With summer officially here, it
is that time of the year again to reunite with family and old and new. It is
that time of the year that individuals travel across the country to meet up in
some hot park or if they are lucky some family member’s house that is large
enough to hold the entire family.
My dad was one of 11 brothers
and sisters. Needless to say, reunions were huge in his family with over 100
cousins and second-cousins, etc.
I can’t tell you how many
pictures I have from family reunions as a child. I wouldn’t be able to tell you
where I was or any other family members in any of the pictures.
See every year, we would all
gather and ask some poor soul in our family to take a picture to commemorate
the occasion. Most likely it was some new member that was recently married into
the family. Nothing says welcome more than leaving him out of the official
family pic for the year. J
Then he would have to stand at
least 100 feet away just to fit the rows and rows of members into the photo.
You can imagine the photo memories I have now as an adult. I have no clue who
anybody is just that a mass of people were there at the reunion. They look like
blurred dots on bodies of all sizes.
In an effort to never see
another picture of blurred color dots, I am sharing this great secret that we
have used over the last few years. It is known as a family cookbook.
The catch is that you have to
have someone who is organized and good with the computer or at least knows
where the local print shop is located.
A few months before the reunion,
ask each family member to email a current picture of their immediate family
unit and their favorite recipe. There are so many options to this project.
You can make it a theme
cookbook. They can send their favorite dinner, appetizer, drink, Mexican dish,
etc. You can plan a different theme for every year if you want. Get creative.
This is great because it not
only shares a little about what the family unit is like. It also gives you an
up-to-date picture of the family instead of a blurred dot.
This book can be extravagant or
it can be printed from a home computer. Just use whatever program you are
proficient in and layout the picture of each family on a page with the recipe.
You can then print it out and
put in binders or take to the local print shop. It makes a great keepsake and
gift at the reunion. It also provides a photographic reminder of everyone. Add
to that, everyone can always use more recipes!
