This is your cookbook personalised gift

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Do you find your parents difficult to buy for at Christmas? My mum is great at telling me if there’s something particular that she wants but if not, it’s a struggle. But now I’m a parent myself, I’ve realised that when it comes to presents from your children, it’s the thought that counts. Hopefully that’s still the case now I’m an adult…

The thoughtful gift

This is Your Cookbook allows you to create a collection of recipes that is perfect for the recipient. You simply choose one of their recipe collections and swap out recipes you don’t want. You can either change them for different recipes of theirs, or for your own creations.

The book can also be personalised with photos and a message. You choose the photo for the front cover and decide what to write on it. Inside the cover, you can upload a photo of your own or use one of theirs. You can also add a message.

The design process is incredibly straightforward. It took me about five minutes in total, from going onto the website to completing checkout.

Nan’s cookbook

I put together a cookbook for my mum, from the girls. My mum tends to eat gluten free and she’s also vegetarian. So, my starting point was the gluten free section from This is Your Cookbook.

Some of the gluten free recipes contained meat, so I substituted those for recipes from the vegan menu. The result was a perfectly personalised book that I know my mum will love.

Blue cheese-stuffed mushrooms

I decided to try out one of the recipes before handing the book over to my mum. As it was just my husband and I at home, we went for a mushroom recipe. The girls hate mushrooms so it felt quite indulgent to treat ourselves while they were out.

Ingredients

• 6 large, flat Portobello mushrooms
• 60g butter
• 2 shallots (finely chopped)
• 170g crumbled blue cheese
• 30g gluten-free breadcrumbs or coarse cornmeal
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 175C
• Remove the mushroom stalks and chop finely
• Rinse the mushroom caps
• Melt half the butter in a pan and add the mushroom stalks and shallots
• Cook for 5-7 minutes until softened
• Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes
• Add the blue cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and pepper
• Put the rest of the butter into a shallow baking dish
• Place in the oven for 3 minutes
• Divide the cheese mixture between the mushroom caps and place in the baking dish
• Bake for 20 minutes or until they are heated through and the cheese is browning

I substituted the shallots for onions and the breadcrumbs for polenta. Nonetheless, I was delighted with the result and I can’t wait to give my mum her personalised cookbook.

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