Mother’s Day is just around the corner and if you are looking for gift ideas to show that special woman in your life how much you love and appreciate her, do I have some suggestions for you! First off, what better gift than providing her with a custom cookbook showcasing her personalized recipe collection. TasteBook, a wonderful site, that I contribute to as well as love to browse myself for recipes and information, offers professional custom cookbooks. Not only is this a wonderful gift idea, but a fantastic way to preserve your family recipes for future generations.
The custom cookbooks are priced at $34.95 for a 50-page book with the option to add additional recipes at any time, pricing can be found here. TasteBook is offering one of my readers a chance to win a custom cookbook. Please see the end of the post for more information on the giveaway. Mandy has also provided us with some wonderful tips to help you while creating your custom cookbook which I have inserted at the bottom of this post.
To find out more about ordering a custom cookbook, click here. Now through May 20, 2015 TasteBook is offering 10 percent off your TasteBook Orders using code MOM2015 and free ground shipping when you order 3 or more TasteBooks. Why not order also order for birthdays and the holiday season to take advantage of this promotion?
It is no secret my favorite gift (besides cash) is something cooking related. If you are still searching for the perfect cookbook to give as a gift this Mother’s Day, check out my Spring Round Up post as well as TasteBook’s site to gather some ideas for cookbook giving.
Some of my top cookbook picks would be The New Midwestern Table, Mastering Pasta, The Baking Bible, The Food of Taiwan, Extra Virgin, The Larousee Book of Bread, Food52 Genius Recipes and Breakfast. One of these titles is a great gift but add a pasta maker, banneton basket, perfect pie plate, dough whisk, Ebelskiver pan (great book on Ebelskivers here and here) or a gorgeous wooden spoon and you have an incredible gift for the special person in your life.
Nutella stuffed chocolate Ebelskivers were made for breakfast recently and were based on this recipe. Make mom a batch and give her a pan so she can make her own!
If you are hosting a Mother’s Day breakfast, brunch, or dinner and are looking for recipes and inspiration; or are looking for entertaining tips and recipe ideas for a memorable and hassle-free gathering — the TasteBook Blog is a wonderful resource.
Another great Mother’s Day cookbook gift idea is Soul Food Love. This book delivers a healthful look at soul food cooking from mother-daughter literary duo Alice Randall & Caroline Randall Williams. It chronicles four generations of cooking and eating in the Randall’s black American family. The first eighty pages covers the history of the Randall family including their struggles with food issues and health concerns.
The remaining 130 pages contain recipes such as Peanut Chicken Stew, Chicken, Vegetable and Wild Rice Stew and Spicy Pepper Chicken. Warm Onion and Rosemary Salad, Red and Black Bean Burgers, Red Bean and Brown Rice, Oakwood Bean Loaf and Poet’s Pot Pie offer us tasty, filling vegetarian options. The recipes for Peanut Chicken Stew and Poet’s Pot Pie are linked above to the Tastebook site and are reprinted from Soul Food Love: Healthy Recipes Inspired by One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family. Copyright © 2015 by Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams. Photographs copyright © 2015 by Penny De Los Santos. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY: TasteBook is offering one of my readers a copy of Soul Food Love, a TasteBook tote bag and a Custom Cookbook “TasteBook” of your own recipes! I wish I could enter! This offer is available for US and Canadian addresses only. To enter, please leave a comment on this post telling me about the best gift you have received for any occasion (or no occasion at all). A random winner will be chosen on May 5th. Good luck! RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR PICKED #29! Judy Pike Proud Krist — Congratulations!
Tips from Mandy for compiling your custom cookbook:
Whether you’re considering making a TasteBook for yourself like I did, or creating one as a gift for Mother’s Day, here are my top tips and insights about the process:
Joining
First things first: Sign up as a member (it’s free). This gives you access to building your own cookbook and uploading your recipes. Plus, you can search and save recipes already on the site provided by TasteBook, as well as community recipes from other members.
Uploading
There’s no getting around it: You’ll have to manually type in and upload the recipes. I know, I know. But the good news is that everything can be done in one form, and if you have the recipe in an email, you can simply copy and paste the text right into the new recipe form. It’ll format the ingredients and number the steps for you.
Photos
I decided to take photos of the dishes for my TasteBook, but it’s not required. You can choose to leave the photo field blank or, like many members do, add a personal touch by using family photos. Just make sure the photo is yours—no borrowing from the internet or a published work by someone else!
Privacy
When adding a new recipe in the recipe form, you’ll see two boxes right above the green “Save” button on the bottom right: “Not for Sale” and “Make Private.” Checking the first means your recipe will be searchable by other members, but they cannot add it to their own TasteBooks. The second option enables you to make your recipe completely private. No one else can see it but you. (A good option if a particularly goofy family photo accompanies a recipe!) If you want other members to see your recipe and possibly add it to their own TasteBooks, leave both boxes unchecked.
Gifting
If your book is going to be a gift, make sure to check that option when the cookbook is in your cart. This way, you can add a special note, in addition to the dedication page inside the book. You can also ship multiple copies of your book—a great option if your TasteBook contains family recipes, which you can then give to all of the mothers in your family.
FAQs
Before you start building your own cookbook, I’d watch this speedy 30-second video. It gives a nice overview of what a TasteBook is and how it looks. Then, head to the Cookbook Studio page. On the left-hand side of the page, you’ll see a section that says, “Create a Cookbook.” I found the details listed under “Pricing & Specs” and “Shipping Info” extremely helpful to answer basic questions (how much, when can I get it, all that good stuff). If you find yourself needing help along the way, head to this FAQ page. It’s chockfull of pointers that’ll help you get to where you need to go!
The best thing I ever got was Kitchenaid Mixer for Christmas many years ago.
The best gift I got was from a friend: it was a calendar that she had made herself of 12 months of photography from the time we lived in Istanbul. It was a testament to the time and to the love we both have for that great city.
The best presents I ever got was all six of my children. Each one of them are such great blessings.
royalegacy at gmail dot com
the best gift I ever received was for my birthday. It was a custom Shutterfly book. I have 4 sons; two are married; I have three baby grandsons. One daughter-in-law asked each family member, including husband, to write a 1-2 page letter to me, of fond memories, ways I was special to them, etc. Along with each person’s essay would be pictures of me with them, some recent, some from years past. By the time I got to the end there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I felt – and still feel – so very loved.
Best gift I got was a trip to Bouchon and Picasso and many more in Las Vegas for my 50th.
I was beside myself with pride and joy when a college professor of my twin sons told them that they wear their confidence more comfortably than anyone he’d ever met and they gave the credit to me.
My favorite gift was a cappuccino machine my husband gave me a few years back. I tell him it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
My favorite gift I’ve ever received was a Kitchenaid from my late husband ( who passed away almost 13 years ago). It’s still going strong, I wish he were.
The best gift was a beautiful mosaic clock that my girlfriend made for my recent 60th birthday! It’s breathtaking.
The best gift I got was the All-Clad slower Cooker for Christmas/Hannukah a couple years ago. I love it and use it a lot.
Best gift ever was for Christmas when Mom compiled a family recipe book from relatives and friends. It’s priceless!!
A couple of years ago our children pooled their resources to have family photos done. I will always treasure their thoughtfulness.
Best gift I ever got was my red Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for when I got married. LOVE IT!
A Christmas winter coat that my mom saved for that I saw in a store and loved. It was a bit pricey for that time $99.00. Later Mom went back and put it on lay=away..she saved, made payments and I got it.
I was totally shocked and still have it and wear it now and then too.
The best gift I ever received was my son. We had been told it wasn’t possible but apparently it was.
My camera was the best gift I received – I cried
The best gift I got wasn’t for a special occasion. My grandma was moving out of her house of 45 years and she gave me her grandmother’s cookbook. It included all of her handwritten notes on some of the recipes and the inside covers also appeared to be where she recorded special events (births, etc.)
The best gifts, seem to me are not always things, for example; all the time my grandma spent teaching me to bake
best gift I ever got was my Kitchenaid Mixer in Empire Red.
The best gift I ever received would have to be my Le Creuset dutch oven. If my house ever burns down, it’s the first thing I’m grabbing!
A lovely framed photo of my son. I hadn’t seen him in two years and it was the first gift I received from him as an adult.
The best gift I ever received was the canning kit (23 quart kettle, jar lifter, lid rack, etc.) that my husband assembled for my birthday, about 5+ years ago. It was karma and started me down the road to where I am today. I’m grateful every single day. 🙂
The best gifts I ever received were my two kids, of course. But one year, my husband surprised me with a cruise for Christmas . He made arrangements for our then 9-month-old and planned the whole trip. He also surprised me with a honeymoon in Spain!
Hard to narrow down. Let’s leave out the car; not cooking related. 2 years ago I got full compliment of all-clad. For my 10th anniversary, I got a great new stove, with a large pressure canner and kitchen-aid mixer. 22 years later, still using the same canner and Big Greenie.
The best gift that I ever recieved was my grandmothers dishes. We used to use them at every holiday and we use them at ours now.
My best gift was two baby dolls for Christmas of 1978.
The best gift I ever received, was my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Sadly it died this week RIP Big Bertha.
The best gift I ever received was from my husband. It was a 25-year anthology of the best writing by students from Carnegie Mellon University. One of the poems I had written was included, but I never knew this until years later when my husband happened upon the book.
My best gift other than my two children was getting two separate built in ovens !!
Than you Jenny for including Canada
It’s not really a gift in the strictest sense of the word, but I can’t think of a single thing I’ve been given that’s more important or special to me than the box I keep my husband’s and son’s notes in. For about 26 years my husband (even when he was just my boyfriend) has left me little notes – on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, funny cards; on the bathroom mirror written in soap, on my car windshield or side mirror, in my gardening tool box, next to the coffee maker, on the steering wheel, in a book I’m reading – for special occasions, yes, but most of the time just because it’s Monday (or any random day) or he’s going on a trip, or he’s just thinking of me. He’s even sent me notes written on paper airplanes he called “Eros-Mail”. I’ve saved them all, every single scrap. Now my son does it – occasionally, not very often, but still – and I save those as well. The longer notes are no more special to me than the one line “I’ll miss you” notes. They are the best gift I’ve ever been given or ever will be given. That box where I keep them and it’s contents is the most important thing I own.
The best gift I ever recieved was my son whom we adopted two weeks before Christmas after waiting 2&1/2 years. In the interim I had become pregnant despite all the odds but unfortunately I lost the baby at 4 months & I was devasted to say the least. This was just two months before & receiving my prescious little bundle was God’s blessing. That was 41 years ago & every day I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to raise this fantastic young man whom I love wi
th all my heart.
My best gift was a trip to Europe after I finished school. What an amazing time I had!
This is hard to top.
25 years ago I met a young woman who was staying with a lady from her church. This young lady was pregnant and looking for a young couple to adopt her twin boys who were to be born in late summer.
On mother’s day of 1989 she showed up at our house and said, happy mothers day! I want you and mark to be the parents of the boys! Can’t beat it.
Tough question, but a trip to Hawaii for my 60th birthday is definitely up there!
Best gift ever was a photo of my son, daughter and niece. My son just got his license so they were able to sneak out to get it taken. He climbed into big Santa boots and they were laughing SO hard. I just love it.
The best gift I ever received was surviving and thriving after being born three months early at 2 pounds, 2 ounces 35 years ago thanks to the round-the-clock care of the NICU nurses and the constant intervention of my mom; every day has truly been a gift and I try to experience and do as much as I can (so far have lived in five countries and speak three languages). Cookbooks are just the icing on the cake!
I’ve been given so many wonderful things. I have an amber berry bowl set that was given to me by my great grandmother for my wedding shower. I’ve only used it several times throughout my 34 years of marriage. I really appreciate how it’s been passed along for generations. My daughter is going to be 28 in a week and she is marrying this November. I’m going to pass it along to her at our families shower to her. I don’t even think she remembers it. What’s really important is that I have a handwritten letter telling me about its history.
My all time favorite gift was the chance to eat my way through Portugal and Spain for 2 weeks last May. Over 500 pictures of food and memories are gift enough!
The love I received from my ” other mom”
my best gift is my new dog ,a rescue
My best gift? I’ve had so many. Probably the best gift I got was on Mother’s Day, when my youngest daughter (who was just six months pregnant) gave birth to my youngest grandson. He was so little, but he grew into a big boy. He is ten, soon to be 11.
My Dad gave me a brand new 1968 Mustang for my 18th birthday..it was the biggest least expected gift I have ever ever gotten in my whole life. I still have that car and it still looks as hot as the day I received it many many years ago. Wish I did!!!
The two best gifts I ever got came in the form of the written word–which I guess isn’t surprising coming from a confessed cookbook junkie. One was when someone dedicated his first book to me and the other when a uniquely gifted participant in an educational institution I ran gave a speech at our graduation ceremony in which he described what we were trying to accomlish with the program with a precision and delight and gratitude that still brings tears to my eyes.
One of the best gift’s was a copy of the Edna Lewis Cookbook.
The best gift I ever received was a slot in a Beginning Beekeeper’s class – it changed my life, and I think I had only mentioned once in passing that I was interested in having a beehive!
I’ve received so many wonderful gifts over the years, but I suppose my favorite was a puppy when I was sixteen. That dog gave me ten years of unconditional love.
one of my favorite gifts was my husband having a landscaper set up a fenced in area, slightly raised, for a vegetable garden.