November 15, 2021
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Recipes are such an important part of celebrations and traditions. They’re almost like extensions of ourselves and our families—ingredients, instructions, inside stories, and inspiring traditions which often go back generations.
There are the recipes that our grandparents made where we follow the directions exactly. There are ones we’ve updated with our own take or modern twist. And some, or all of them, may be recipes that we want to pass along to the next generation one day.
That’s why there’s no better time than the present to start creating a digital cookbook to archive those iconic family recipes. And good news: The process of creating one is easy and can be a lot of fun.
Whether they’re handwritten on a recipe card or clipped from old newspapers, gather as many family recipes as you can. Take photos of the recipes to easily capture the original format and—bam—you’ve digitized your recipes. Then what? You can import the photos into a folder or folders in OneDrive cloud storage where you’ll safely store them for generations to come.
Or you can create a recipe book using a premium PowerPoint template with Microsoft 365. Designate one slide per recipe and include the original photo, any notes, or tips to remember, or a memory that you associate with that recipe. On each slide, you could even include a photo of the finished dish, or of the people you enjoyed it with. Whether it’s Grandma’s secret spaghetti sauce recipe or Dad’s iconic tiramisu, you’re capturing and savoring the memory.
The best part is you can access your OneDrive files from any kitchen you may find yourself in. Easily share files and folders with family members, and even invite them to add in their own comments, memories, or photos.
Maybe you’ve taken to getting a little creative in the kitchen yourself. You’ve experimented with ingredients and—surprise—you’ve created the perfect paella. Don’t let your genius slip away! Create a digital cookbook for yourself in Microsoft OneNote, so it can be recreated anytime and passed down to the next generation of chefs. Use OneNote as your digital notebook that you can access across all your devices, wherever you are.
Now it’s time to create some new dishes and some new memories. Invite your friends or family to a culinary competition, in person or virtual using Microsoft Teams and enjoy video calls that will make you forget you’re apart. Whether everyone competes or just shares stories of cooking success or failures (which can be just as fun), this is family and friends time at its best, with some storytelling and food baked in.
Cooking family recipes can create a sense of togetherness, no matter where we are. Preserve those memories with every recipe.
