# Family Cookbook > A keepsake family cookbook with recipe pages split into labeled ingredient groups, a numbered method for each dish, and the family story behind every recipe. Source: https://buildpdfs.com/templates/family-cookbook Category: Lifestyle A keepsake family cookbook with recipe pages split into labeled ingredient groups, a numbered method for each dish, and the family story behind every recipe. ## What's included - Cover and intro page for the family and the collection - Recipe pages split into labeled ingredient groups (dough, filling, assembly) - Numbered step-by-step method for each recipe - A short family story or memory alongside each dish - Serving notes and tips from the family cook - A closing page dedicating the book to the family ## Sample content Recetas de familia Oaxaca de Juárez ### La Cocina de Abuela Carmen Recipes from my kitchen in Oaxaca, written down at last. para Lucía, y para todos Carmen Ruiz Méndez Volumen uno Est. 1979 La Cocina de Abuela Carmen _Dedicatoria_ Para mi nieta Para Lucía, You always asked how much salt, and I always said “enough.” Here it is now, in grams, because you are an engineer and you deserve numbers. But the real measure is still your nose and your patience. Cook these on Sundays. Make too much. Feed whoever knocks on the door. Con todo mi amor, tu Abuela Oaxaca, 2026 Forty-seven years of a notebook kept on the shelf above the stove, typed out so that no one in this family ever has to guess again. La Cocina de Abuela Carmen _Índice_ #### Lo que _cocinamos_ Contents · What we cook ★ The ones with stars are the ones your mamá fought over.— Abuela **Desayunos** Mornings * 01 Chilaquiles verdesFried tortillas in tomatillo salsa, crema, queso fresco 12 **Sopas y arroces** Soups & rice * 02 Sopa de fideoToasted noodle soup in tomato broth 18 * 03 Arroz rojoRed rice with tomato, garlic and peas 22 **Para las fiestas** For feast days * 04 Tamales de rajas con queso★ Poblano and Oaxaca cheese tamales 30 * 05 Mole negro★ The black mole of Oaxaca, with chocolate 38 **Postres** Sweets * 06 Flan de cajeta★ Baked custard with goat’s-milk caramel 48 Índice **5** No. 04 · Para las fiestas Tamales de rajas, the way they come out of the steamer every Nochebuena, in the blue bowl. 30 Para las fiestas _Tamales de rajas con queso_ Receta No. 04 #### Tamales de rajas _con queso_ Corn-husk tamales with roasted poblano strips, quesillo and salsa verde. **Makes** 24 tamales **Hands-on** 1 hr 30 min **Steam** 1 hr 15 min ##### Ingredientes ###### Para la masa * **225 g** lard, chilled _(1 cup)_ * **1 tsp** baking powder * **2 tsp** fine salt * **900 g** fresh masa for tamales _(2 lb)_ * **1–1½ cups** warm chicken broth ###### Para el relleno * **6** poblano chiles * **1** white onion, thinly sliced * **2 tbsp** oil * **340 g** quesillo, pulled into strips * **1 cup** salsa verde ###### Para armar * **30** dried corn husks ##### Preparación 1. **Soak the husks** in very hot water for 30 minutes, weighed down with a plate, until soft and pliable. 2. **Make the rajas.** Char the poblanos over an open flame until black all over. Sweat them in a bag for 10 minutes, then peel, seed and cut into strips. Fry the onion in the oil until soft, add the chiles and a pinch of salt. 3. **Beat the lard** with the baking powder and salt for 3–4 minutes, until white and fluffy. Add the masa in pieces, alternating with the broth, and beat until it is as soft as thick cake batter. A small ball dropped in cold water must float. 4. **Fill.** Spread 2–3 tablespoons of masa on the smooth side of a husk, leaving a border. Lay on a few rajas, a strip of quesillo and a spoon of salsa. 5. **Fold** the sides over the filling, then fold the narrow tail up. Stand the tamales upright in a steamer lined with husks, open end up. 6. **Steam,** covered, over medium heat for 60–75 minutes. Add boiling water as needed. They are ready when the masa comes away cleanly from the husk. Rest 10 minutes. Abuela’s note If someone in the kitchen is angry, the tamales will not cook. So we sing while they steam. Your tío Beto was sent outside every year. — Abuela Beat the masa until your arm hurts, then two minutes more. — A. La Cocina de Abuela Carmen **31** Para las fiestas _Mole negro_ Receta No. 05 #### Mole _negro_ The black mole of Oaxaca: four chiles, burnt seeds, chocolate and a whole Sunday. **Serves** 12 **Hands-on** 3 hours **Simmer** 1 hr 30 min ##### Ingredientes ###### Los chiles * **6** chilhuacles negros _(or mulatos)_ * **6** mulato chiles * **4** pasilla chiles * **2** chipotles mecos ###### Lo asado * **3** Roma tomatoes * **5** tomatillos, husked * **½** white onion * **8** garlic cloves, unpeeled * **1** stale corn tortilla ###### Lo frito * **¼ cup** each: almonds, peanuts, raisins * **3 tbsp** sesame seeds, plus extra * **½** very ripe plantain, sliced * **2** slices day-old pan de yema ###### Especias y final * **5 cm** canela (Ceylon cinnamon) * **4** whole cloves * **6** black peppercorns * **½ tsp** each: dried oregano, thyme * **2** dried avocado leaves * **90 g** Oaxacan chocolate * **8 cups** chicken broth · lard · salt ##### Preparación 1. **Toast the chiles.** Stem and seed them; keep the seeds. Toast on a dry comal, 20–30 seconds a side, then soak in hot water for 30 minutes. 2. **Burn the seeds.** In a dry pan, outdoors if you can, toast the chile seeds until fully black. Char the tortilla over the flame. Soak both in cold water, then drain. This is where the black comes from. 3. **Roast** the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on the comal until blistered. Peel the garlic. 4. **Fry one by one** in a little lard: almonds, peanuts, raisins until they puff, plantain, bread. Toast the sesame dry, until golden. 5. **Blend.** Blend the chiles with some soaking water and strain. Blend everything else with the spices and 2 cups of broth, and strain. 6. **Fry the mole.** Heat 3 tablespoons of lard in a heavy cazuela until it smokes. Pour in the chile purée and stir for 15 minutes until thick and dark. Add the second purée and cook 30 minutes more. 7. **Simmer.** Add the chocolate and the rest of the broth, a little at a time. Cook low for 1–1½ hours, stirring often, until it coats the spoon. Pass the avocado leaves over the flame and add them for the last 10 minutes. Salt. Abuela’s note Toast the chiles until they smell sweet, not a second more. A burnt chile is bitter, and no chocolate in Oaxaca will save it. — Abuela **Al servir** Spoon over poached chicken, scatter with sesame, serve with arroz rojo and warm tortillas. It is better on the second day. La Cocina de Abuela Carmen **38** Del cuaderno _From the notebook_ The page this came from #### Mole negro, 1979 The first recipe in the notebook, written in blue fountain pen the week Carmen married and moved to the house on Calle de Abasolo. The stains are from the comal. The cempasúchil flower was pressed there in 1986 and nobody has dared to move it. Every recipe in this book was copied from these pages, then cooked again, side by side, in the same kitchen. I wrote it in pen so nobody could change it. They changed it anyway.— Abuela Notebook No. 1 of 3 Pages 96, lined Recipes 61 La Cocina de Abuela Carmen **41** Buen provecho #### Cocina con amor, y sin prisa. Cook with love, and without hurry. Ahora es tu cocina, mija. — Abuela **La Cocina de Abuela Carmen**Recipes by Carmen Ruiz Méndez · Tested and typed by Lucía Morales Ruiz First family printing, December 2026 · Twelve copies, one for every chair at the table ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a family cookbook? A family cookbook is a personal collection of recipes passed down in a family, usually gathered from a parent or grandparent and put into one keepsake document with the stories behind each dish. ### What should a family cookbook include? Include a short intro about the family, each recipe with its ingredients and steps, a story or memory tied to the dish, and serving tips. This template groups ingredients by component, such as dough and filling, for recipes with multiple parts. ### How is a family cookbook different from a recipe book? A family cookbook is personal: it tells the stories behind the recipes and is usually made for the family, not for sale. A recipe book is often built as a digital product to sell to strangers, with less personal narrative. ### Is this family cookbook template free? Yes. You can customize the family cookbook template for free and download it as a print-ready PDF. Describe your family recipes and stories to the AI and it fills in the pages. ## Related reading - [How to design a professional PDF](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/how-to-design-a-professional-pdf) - [Create a PDF without InDesign](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/create-pdf-without-indesign) - [From Word or Google Docs to a professional PDF](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/word-google-docs-to-professional-pdf) [Use this template](https://buildpdfs.com/signup?templateId=family-cookbook) — free, no credit card required.