Cookbooks always make great gifts for family reunions, birthdays, holidays, etc. Even the non-cook can appreciates looking over great recipes, and when those recipes are personalized they become a precious keepsake.

Better Homes & Gardens discontinued their online cookbook creator. A free online program that allowed anyone to create and print a customized cookbook. While this program will be missed by many, it’s still possible to create and publish your own cookbook with a little extra effort.

HP offers a detailed online course, “Create and Print Your Own Cookbook”, that will guide you through the process. This course covers many details guiding you through the process of picking a theme and title.

After you gather your recipes, HP will help make sure you don't miss any details with guidelines to make sure you include all the relevant information in the proper format.

This six page course not only offers instructions, but the templates you will need to self publish your own customized cookbook. You can choose from several different cookbook layouts including, The Heirloom Photo Cookbook, Kitchen Decor Photo Recipe Cards, World Holiday Photo Recipe Cards and Custom Holiday Cookbook Page.

The steps to creating your cookbook are simple. Once you have selected the desired cookbook, click the continue button at the bottom of the page. At the top of the next page you will see the steps: 1. Choose Theme, 2. Add Photo and Text, 3. Download and print.

Choose a theme by clicking on one of the boxes on the left. The theme will change when you click different selections. After selecting the theme, click on step 2. Add Photo and Text.

To add a photo click on the photo box labeled "click here to add photo." Click the "replace photo" button at the top left to upload a photo from your computer. A separate box will appear that will allow you to upload your photo. Once you're done, click the "done with photo" button on the top right of the main page.

Add additional information such as the recipe title, ingredients and directions by clicking on the appropriate area. You'll know you're on the right spot because a box will appear highlighting the area when you mouse over it. The box will move forward and you can fill in the details. Click the "done with edit" button on the upper right when your done.

Once all the information is complete, click step 3. Download and Print on the right side of the screen. You will now be able to download and save the page to your computer as an Adobe PDF document which can be printed out at any time, as many times as you wish.

This is a great project and makes a wonderful personalized gift.