Keepsake of Holiday Traditions

I have always loved to bake.

My mother baked with me, and her mother baked with her.

My children love baking with me, as well.

ESPECIALLY during the holidays, when traditional favorites resurface.

Last year, I decided to photograph the process of preparing some of our family favorites and creating an online hardback book for each of my children.  My intention was for them to have a collection of our family's recipes, and photographs of the process (or of them enjoying the finished product) to share with their own families someday.  

It really was no different from any other year in terms of baking, but I kept a camera nearby and took photographs.  Okay, I took MANY photographs because I realized early on that it's hard to photograph food!  I kept having funky shadows across the photo or would realize when editing the photos that my gum wrapper was in the background, etc.  It was quite a process, but I LOVED it!

I took photos throughout the process so my children would have a visual step-by-step:

I made sure to allow parts of our kitchen to be seen in the photos.  

One day, my children will be grown and say, "Remember Mom's old stove and red teapot?!"

I made sure to keep "the process" in the photos (which disk to use for Spritz?)

And I tried to capture the details 

(salted caramel over shortbread is just yummier than unsalted caramel over shortbread):

There are many online bookmaking sites (I used Shutterfly), and was able to choose page backgrounds and themed layouts.  This site allowed me to grab and drag clip art to the corners of pages, etc.  

It was a fun process and I love how the books turned out:

I included a dedication page (with mistletoe... smooch!)

My kids loved their Family Tradition Holiday Treats book!

I presented them with a set of snowflake cookie cutters 

(for making our Signature Snowflake Cookies).

My children are growing so quickly and although their cookbooks are stored safely in the kitchen cupboard for now,  my hope is that my children will enjoy these recipes and photo memories with their own families in many future holiday seasons!

Maybe you'll consider photographing your baking memories 

with your own children this holiday season!

Start early to allow enough time for holiday shipping (1-2 weeks).

Love, live and create intentionally,

Kristi