I have a copy of, "the NEW Fannie Farmer-Boston Cooking-School COOK BOOK", 1953. My father, in his retirement, took on the care of several Summer homes in Southern Maine. He would check on them during the winter, board up windows against storms, uncover rose gardens when the time was right, deal with emergencies...that kind of thing. During the Summer, when people were in residence, he was sort of a general, all around handyman. His largest client was old money...there was a beach named after the family, a road named after the family, and a huge home, loaded with antiques that had been the original furnishings. An elderly Black woman came up every summer from South Carolina to be their cook for the season. Little bittie thing, set in her ways and stubborn as heck, but since she'd been cooking for the family for decades, she knew what they liked and how to manage them. I had been separated from my father at age 5, and when I found him again in my early 30's, I went out to stay with him and my stepmother for a year to get to know them. He took me down to meet Marguerite. She was a kick, and we got along...several years later, when she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it up again the next season (or ever), she gave my father her Fannie Farmer for me. It still has a bunch of book marks in it, some with shopping lists, some with her name, some with cryptic notes I can't decipher, all in the same, slanted hand. I actually use the book quite a bit, but I don't disturb the bookmarks. I sometimes puzzle over the marked pages, wondering which recipe she had marked... I also have my mother's copy of "The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook",1952. It has a separate section of Passover recipes. There are no pork recipes, naturally. Generally, the cookies and bread recipes are good. As for unique...I have an Ethiopian cookbook...the only one I've been able to find. "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking-Society, Culture, Hospitality, & Traditions. I've only made a couple of dishes out of it. I love Ethiopian food, and when I found out how much Nit'ir Qibe (purified herb & spice butter) is used in most of the dishes I love, I realized why I love them. For example, in dishes made from 1 pound of ground beef, it is not unusual that they contain a cup of butter. A typical lentil dish pairs 2 cups of lentils with 2 cups of butter. No wonder I love it!

One of my duties when I worked in the Philadelphia Library was to maintain the clipping file. Every day I read a handful of local papers and clipped articles that might be useful to our patrons or staff. These papers only had a local circulation and were too small to be indexed in any of the major published indexes. This was back in the 70's before we had a computer on every desk and cubby. Retrieving a newspaper or periodical article meant locating the microfiche or microcard and using the appropriate readers. Newspapers in their original form were too fragile for long term storage unless in an archival setting - controlled temperature and humidity, light, dust and pollution free etc. In other words it was a royal P.I.A. - Any clipping that we deemed important was photocopied onto permanent paper - paper that was acid free, lignin free, and tear resistant. The link below has a lot of information of preserving newspapers and at the bottom of the article it has a link to creating archival scrapbooks too. Here is a link that might be useful: clippings

I have a wonderful "coffee table" book by Claire Jones titled "Monet's Table." It is a pictorial history of the artists life and includes his paintings and recipes. It inspired me to do the same for my family. I am a creative artist and use that creativity in my recipes. The biggest regret I have is letting my grandparents die without getting all that history and all those recipes. My mom was NOT a cook! OMG! All she ever cooked was meatloaf, mac and cheese, and ewwwww salmon patties. OMG I forgot that dreaded liver!! I am using Word for my book. It will take me a long time, but I keep it in my head and try to photograph the family enjoying my recipes at get together s (as is pictured in the Monet book). The one they will remember fondly is cranking the ice cream in the hot summer by the swimming pool. One cranking, one sitting, everyone supervising, and then the licking of the paddle! I've got all the recipes in the book so far. We kick em up every year. I love to grow my own herbs, cure my own olives, and make my own wine from things that we grow. I will include all that in the book, and I will illustrate as much as I can with watercolor and other mediums. I like the idea you give here of sleeving the pages in plastic. Kinkos will plastic coat pages also for a price, but that is an option, and they will bind it all also. It's a project, but a fun one! Love all your ideas!! Suzi

If it were me...I would scan the pages, and mount those in a scrapbook. And get another scrapbook just for the original pages and mount those too. If I could, I would use corner mounts. Of course that book would be handled with utmost carefullrility and not very often. But at least the pages are taken care of the best way you can.