Publishing a Family Cookbook

Hubby, Evelynn, Sonia, Bridget, and Sean- frying fish - Lent 2013

Today, I'm at-my-wit's-end overwhelmed.  Truly.  So, what do I choose to do?? 
Why, try to figure out how to get our sadly-dilapidated, grease-stained, full-of-crumbs, hand-written family cookbook into a printable format, so that I can hand one to each of the kids as they eventually leave the nest, of course.

Sad thought.  Very, very sad thought. That leaving the nest bit.  :-(

Sonia and Sara making pizza- one of our favorite things to make as a family

We started a family cookbook many years ago.  Sara, my oldest, was 8 or 9 at the time.  She just turned 18.  She was the "keeper of the recipes", but now, it seems, our resident 12 year old pastry chef, Sonia, has become the "keeper", although, EVERYONE wants the cookbook- or at least the recipes in the cookbook.  No one should want this cook book.  No one!  It is gross-- seriously!  Crumbs and grease from buttery fingers and I don't even know what else is on it-- the laminated pages stick together as I page through it.  Blech.

A funny pic of my boys with a requested birthday cake for Cameron- chocolate, Heath bar, caramel

At what point does my house become less messy or sticky or crumby??  By the time I get Sean, 5 years old, raised, I figure I'll have grandkids running around-- I am hopeful on that point.  

All Sean wanted was a "monkey cake" - runts and grapes and chocolate, oh, my!

I don't have great publishing software on my computer.  We always thought we'd get it later to put on the computer, but have never had the money to do so.  Priorities, ya know.  Groceries and clothes and gas....... Yep.  Kinda important.

I think I'll make a secret blog and start posting the recipes there along with some family photos-- I want to do this up right.  I think it could be a beautiful thing for the kids to have. 

I'd like to see it in color and heavily laminated-- so much so that perhaps, they could just throw it in the dishwasher when they have their own sticky-fingered children.  Okay, so, maybe not.  It was a good thought, but not so doable.  I'll just hold a copy or two back for each of them to replace theirs at different points in their lives. 

Off to create a secret blog.
Feel free to say a pray for a break in my overwhelmedness- I'd go for a big bag of money too while you're praying- never hurts to ask, right?  I'm escaping today into a project that while being a challenge, is something I think I can handle. 

Evelynn with her requested raspberry and chocolate birthday cake - 2012

Of course, now, I've put my apron on, made a raspberry coffee cake, and have an escapist baking bug going on too.  If you give a mom a cookbook project, she's bound to start baking something.  If a mom starts baking, she's bound to make a pot of coffee.  If she puts on a pot of coffee, she's bound to start making lists of things she must do.  And, if she's making a list, why not a blog post on a very neglected blog too.  LOL