A family recipe book.
Grandma's recipes, in her own words.
The Christmas cookies, the Sunday roast, the birthday cake. Family recipes are learned by watching, almost never by reading. Gathering them now, with the real measurements and the stories that come with them, is the loveliest way to keep them. And it can become a gift to put under the tree.
A family recipe book gathers your home recipes with the real measurements, the tricks and the stories of the people who cooked them. The best way to make one is to cook with your grandparents, measure what they do by eye, write it down in their words and record their voices. Start in November and it's ready for Christmas.
The taste of home is a powerful memory
A team of psychologists led by Chelsea Reid ran three studies on what happens when we think back to a food from our past, or taste it. Food turned out to be a powerful way to spark nostalgia: a mostly positive nostalgia, which the researchers linked to feelings such as self-esteem and being connected to others.
university students took part in the three studies: some imagined the dishes, others tasted 12 different flavours.
Another study, from the University at Buffalo, explains why: the foods that comfort us are the ones we associate with the people we love. Many participants, describing their favourite comfort food, wrote about meals with family and friends.
A family recipe isn't a list of ingredients. It's a person in the kitchen.
Five steps to collect family recipes
- Cook together. Ask your grandmother or grandfather to make the dish in front of you, rather than dictating it. Family recipes live in the gestures.
- Measure the “just enough”. Before the flour goes into the bowl, weigh it. A handful, a cupful, “until it feels soft”: turn it all into grams and minutes.
- Write it in their words. “Stir gently, or it'll fall flat.” Keep their expressions: they're what will make the recipe unmistakably theirs.
- Photograph the hands and the finished dish. Hands kneading the dough, the tray fresh from the oven, the plate on the table.
- Record their voice. Two minutes of them telling you who taught them the recipe is enough. In twenty years, it will be worth more than any note.
What to write for each recipe
Real measurements
Ingredients in grams, number of servings, cooking times and oven temperature. The measured ones, not the remembered ones.
The tricks
The secret that makes the difference: cold butter, dough left to rest overnight, a pinch of lemon zest.
The story
Who used to make it, for which occasion, who they learned it from. Two lines are enough to turn a recipe into a memory.
The variations
Your aunt's version, the egg-free one, the one the grandchildren love. Every family has its own.
A recipe sheet to print
A sheet for measurements, method, tricks, variations and story, plus the six questions to ask in the kitchen.
PDF · 2 pages · A4Six questions to ask in the kitchen
More questions to gather your family's stories in the article Questions to ask your grandparents.
Ready for Christmas: a six-week plan
A family recipe book is a handmade Christmas gift that every generation loves. To have it ready under the tree, it's best to start in November.
- Weeks 1–2: choose the recipes. Ten or twelve are enough: the holiday dishes, the Sunday ones, the birthday cake.
- Weeks 3–4: cook and photograph. One afternoon a week with your grandparents, the notebook open and the scales on the table.
- Week 5: write and lay out. One page per recipe, with the photo, the measurements and the story. By hand or on the computer.
- Week 6: print and bind. A ring binder lets you add new recipes over the years.
Recipes on paper, voices kept safe
The printed book belongs in the kitchen, among flour stains and folded pages. The voices, photos and stories you gathered deserve a quieter place: a Memories capsule, delivered to the people who'll treasure it on the day you choose.
Gather
Photos of hands kneading dough, audio recordings of their stories, handwritten recipes you've photographed.
Choose who will receive it
Your siblings, your children or grandchildren when they're grown up, or yourself. Nobody needs to download anything: a personal, secure link arrives.
Choose the day
Next Christmas Eve, a grandchild's 18th birthday, the day they move into their first home.
Erabox keeps your memories on servers in Switzerland and delivers them on the day you chose, even many years from now.
Family recipe book: common questions
Can't find your answer? Write to us from the Support page.
Guides to go further
Recipes stay in the kitchen.
Voices stay safe for the people you love.
Gather the stories and voices of the people who cook for you, and choose when they arrive.