The holidays are a time when we get all of our family together and celebrate together with food, fun and festivities. It is also a great time to motivate others in the family to contribute to your family cookbook project.

Here are some ideas to help you work on your cookbook during the holidays:

• When you see family members, remember to talk about the cookbook and how excited you are as it moves forward. Others will see your enthusiasm and be more willing to help contribute.
• When someone brings a delicious dish to a family gathering – ask for the recipe. People are often proud of their food creations and love to share recipes. If they don’t have it with them, let them know contributing recipes is easy on the FamilyCookbookProject.com website. Encourage them to give it a try.
• Take photos of all the great food being shared. Photos of dishes really bring recipes to life. Photos can be easily added to your recipes on FamilyCookbookProject.com and can or do not have to be included in the printed version.
• Ask for suggestions for the cookbook cover and recipe layout design. FamilyCookbookProject.com currently has more than 50 cookbook covers to choose from including your own custom cover – with more on the way. It also allows you to select from 15 different recipe layout options. Print a hardcopy of several of the designs and ask family members what they think. Not only will the choice be easier to make with feedback, but you will get them more interested in contributing to the cookbook.
• Use the index to show family members the recipes in the cookbook. If you’re close to having your cookbook completed, bring the cookbook’s index and a cover page printed from your printer to family holiday events. Show it around and let people see who and what has been submitted already. Maybe they will see a recipe that is missing and want to contribute or maybe they will place an advance order for the final edition.

With so much time spend in the kitchen around the holidays, it’s no wonder that cooking and recipes and cookbooks and food are talked about constantly as everyone pitches in to prepare our holiday get together. Creating your family cookbook will become a valuable resource for generations to come.

Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!