Sample cookbook

The Rivera Family Cookbook

This is a fictional example created by Family Cookbook Creator to show how a family project can look after recipes, photos, chapters, and stories have been gathered. It is not a customer testimonial.

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Sample cookbook

The Rivera Family Cookbook

Collected by Elena An example project showing recipes, photos, chapters, and family notes.

Chapter

Family Dinners

Aunt Lena's Sunday Sauce

From Mara Rivera

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small handful fresh basil
Salt and black pepper
1 pound pasta, for serving

Directions

Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot. Cook the onion until soft, then stir in the garlic for one minute. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring when someone walks through the kitchen. Tear in the basil just before serving over hot pasta.

Aunt Lena never wrote this down because she said the sauce told you what it needed. Mara added it first so the cousins would finally have a version to start from.

Family Dinners

Green Chile Chicken Tamales

From Sofia Rivera

Ingredients

3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup roasted green chiles, chopped
1/2 cup salsa verde
4 cups prepared masa harina dough
1 cup warm chicken broth
1/2 cup softened lard or vegetable shortening
Corn husks, soaked until pliable
Salt to taste

Directions

Mix chicken, green chiles, salsa verde, and a pinch of salt. Beat masa with broth and fat until soft and spreadable. Pat masa onto each corn husk, add chicken filling, fold, and steam upright for 60 to 75 minutes until the husks pull away cleanly.

Sofia remembers three generations around the table assembly-line style: one person spreading masa, one filling, one folding, and one telling everybody they were doing it wrong.

Chapter

Holiday Table

Cornbread Herb Stuffing

From Beth Rivera

Ingredients

8 cups day-old cornbread, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
6 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons chopped sage
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
2 cups warm chicken or vegetable broth
2 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

Directions

Dry the cornbread cubes in a low oven if needed. Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, then stir in herbs. Toss with cornbread, broth, eggs, salt, and pepper. Spoon into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is crisp.

Beth makes the corner pieces extra crisp because those are the first ones her brothers steal before the platter reaches the table.

Chapter

Desserts & Coffee

Grandpa Ray's Lemon Icebox Pie

From Nora Rivera

Ingredients

1 graham cracker crust
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Whipped cream, for serving

Directions

Whisk condensed milk, egg yolks, lemon juice, and zest until smooth and thick. Pour into the crust and bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Cool completely, then chill at least 4 hours. Serve cold with whipped cream.

Ray kept a pie in the refrigerator for anyone who stopped by. Somehow there was always another slice, even after the kids swore they only had a sliver.

Desserts & Coffee

Blueberry Buckle for the Lake House

From Clara Rivera

Ingredients

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in the egg. Add flour, baking powder, and milk in alternating additions. Fold in blueberries and spread into a buttered square pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 375F for 35 minutes.

Clara says this tastes best after a morning swim, still warm enough that the first spoonful collapses into crumbs and berries.