Cookbooks

This one was made to order. A large cookbook. Multicoptic stitching. Cover is made with this fabric I found that tablecloths are made out of. Think of picnic tablecloth material. She wanted something that would be easy to wipe down, so it is quite wick. Inside is made of standard pocket folders, multicolored.. My friend, Becca, is a real cook. She experiments and collects recipes from all over, so there is not a lot of writing, but there is a lot of compiling- and sometimes a mess... hence the wickness. And I really don't think that is a word, but it sure is fun. ok, back to it- I did add two signatures of plain white paper- one to the front and one to the back- so writing can be had. And I think that I sleeved the paper signatures in handmade paper that I was given at Bookworks for helping out on a mask making homemade paper project. textured paper makes me feel at peace... The black band there is a piece of elastic that I sewed into the spine- first time I did that and it worked out well- except that I had to do it a few times to get the right amount- and I still think I made it a little too big. i will just have to count on Becca to make it grow. That reminds me- I added spacers to each signature so that it could expand comfortably and not break the binding. Wish I had a photo of the spine... Anyway, now I am hungry because Becca is a damn fine cook.
I also made one for Nancy- with a black and white cover- but I don't have a picture of that one because I moved to NY too fast. Happy cooking ladies! It was a pleasure.

Recipe Scrapbook

This one I made for my sister who is learning to cook. Cooking for me is pretty spontaneous, probably because the quantity of recipes out there is daunting and I also can't seem to be organized enough to keep track of the good ones. So instead of a cookbook, which would have been way too much work, I made more of a scrapbook. Collaged some nice food images on the covers and inserts. I used colored file folders that I cut down for the inserts (in the way my brain organizes)- tips for cooking/purchasing, small bites (appetizers), breads and pastas, meats and seafood, vegetables, big plates (casseroles and potluck meals), desserts and end things. I glued in envelopes at the end of each section for clippings. Then added my few signature dishes that get me through life- cooking a whole chicken and making stock/shredded soup with the leftovers, avocado deviled eggs, pizza dough, cheese fondue, pineapple pizza. But it was really made for her to fill out as she goes. Multi-Coptic stitching (with 4 needles) makes the cool binding. And presto- This one I wanted to keep for myself...