What to Give Someone For A Keepsake Gift

My youngest son, age 28, got married not very long ago to his best friend the last couple of years of high school. He and she both chose to finish their last year of college before actually getting married, so the family had some time to think about what they were going to give them.

They registered at a very common store that had chains across the nation, so everybody would be able to give without having to worry about doubling up, and it was a very practical way to go. As I got onto the site online, it was clear that I had a lot to choose from, and I could clearly see what had already been chosen. I looked and looked, but could not find that one thing that would just stand out or not be just a boring item. I wanted to give them something that would say, "This is home, take a piece of it with you and make it yours."

I was torn, for nothing I could find either at their registered store, or even anything like photos, for he himself was a photographer, and I found there wasn't a picture that he didn't already have.

   Then, in a stationary store, I found an answer.  It was perfect.  It was a blank recipe book, and it even had a space for who in the family contributed the particular recipe.  It had dividers, so you could separate main dishes from deserts, and so on.  It was a loose leaf variety, and had enough blank pages so that they could add their own, when that time came. 

   I dug out my recipes given to me by my grandmother, his great grandmother, for her Hungarian Christmas cookies, dumplings, etc.  I looked up all my 15 minute good for kids recipes that he grew up on.  I asked everybody in the family for their favorite dishes, and added all those.  Then I went into my old stand by Betty Crocker Cook Book, and copied all the best ones, like homemade bread. 

   The finished product was better than I had hoped for.

   When I was finished, and it was all handwritten, I added a table of content, and I even added a short glossary for term used, just in case someone didn't know the difference between what a t. of salt and a T. of salt was.

   In the end, they had the most complete and useful, yet personal and unique, for a lot of the recipes were handed down from generations only in our family.  I even added a little comedy here and there, of things that brought back memories, for example for my grandmothers pot roast recipe, there was a cute little story about what pan to use.  It went like this--

   My mother was making pot roast one day, and when she was about ready to put it into the pan, she flipped it around, and cut about three or four inches off of one end of it, then put it into the pan.  When i asked her why she did that, she said that her mother taught her, that it must be tough or something.  Well, curiosity got the best of us both, and she called grandma to ask why.  She said with a chuckle, "Honey, the reason I cut the end off the pot roast was, because,", and again she laughed, "that was the only way it would fit into the pan I had". 

   All in all, it was a good idea, it went over very well, and if you have a bit of writing ability, and good penmanship, it makes a wonderful gift that can be handed down to generations to come.