How To Make Your Own Cookbook for Fun and Profit

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How to make a cookbook

Ever thought of putting your favorite recipes into a beautiful book you can give as a gift or pass down the generations? Maybe you’re famous for your pet treats and you’ve always thought about creating your own cookbook to sell or give to friends and family, but never knew how to get started!

Blurb is a company that lets anyone create beautiful books from their favorite content, and get those books shipped in any quantity (even just one copy). Not a designer? That’s OK, Blurb’s free BookSmart software is an easy route to a great cookbook.

What’s the best way to get started? Holding off a bit. It’s tempting to want to dive right in, but thinking a bit and getting organized is worth it in the end. Make the most of your time by dividing each step into chunks so you can tackle them at different points in your book-making process.

And here we go:

1. Organize: Gather your recipes and do a process of elimination. Once you’ve narrowed your favorites down, you can gather accompanying images—just make sure you’re giving the recipe and image files the same name to make it easier when it’s time to upload. Keep everything in one folder on your computer.

2. Flow it: Next, determine how you want your cookbook story to flow. Do you want to sort your recipes by age, popularity, or even something else? Once you’ve determined the order, you’ll have done the bulk of your creative decision-making.

3. Get the tool: Download our free book-making tool, BookSmart, choose your book size (Standard Portrait and Standard Landscape are the most popular for cookbooks) and input your title and author name. Then choose “Cookbook” as your starting point — this will give you the best layouts for the job. Then pick a source for your images — from iPhoto, your computer, even Flickr or Picasa. Lastly, choose a theme. Now you’re ready to put together your cookbook.

4. Lay it out: This is where the real book-making comes in. BookSmart will provide you with 20 pages in our standard recipe layout, but you’ll find plenty of alternate layouts in the “Choose page layout” panel on the upper left. You can also add additional pages ­­— including photo pages — by clicking “Add Pages” in the top toolbar.

5. Just add copy: Our layouts provide space for stories, introductions, and those all-important ingredients and directions. Paste in your copy and you’re golden. Then garnish with photos. Don’t forget to run BookSmart’s spell check feature.

6. Preview and review: Click “Review book” and go through page by page. If you’re not a natural-born proofreader, ask a friend to take a second look.

7. Order: Make any last minute edits, click “Order,” and follow the prompts to checkout. Remember to order extra copies for friends and family—or sell it in our Bookstore. Order now and save 15% on all print book orders through April 30th with code TAKE15%.

Giveaway: WIN a KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer ($350 ARV)

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KitchenAid Green

WIN a KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer!

To thank all our paw-tastic fans and readers, we’ve teamed up with a fabulous group of bloggers to bring you this amazing giveaway. If you’ve always dreamed of owning a KitchenAid Mixer, now is your chance! One lucky person will win a KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer, valued at $350.


Easily make your favorite cakes and multiple batches of cookie dough with the 5-quart stainless steel mixing bowl with comfortable handle. And think of all the yummy pupcakes and dog biscuits you’ll be able to make, too! Can’t forget to bake some treats for the fur kids!

With 10 speeds, the stand mixer will quickly become your kitchen’s culinary center as you mix, knead and whip ingredients with ease. And for even more versatility, the power hub fits optional attachments from food grinders to pasta makers and more.

[View Full Product Details at Amazon]


Enter to win a KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer.

Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway.

Refer your friends using your unique link to earn even more chances to win.

One winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries.

Winner to select their color of choice. Color options based on availability.

Open Worldwide.
Ends at 11:59pm EST on March 4th, 2014.

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Dog-Gone Good Cuisine: Recipes for You AND Your Dog (Book Review)

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dog-gone good cuisine

If you’ve ever thought about cooking a meal to share with your pooch but didn’t know where to start, or worry about what foods are healthy, then you’ll want to check out this new cookbook hitting the store shelves (and Amazon) this week! In Dog-Gone Good Cuisine certified nutritionist and chef Gayle Pruitt demonstrates how to cook healthy and delicious dishes for dogs and humans alike. She’s included over 100 corn, sugar, soy, and gluten free recipes, for mouthwatering meals you can make for your family AND fur kids, too!

This is NOT a cookbook of how to make plain-old dog food or your typical dog treats. This is food that will make your mouth water! Since receiving our review copy and checking it out, some of the recipes I’ve bookmarked already include:

  • Minty Fruit Roll-Ups
  • Roasted Root Vegetables
  • Salmon Florentine
  • Pears with Raspberry Sauce
  • Cream of Cinderella Pumpkin Soup

How fun would it be to throw a dinner party for your favorite furry pals and their humans at the same time!?! I love that this book not only includes loads of great recipes, but also that the author shares info on cooking techniques, a list of herbs and spices that are safe for dogs, and other helpful tips and resources. There’s also a section on canine-only raw food and making your own jerky. That caught my eye because of all the concerns over the safety of some of the commercially produced pet jerky. What a great way to save money and feel good about what you’re giving your dog by making it yourself! You’ll also find several special juicing recipes for different health conditions.

Dog-Gone Good Cuisine is available in bookstores and at Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle editions.

11 Free Kindle Books: Leash Manners, Family Camping Handbook & More For Pets and People

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There are loads of new FREE Kindle Editions available today for download over at Amazon that I thought would be of interest to pet parents plus a few other fun titles I thought looked cool. Remember that prices change frequently over at Amazon, so act quickly and be sure you verify each book is still $0.00 before confirming your order. 

free kindle dog books & more

Once you add them to your reading library, they are yours to keep and read anytime, even after they return to regular price, and you can read Kindle Books on just about any SmartPhone, Tablet, PC or device!

Free Kindle Books About Dogs:

Circling the Waggins; How 5 Misfit Dogs Saved Me from Bewilderness $0.00 ($4.99 reg)
Leash Manners: Learn How to Leash Train Your Puppy $0.00 ($2.99 reg)
Dogs, dogs, Dogs $0.00 ($1.50 reg)
How To Walk A Dog – All You Need To Know To Avoid Catastrophes $0.00 ($0.99 reg)
Puppy Love on a Budget $0.00 ($0.99 reg)
Parade of Misfits $0.00 ($0.99 reg)

Free Kindle Books About Cooking, Canning & Crafting:

Canning & Preserving Food Like A Pro: The Simplest Guide To Preserve & Freeze $0.00 ($5.17 reg)
Organic Food: Eating Organic on a Budget $0.00 ($4.99 reg)
The Family Camping Handbook: Real Food in the Big Woods $0.00 ($4.95 reg)
Craft Business Power: 15 Days To A Profitable Online Craft Business $0.00 ($2.99 reg)
Home Canning Food For Beginners (Preparedness Guides) $0.00 ($2.99 reg)

Lunch with #HeinzVinegar: Apple Walnut Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette

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I’m participating in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Heinz Vinegar. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and as a thank you for participating.

Apple Walnut Salad

I’ve been a fan of using apple cider vinegar around the house for quite some time…mostly for cleaning, as a hair rinse and as a natural remedy for Daisy, both as a skin soother and added to her kibble for digestive health. Many pet parents also use it as a natural flea deterrent.  Of course, it’s also great in the kitchen especially for sauces, dressings, pickling and more.

Since I work from home, I love making a big salad for lunch with whatever I have in the fridge that day, but especially love this combination of apples, walnuts, avocado and simple dressing I mix up ahead of time in my blender bottle so I always have some ready to go with just a quick shake! Here’s the recipe, if you want to give it a try…

Apple Walnut Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette

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