Working Out The Kinks

I completely scrapped my cover design of my cookbook! I was worried about copyright problems and I did not like that I was trying to take the quick route by just taking a picture off the internet to just get my cookbook started. The picture was nice and farm style like, but it was not my work. It all just kept weighing on my mind and then I thought I may as well change it!

I was back to square one on trying to figure out the look of my cookbook. I went back to other cookbooks I have laying around my house to try to find some inspiration. I liked the ideas of having pictures of kitchen utensils, equipment, and storage bins as well as rows of shelves containing all of the ingredients. On some cookbooks I also saw images of women on the cover preparing meals wearing their aprons to keep their clothing clean. I liked the idea of having a drawing of a lady on the front of my cookbook, especially because this cookbook is being dedicated to some very hardworking and special women in my life.

While looking to find inspiration for my design I also kept in mind my own artistic abilities, which I do not on any terms consider myself an artist. I love to color, I do a terrific stick person and can make a decent looking human figure on a page, but I really am not great at drawing. I managed to pull off my ideas though. In doing so I created a cover that I am very proud of and is all my artist abilities. I drew some open shelves and adorned the shelves with different pots, pans, tubs of ingredients, and other equipment. I also drew a rack that has hanging from it some different utensils and I drew a kitchen counter with a lady looking at a cookbook while stirring a mixture in a bowl. I did look at images to create the basic outlines of objects, but I did all of the work myself with no help from other people. In creating my own cover from my own artistic abilities, I believe it makes it all much more unique and creative.

For our Genius Hour Project, we have been given the assignment to come up with a proposal for our project. From that assignment I was able to think more about why I was making my cookbook and who it would be suited for. The main goal of my cookbook is to gather all of the recipes I love that have been passed down in my family combining them in one book that can be easily accessed and shared with the future generations of my family.

My cookbook would be a great resource for those who want to cut out eating more often and cook at home more. I read a study published by BioMed Central in Nutrition Journal which studied the trend in the United States of consumers eating out and cooking at home less. Many people eat out because it’s less time consuming and convenient. Cooking at home requires gathering all the ingredients, preparing the meal, waiting for it all to cook, and then washing dishes. Even though eating out is much more convenient, cooking at home allows that part of the day to be more family oriented. For my family meals are important, that’s the time where we all sit down to eat a home cooked meal that has been prepared by all of us. We each have a job either setting the table, helping in the kitchen, or even getting drinks ready. Cooking at home is a great way to bring the whole family together and allows everyone to contribute to the meal.

In making my cookbook I have also thought about the decline of Home Economics classes being taught in schools. Those classes are essential in helping students learn to cook and do other daily tasks. Without these classes there is a loss of knowledge for students in learning how to cook and prepare food safely.

Another important goal of my cookbook is to address these problems by providing to be a helpful resource. My cookbook is made of recipes that are all made homemade and many of them can be made from what is laying around in the pantry which is a bonus because sometimes it’s a hassle to get to the grocery store. My cookbook will also include instructions that are easy to understand and follow. To me when instructions are not clear or they are complicated it’s frustrating to try to complete the task. My cookbook will provide to be a valuable resource that can be used by people just learning to cook or those who enjoy finding new recipes to make.