautiful, matching wrapping paper!

~ Making your own wrapping paper is a great project to do with kids, and a wonderful way to get them more involved in the holiday preparations. Choose bright colored butcher paper, and stamp or color onto the paper with sponge stamps, markers, watercolors or crayons. Encourage your kids to fill the whole paper, edge to edge, with their own creative holiday designs!

Here at Secret Ingredients, we hope your holidays are bright and festive!

For wonderful gift ideas, remember to check out our website. We offer Heirloom and Keepsake custom cookbooks; gifts full of traditions, memories, and holiday cheer.

Yummy Thanksgiving Recipes

2006-11-21T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Thanksgiving is one of the greatest times each year to enjoy family and delicious food. So, have you planned your meal?

This year I will be traveling to Tucson to spend Thanksgiving at my friend Beth's house. I will also be stopping by KGUN, Tucson's ABC station, to appear on their morning show on Friday the 24th. Super exciting! If you are in Tucson, tune in!

Beth and I will be cooking our Thanksgiving meal together. She is planning some Thanksgiving classics with a southwestern kick, while I will be preparing Southern family recipes that date back several generations. I thought I would share them with you.

Mamaw's Rolls
Guests beg for the leftovers! This recipe really is incredible.

Ingredients:
1 cup cold water
1 cup shortening
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold water
2 well-beaten eggs
1 package yeast cake
6 cups flour, unsifted

Directions:
Place first four ingredients in boiler.
Heat until dissolves. Add another cup cold water and 2 well-beaten eggs.
Put 1 package yeast cake in lukewarm water. Put yeast in other mixture when it gets warm-cool.
Add 6 unsifted cups of flour (not quite full cups). Set aside. Let rise, double cover, and put in refrigerator.
Cut on floured board. Pat with melted butter and fold over. Cook at 400° till done.

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Buttered Peas & Carrots

Ingredients:
½ cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound carrots
10 ounce package frozen peas, thawed

Directions:
In a large skillet, combine ½ cup water, 1 stick butter, cut into pieces, 3 tablespoons sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt over moderate heat until the butter is just melted. Add 1 pound carrots, cut into 1/16 inch slices, and stir them to coat with the mixture. Cook the carrots, covered for 4 minutes; stir in a 10 ounce package frozen peas, thawed, and cook the mixture for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

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My mother added this recipe to our Thanksgiving meals about 8 years ago. We love it!

Mom's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust:
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12
single crackers)
½ cup ground pecans
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup butter, melted

Filling:
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
3 egg yolks
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground mace
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds natural cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 yolk
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon sifted cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon extract
Whipped cream and whole pecans for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Make your crust by combining all ingredients. Mix - coating crumbs with butter well. Pat crumb mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Place in freezer while preparing filling.

Prepare the filling: Mix ¾ cup sugar, pumpkin puree, 3 egg yolks, cinnamon, mace, ginger, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Beat cream cheese and 6 tablespoons sugar until smooth. (I use my electric mixer.) Add cornstarch and blend well. Add vanilla and lemon extracts. Mix again until very smooth. Add spiced pumpkin puree to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until you don't see any traces of white to make sure it is extra smooth.
Pour filling over crumb mixture in springform pan. Bake 45 minutes, or until sides have risen. The center will still be somewhat soft. Remove from oven. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and release the side. Remove cheesecake from pan bottom.
Garnish with whipped cream rosettes and whole pecans.

Be sure to include your favorite Thanksgiving recipes in your Secret Ingredients custom cookbook. Also, be sure to enter our contest for your chance to win one of TEN free Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks.

Unique Holiday Cards

2006-11-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

As Thanksgiving draws closer, so does the season for Holiday Cards. Personalizing Holiday Cards can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for people with extensive mailing lists. Here at Secret Ingredients, we’ve put together a few neat ways to make personal, quick cards to celebrate the people you love!

1. Recipe Cards:

Buy pretty Holiday cards, and insert a copy of a recipe that reminds you of the recipient in each. Be sure to copy onto simple, pretty paper, and include a little note about the recipe. Using family recipes, handwritten and stained from use, makes it all the more personal and memorable.

2. Keepsake Cookbooks:

Secret Ingredients recently introduced a new product, Keepsake Cookbooks, which are postcard-sized, personalized perfect-bound cookbooks. These books are perfect to send as both cards and gifts! The books have a customized Dedication Page, where you can include a Holiday Letter to all the recipients. We offer two beautiful Holiday styles, as well as two all-purpose Family styles. These unique and stylish cookbooks are both personal and useful.

3. Holiday Books:

A friend of mine makes Holiday Books to send out every year instead of cards. Each member of her family creates 2 index-card sized pages, and then they are printed onto blank index cards, stacked together, and the edge is sewn with bright red thread on a sewing machine. The little books are a wonderful alternative to store-bought cards, and it is wonderful to hear the stories of the year from many points of view; hers, her husband, and their children. These books are surprisingly easy to make, and are a perfect blend of personalization and ease of creation.

Best wishes to each of you as you make your own Holiday Cards! Please let us know any wonderful ideas you have, or any neat things you’ve seen, as we’re always looking for new takes on Holiday classics!

Add Your Favorite Quotes to Your Heirloom Cookbook

2006-11-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

If you are creating a family cookbook for your children or future generations, favorite quotes can make your cookbook even more personal! Our Heirloom Cookbooks can accommodate up to 250 recipes, and our Recipe form helps you enter your recipes quickly and easily. The form includes fields for a Caption and personal notes or stories. The Caption field is the perfect place to add your favorite quotes.

Here are some of the SI team's favorite quotes:

“A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness.”
- Elsa Schiapirelli

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
-Laurie Colwin

“Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on know-how; it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”
-Georges Blanc, from ‘Ma Cuisine des Saisons’

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”
-John Ruskin

“Laughter is brightest, in the place where the food is.”
-Irish proverb

“My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.”
-Buddy Hackett

Of course, your quotes don't have to be cooking related. If you need help finding good quotes, check out the following websites:

Wisdom Quotes

The Quotations Page

ThinkExist.com

Quoteland.com

**Reminder for Holiday Orders: If you are building an Heirloom Cookbook for a holiday gift, we ask that you finish your cookbook project by December 1. To guarantee that you get your favorite customized options (Binder and Dividers), go ahead and Checkout. You will have time to finish your project after you Checkout. This just allows us to pull your inventory.

A Healthy Make-Over of a Thanksgiving Tradition

2006-11-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

My best friend Beth has been in the kitchen again, creating another delicious
Secret Ingredients recipe. We wanted to give a Thanksgiving Tradition, Sweet Potato Casserole, a healthy make-over. The result is this jewel of a recipe:

Secret Ingredients’ Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped sweet potatoes
2 cups baby carrots, peeled
4 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Zest of ½ orange
1 cup crushed canned pineapple with juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Crumble:
½ cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Boil sweet potatoes and carrots in large pot until soft- about 15 minutes. Drain and mash until smooth. Add brown sugar, ginger, orange zest, pineapple with juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Combine well and pour into a greased square casserole or individual ramekins.

Combine crumble ingredients and sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake in a 400˚ oven for 10 minutes. Serves 8.

Note: This recipe is low in sugar, low in fat, and absolutely delicious! Leave the peel on the sweet potato for maximum nutrient intake. For a fat-free variation omit crumble topping.

Did you know that Secret Ingredients is giving away ten FREE Heirloom Cookbooks at the beginning of December? Click here to enter.

Keepsake Cookbooks are here!

2006-11-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a lot of excitement at Secret Ingredients. On Thursday we launched our new product line, Keepsake Cookbooks- just in time for Christmas! If you haven't checked them out, click here to read all about them.
Our new Keepsake books are perfect for Holiday gifts for friends, neighbors and family members. They are also the perfect size (4" x 6") to give as wedding favors or at family reunions.

Each Keepsake Cookbook includes the following features:

A full-color photograph

A personalized Dedication page

Include 25 recipes or as many as you like (Keepsakes accommodate hundreds too if needed)

Customize your cookbook cover!

Table of Contents

On Friday, ABC7 Chicago WLS welcomed Secret Ingredients and me on their morning show to discuss our Heirloom and Keepsake Cookbooks. Thank you WLS!

Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

2006-10-31T09:04:00.000-05:00

This recipe is so warm and delicious. Everyone will want seconds! Serve it with our Oven Fried Chicken recipe, and you'll have a wonderful meal.

Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
About 10-15 white skinned or yellow skinned potatoes
1 package extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
2 cloves pressed garlic
Milk
2 tablespoons green onion
Salt

Directions:
Chop the potatoes into uniform pieces, and boil till soft. No need to peel them. While they cook, grate the cheese. Drain the potatoes, and put back in the pot. Mash them with a masher or whisk, adding milk until the potatoes are the consistency you like. Add the grated cheese, chipotle, crushed garlic, green onion, and salt. Stir. Taste. Adjust.

Put potatoes in a casserole, and top with additional grated cheese. Bake or broil at 350˚ until the top looks delicious.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2006-10-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Pumpkin Day! Looking for a great way to make use of your pumpkin seeds? Elise at Simply Recipes tells us how to toast your seeds! Not only is this festive, but your kids will love this healthy snack.

Comfort Food Recipe: Oven Fried Chicken

2006-10-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

There's something about fall that sends me into nesting mode! Not only do I feel a sudden need to organize every drawer in my house, but I also crave comfort food.

Last weekend my dad and I decided to cook up a wonderful, warm meal of Oven Fried Chicken and Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. Below you will find our favorite Oven Fried Chicken recipe. Not only is this delicious... it is also a healthy alternative to our southern staple, fried chicken.

Perfect Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts (We used boneless, skinless, but we both agree it would have been even better
with bone-in)
2 cups Pepperidge Farm stuffing
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons parsley
1/4 teaspoon thyme, dried
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine stuffing, cheese, almonds, garlic, parsley, thyme, and salt & pepper. Pour olive oil in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken in the oil then cover in the crumb mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. Oh, and don't forget to enter our contest for your chance o win one of ten FREE Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks!

A Special Sneak Preview: Secret Ingredients Keepsake Cookbooks!

2006-10-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

Next Friday, November 3, Secret Ingredients will launch a new product line of custom cookbooks- just in time for the Holidays!

Our new Keepsake Cookbooks are the perfect book for any situation- from holiday recipe collections, gifts and wedding favors to family reunion cookbooks. Not only are these books very affordable (starting at $29.95 for only one cookbook!)... they are also adorable.

You will be able to choose from 4 different cover designs and customize the cover. Each book is the size of a postcard (4" x 6")- perfect for favors and gifts.

Each Keepsake Cookbook will include the following features:

With a minimum of only 25 recipes, these books can also accommodate hundreds!

Customize the cookbook cover with your title and subtitle
A full-color photograph

A personalized Dedication Page

Table of Contents

We know you’ll love these books! Please email me if you have any questions, and be sure to check them out on our website next Friday (Nov.3)!

Create a Family Cookbook for the Perfect Holiday Gift!

2006-10-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

Give an unforgettable gift to your loved ones for Christmas this year: A Secret Ingredients Family Cookbook!

Do you still have time?

Sure! Your Heirloom Cookbook Project will need to be complete by December 4 to ensure delivery in time for the Holidays. To guarantee that you receive your favorite customized choices (Binder and Dividers), go ahead and place your order by clicking the "Checkout" button.

Your cookbook project does not have to be complete to checkout. You may finish your project at your convenience. Simply click the "Cookbook Complete" button when you're finished, and the Secret Ingredients elves will make your cookbooks and deliver them to you within 14 business days!

Looking for the perfect gift for friends and neighbors? Our new Keepsake Cookbooks will be released on November 3. You may submit as few as 25 recipes or as many as you would like. They are perfect for Holiday gift giving. Stay tuned to our blog for a sneak peak... coming very soon!

How to Enter Recipes with Multiple Sections

2006-10-25T19:31:00.000-04:00

Recipe Sections are one of the great features included in each Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Because the Secret Ingredients team alphabetizes your recipes for you, we wanted you to be able to link recipes within a recipe. This way recipes that are related to one another won't be separated when they are alphabetized!

Do you have a cake recipe that contains two parts- one for the cake and one for the icing?

This is the perfect example of when you would use our Recipe Section feature. Here's another example: My mother always serves Bordelaise Sauce, Horseradish, and Yorkshire Pudding with her favorite roast beef recipe. So, when we made our family cookbook we used Recipe Sections to link the three sides with her original roast beef recipe.

How do you use Secret Ingredients' Recipe Sections?

Enter the first section in your "Add Recipe" form. For example, if you have a cake/icing recipe, enter the cake recipe first.
Instead of clicking "Recipe Complete" after you type your recipe, click "Next Section."
Enter the second recipe section. This is when you would enter the fabulous icing recipe for your cake.

Continue until you have added all recipe sections. Then click "Recipe Complete."

To review your Recipe Sections, click on "Recipes." Find your recipe by clicking on its category. You will notice that the recipe sections are listed underneath the first recipe title. Each section can be edited separately. How handy is that!

You do not have to use Recipe Sections if you don't want to. Enter your recipes exactly as you would like them printed.

Don't forget about our Heirloom Cookbook contest! Click here to enter for your chance to win a FREE custom cookbook.

Family Recipes from the Domestik Goddess

2006-10-24T06:44:00.000-04:00

Our blogger friend Jen, the Domestik Goddess, keeps us up-to-date on the latest and greatest news for our homes each day. Jen also has an incredible collection of family recipes that she posts regularly on her blog.

Jen does an incredible job of giving her readers the story behind her recipes. For example, here is an excerpt from her War Cake recipe:

"Our family often serves this War Cake on Remembrance Day — Veterans Day to our cousins in the USA — as a reminder of what life was like on the home front in the Second World War. But this heavy dark cake is a tasty family favourite. In fact, my sister liked it so well that as a child she always demanded it for her birthday cake!

War cake recipes vary, but they are traditionally butter-less, egg-less, milk-less, and sometimes sugarless, reflecting those difficult days when many "luxury foods" were in short supply and prohibitively expensive, or even under wartime rationing controls.

This particular old recipe comes from the well-worn pages of Grandmother's own handwritten cookbook. It does call for a bit of butter but substitutes brown sugar for the refined white sugar which was hard to come by in Atlantic Canada. It is well-suited to a topping of boiled frosting or whipped cream, but of course Grammie used to serve it plain."

Click here to read the recipe.

Not only does her recipe note tell us about her family history and memories, but it also fills us in on world history at the time in which the recipe was created and gives preparation tips. Now that's a recipe! To read more of Jen's recipes, check out her recent Recipe Round-Up.

The great thing about writing detailed recipes in your family cookbook is that it will make your children and future generations aware of their family history and the events that shaped past generations. Unlike most heirlooms, family cookbooks are used on a regular basis- not stored away in closets and unused drawers. How fun will it be to share your family history with your children as you make Holiday cookies or a special dessert?!

Do you have a family recipe that has a neat story? Share it with us, and you may win one of ten free heirloom cookbooks! Check out our current contest for more details.

The Perfect Fall Soup

2006-10-20T11:44:00.000-04:00

Fall has settled into the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, Secret Ingredients' home base. The changing leaves are beautiful, the temperature is cooling, and I am craving a warm, fall soup to celebrate the new season.

I searched my mother's recipe collection for the perfect recipe, and I found it!

With colorful veggies, fresh herbs, and warmth, this recipe celebrates the best of the season. My mother's note on this recipe reads, "This will warm your body and your heart!"

Harvest Soup

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
7 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup turnips, cubed
1 cup diced sweet potato, peeled
1 cup peeled carrot
salt & pepper
1 cup celery, diced
2 cups chicken breast halves, skinned, boned, and cut up
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon

Directions:

Heat oil on low heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Remove cover; heat to medium and add garlic. Stir in broth, turnips, sweet potatoes, carrot; boil.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer until crisp tender- about 20 minutes. Season. Add celery and chicken. Simmer until chicken is opaque- about 10 minutes. Add herbs last.

How to Restore Old Family Photos

2006-10-19T13:17:00.000-04:00

Secret Ingredients heirloom cookbooks are the perfect way to share and document old family photographs. Many of our members have restored old family photographs just so they can use them in their cookbook project.

How do you restore old photographs?

If your photographs are faded, scratched, or torn, it is possible to have them fully restored. You will be surprised- sometimes the restored image is even better than the original. Look at this photograph of my grandparents at a high school dance...

My family had this photograph restored by a professional. The original photo had worn edges and significant fading.

Here are some tips to help you restore your old photographs:

Photocopying does not work. Although it will somewhat flatten any rips or tears, photocopying does not fix color, fading, or scratches.

This is an example of a photocopy of an old family photograph. Notice that the image is not sharp and the gray lines at the top of the image were not as dark on the original image.

Computer software. There are many computer programs that will help you remove scratches, tears, and other imperfections. This software can be expensive and complicated, so if you have savvy friends or family members, ask for their help!

Photo Kiosks. If your photo only needs to have the color restored, you can do this from a photo kiosk at your local drugstore, photo shop, or large retailer. At a photo kiosk you can scan your image, adjust the image, and order prints. To read about Kodak's photo kiosk's and how to use their features, click here.

Ask a professional. If your photograph has a lot of damage, it would be worth the expense to have it restored professionally. Call or visit your local photo shops. A professional restoration could cost up to $30, but your family will be very appreciative.

Purely Organic sample

Tips for Taking Great Family Photos

2006-10-17T11:31:00.000-04:00

Your Secret Ingredients cookbook has two major elements: your recipes and family photographs. It is this combination of family memories, stories, recipes, and photographs that make your cookbook project so special. Because photographs play a major role in creating your custom cookbook, I want to give you some tips for taking great photographs!

The photographs we frame and share are the ones that evoke emotion and capture our most favorite memories or the personality of our loved ones. The following tips will help you make your photographs even better!

The Rule of Thirds. Did you know that placing your subject in the middle of the picture is generally not the best option? The Rule of Thirds is one of the best photo tips out there! Simply divide up your image into thirds vertically and horizontally by imagining a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Where the lines intersect are the most powerful points for placing your subjects. Click here to see an example from Kodak’s website.

Make sure that you are on the subject’s level. If you are taking pictures of kids or pets, actually kneel down to take better pictures.

Avoid distracting backgrounds. A plain background always compliments your subject.

Know when to use your flash. Turn your flash on to take pictures of friends and family outdoors on a sunny day. If you are taking pictures of people who are more than five feet away from you, make sure your flash is on. If your subject is within five feet of you, use your fill flash. If you are taking photos of Holiday lights at night, be sure to keep that flash turned off!

Double-check your lighting. Make sure that the lighting is complimentary of your subject. Shadows and bright sunlight can produce shadows or highlight your subject too much.

Be sure to check out Kodak’s Top Ten Tips for Great Pictures for more tips. Also, check back with us tomorrow to learn more about enhancing and editing your old family photographs!

Butter Cookies for Cookie Month

2006-10-16T10:12:00.000-04:00

Did you know that October is National Cookie Month? I've googled, queried wikipedia, and even asked Jeeves and I can't figure out why October is National Cookie Month. Does anyone know?

I'm glad to join in the celebration of one of my favorite things- cookies! Everyone loves cookies, and I wanted to share one of Secret Ingredients' favorite cookie recipes with you. This recipe came from one of the first cookbooks I made, and its author, Susan Lapis, was happy to share it with us!

I made these cookies this weekend and handed them out to my neighbors. One neighbor knocked on my door yesterday to see if I had any left. These babies are good! With a little creativity and patience, you can turn this recipe into a masterpiece.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks, softened in microwave)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt (unless you used salted butter)
Icing:
1 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add flour, vanilla extract, and salt (if needed) and combine. Chill the dough for 10-15 minutes. This makes it easier to work with, although you may skip this step if needed. Make sure not to chill dough too long or it will harden beyond being pliable.

Roll dough on a floured board using a floured rolling pin. Cut out the cookies using your favorite shape, and bake them on a greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. They are done when the edges barely begin to brown.

When cookies have cooled, combine ingredients for icing. Add powder sugar slowly until you reach your desired thickness. For ideas on decorating your cookies, check out this article on Martha Stewart Living.

The cookies I made below are, well, a little sloppy! I was cooking several dishes at once, and my cookies didn't get the attention they needed. BUT they were absolutely delicious!

To learn about the history of cookies check out this article on whatscookingamerica.net. Did you know that Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for almost 90 years?!

To add this recipe to your Secret Ingredients cookbook project, simply look under "Cookies" in the Stock Pot. Then, find Butter Cookies and click the "Add this recipe" button.

Reminder: The Secret Ingredients contest is still underway. Enter now for your chance to win one of ten free custom cookbooks!

Celebrate World Egg Day with an Incredible Soufflé

2006-10-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

I really love any good soufflé recipe, and since today is World Egg Day, I thought I would pass on my most favorite soufflé recipe. From my great-grandmother's kitchen comes this jewel of a recipe, Cheese Soufflé.

Cheese Soufflé

Serve immediately!

Prep Time: 30 min. • Cook Time: 30+ min.
Yields: 4-5 servings • Oven Temp: 350°

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup grated cheese (sharp cheddar)
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Place butter and flour in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Smooth into paste. Add salt and milk- a little at a time as to not have lumps. Add cheese and stir until melted.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with a whisk until lemon yellow and a little thick. Add yolks to cheese mixture.

It will look like this...

Finally, with electric mixer, beat whites until very stiff- takes almost 7-10 minutes.

With large spoon, pour cheese mixture a little at a time into whites and gently mix in.

Affix a wax paper collar to greased soufflé dish, pour in batter and place in 350° oven to bake for 30 or so minutes. Do not remove until thoroughly done.

This recipe is so delicious! Your guests will beg you for the recipe. I fixed this recipe for my group of girlfriends last night and received rave reviews.

If you would like to add this recipe to your cookbook project, you may do so very simply by checking out our Stock Pot. For directions on adding Stock Pot recipes to your Secret Ingredients cookbook, click here.

To learn more about creating your own family cookbook, check out Secret Ingredients.

Bring Back Family Meals

2006-10-12T10:51:00.000-04:00

Last night I had another great meal with my mother! Although Mom and I have very busy schedules (she is in graduate school getting her second master’s degree at 57!), we meet every Wednesday night for a sit-down, home cooked meal and a movie.

I grew up in a very traditional family. Every night I enjoyed a delicious family meal with my parents and sister, and on Sundays we would join the extended family for brunch or dinner at my grandparents’ house.

My grandfather Bud loved to make his grandchildren laugh during our family meals!

The comfort and warmth of a meal with family makes us feel grounded and connected. It is the perfect time to catch up and to enjoy each other’s company in the midst of busy days. The American Psychological Association published a study in 1997 that proves that family meals take a major role in the lives of teenagers and young children. The association’s studies found that well- adjusted teenagers (teens with healthier friendships who are more motivated academically and avoid common peer pressures) ate dinner with their families at least five times a week. The University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina found similar results in their study on family meals.

Even if your family is spread out all over the country, getting together with your social family is equally important. I do both! On Wednesday nights I eat dinner with my mother and on Friday nights I get together with my closest friends. These meals break up my busy work schedule and are very refreshing.

HOW TO BRING "FAMILY" MEALS BACK INTO YOUR LIFE:

Begin slowly. The trick is to not get overwhelmed with preparations or burned out on the concept. Start adding one sit-down meal to your schedule each week. Gradually increase your family meals at a comfortable rate.

Choose easy meals. The quality of the food at your family meal should not be the initial focus; although, later you will find that offering picky children healthy food will become easier as your sit down meals become more familiar. In the beginning, keep it simple. Even make-your-own-pizza night would be fun for your entire group and low stress for you! For “social families”, stick to potlucks. Let everyone bring their favorite.

Get everyone involved. Children love to be included in projects and to feel “helpful”. This is especially true in a low stress, happy environment. Ask your children to help pour beverages or to set the table. You may also get them involved with meal planning. This will give you the opportunity to guide them towards healthier options.

Keep family meals enjoyable. Give each person time to talk about their day, and avoid negative conversation. This is also a great time to discuss upcoming events and holidays.

Turn off the TV and cell phones. Taking time out of your day to enjoy your loved ones without interruption is refreshing and can make you feel more efficient when you return phone calls and return your focus to work.

Be creative. Family meals can take place at any meal time and anywhere! If your schedule is too busy at night with sporting events and board meetings, pack a picnic dinner to share between events, meet for lunch instead, or plan to have breakfast together.

create a family cookbook

cookbook project

Choosing Photographs for Your Family Cookbook

2006-10-11T10:28:00.000-04:00

Do you have drawers and computer folders filled with family photographs? Choosing photographs for your Secret Ingredients cookbook project can be a lot of fun. Not only will you walk down memory lane as you choose the perfect photographs for your recipe scrapbook, but you will also see your cookbook project come to life as you tell your family's story through recipes and photographs.

Today I wanted to offer some tips to help you choose the perfect photos for your custom cookbook:

Include both old and new photos. This year I am creating a special Secret Ingredients cookbook for my sister, Whitney. I decided to alternate old black & white photographs of our grandparents and parents with more recent color photographs of Whitney's wedding and her two beautiful babies. This combination highlights some of our most favorite memories together and celebrates the people we love so dearly.

Be creative with color. If you are familiar with photo editing software or know someone who is, you can enhance your photographs by changing the color levels and cropping. Play with your photographs to find your favorite color settings. Use filters to sharpen the image or remove noise (scratches, specks, etc.) on your older photographs.

If you do not have photo editing software, consider downloading Google's Picassa. This is a free program that will organize your photographs and make your life a lot easier! Picassa includes basic photo editing features that are easy enough for anyone to use. Picassa's features include the following: color adjustment, a cropping tool, and a red eye tool.

Groups: Make sure to include everyone. Ask your friends and family to send you their favorite photographs via email or snail mail. If you are doing a family reunion cookbook or a group cookbook, devote one divider to each branch of your family or social group. This works out perfectly!

Consider your divider set. Before deciding where your photographs will be placed in your Secret Ingredients cookbook, you may find it very helpful to look at our divider samples. Simply click on the name of the divider set that you have chosen to flip through an entire sample set. Your cookbook will look even better if your photographs match the backgrounds on each divider.

Think about creative placement. Consider matching your photographs with the divider category. For example, the Secret Ingredients recently finished a very cute heirloom cookbook for a young family. On the Pasta divider, the family included a photograph of their young daughter eating spaghetti- red tomato sauce covering her hands and mouth. It was so cute! The same family added a photograph of their two daughters in standing on the front stoop of their house dressed in their Halloween costumes.

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Create a Family Newsletter

2006-10-10T17:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mentioned that family newsletters are a great way to keep your family up-to-date on your Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Have you ever considered making a family newsletter? It's a wonderful way to stay in touch with your family around the world...

How do you organize a family newsletter?

Create a Mailing List. Although it is perfectly fine to make a handwritten address list for your family newsletter, we recommend using spreadsheet software so that you can do a simple mail merge later.

Need to find addresses? Send an email to your family members and ask them to send you their addresses along with their children's contact information. Be sure to call your family members who are not electronically connected!

Choose a Format. Although email newsletters are very convenient, they may be difficult to pull off. Unless you are very computer-savvy, creating a newsletter with beautiful graphics and photographs is pretty difficult. Also, email can be difficult for older generations. If you would like to send an email newsletter, you can always create a plain text email and send photographs as attachments.

We recommend sending your family newsletter the old-fashioned way- snail mail. Not only will it be a great keepsake, but your family members will be more appreciative and excited to receive it!

You can easily design your family newsletter in a word processing program. Microsoft Word users- Click here to download family newsletter templates. How cool is that!
If you are creating a handmade newsletter, simply take it to your local copy shop or office supply store to make color copies.

Find Out about Upcoming Events. Before you create your newsletter, it's a good idea to contact your family members for an update. Ask them if there are any important dates, recent achievements, memories, stories, or recipes that they would like to contribute. Don't forget to ask your children to get involved. Perhaps they could draw a picture, write a funny poem, or share a story!

Include Family History. Mix up old stories with the new! Include photographs of older family members when they were younger. Your children will get a kick out of seeing their aunts and uncles in their high school fashions! Also, include funny stories about grandparents and the favorite family recipes.

What a great way to stay connected! It is also the perfect way to let your family know about your Secret Ingredients cookbook project.

Did you know that Secret Ingredients is having a contest and that 10 lucky winners will win a free custom cookbook? If you haven't submitted your entry, click here to check out the contest.