How to run a family recipe swap
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The one rule: everybody writes their own cards, in their own handwriting. Do not collect recipes and type them up afterwards. The handwriting is the part that will matter in thirty years, and it is the part you cannot add later.
Getting one relative to write down one recipe is easy. Getting a whole family's cooking recorded is a project that never starts, because there is no obvious moment to do it.
So make a moment. It works far better than asking people individually, because nobody wants to be the only one being interviewed and everybody enjoys being asked in a group.
The invitation
Ask each person to bring two recipes and the dish itself, if it travels. Two is the number. One feels like homework, five means nobody comes.
Be specific about which two. Not their fanciest. Ask for:
- The one they actually make. The Tuesday dinner, the thing they bring to every gathering.
- One they inherited. Something from their own mother or grandmother.
The second one is where the good material is, and people often have to think about it, which is why it helps to ask in advance.
What to set up
A table with blank cards, several pens, and nothing else on it. That is genuinely the whole setup.
Put out more cards than you need. People remember a third recipe while writing the second one, and running out is how the afternoon ends early.
The format
- Eat first. Everybody brings their dish, you eat together. Writing happens afterwards, when people are relaxed.
- Write in the room, not at home. Cards taken away are cards never returned. This is the single biggest failure and it is completely avoidable.
- One card per recipe, name at the bottom. There is a from the kitchen of line for this.
- Photograph every card before people leave. Ten minutes with a phone and everyone can have a copy.
Ask the two questions
While people are writing, ask around the room: who taught you this? and when do we eat it?
This is where the afternoon becomes worth having. You will get stories that nobody has told for years, and often a small argument about whether the recipe is right, which is itself worth recording. Write the answers on the card.
Let people be imprecise
Somebody will apologise that they do not measure. Tell them to write it as they say it. A good glug. Until it looks right. Enough to cover.
Translating that into grams removes the person from the recipe. Anyone can add their own measurements underneath after making it a few times.
Afterwards
Send the photographs to everyone within a week, while it is still fresh. If you want to be generous, print a set for each household. A shared family recipe box is a very good gift and it costs almost nothing once the cards exist.
Print blanks before the day. Ours are free, 4x6, single or double sided, and they already have the from the kitchen of line.
Wooden Recipe Box on Amazon $27.99 · 4.6★ from 90 ratings · profit pays for the care of FreemanQuestions
How do you organise a recipe swap?
Ask each person to bring two recipes and the dish itself. Eat first, then write cards together in the room rather than at home. Put the cook's name on every card and photograph everything before people leave.
How many recipes should each person bring?
Two. One they genuinely make often, and one they inherited from an older relative. More than two and people do not come.
Why should people write the cards themselves?
Because the handwriting is the part that becomes valuable, and it is the one thing you cannot add afterwards. Typed cards preserve the instructions and lose the person.