Let’s face it: Even if your dad is Steve Jobs, you’re eventually going to get a call from your parents about how to operate something on their computer.
I’ve been the IT person for Seth’s mom for over 5 years. As infuriating as it is to explain how to resize a picture for the 75th TIME, I still harbor some belief that she’ll eventually understand how computers generally work. When her birthday rolled around last month, I wanted to do something special for her that she would never, ever do for herself.
I wanted to scan all of her mother’s old recipe cards.
Scanning hundreds of recipes would probably take her about 400 years. In the meantime, she is the only person out of her Italian family of six that has access to her mother’s original recipes. What if her house burned down? What if I lit her computer on fire in a fit of techie rage? These recipes would be lost to the ages.
Scanning recipes with the right printer was actually very easy.
1. Surreptitiously “borrow” all of the recipes from their home (an old wooden box on top of the refrigerator) one handful at a time.
2. Forbid anyone from entering the home office for hours at a time.
3. Use the super-fast HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer B210a to scan recipes with lightening speed.
The HP printer made this simple; scanning was quick, but also didn’t damage the delicate paper and old, worn edges of the original recipes and pictures. I was also able to easily file all of the images into separate folders using the touch screen.
Once I was done scanning, I put all of the recipes on a thumb drive. I ordered a book through Blurb, but also (wirelessly!) printed out several copies of recipes to make my own wrapping paper for the book when it arrived.
Needless to say, she was floored. I’m like a magician in her eyes.
This was so easy that I may be getting her one of these printers for her birthday next year.
About DanielleH
I have all my grandmother’s recipe cards and my mom would dearly love a book or even a thumb drive with all of them on. How do I handle cards that have info on both sides? Do you just make sure you label correctly as Easy Chicken Divan Pt. 1 and Easy Chicken Divan Pt. 2? Or is there a better way?
Twitter Name: Kizzbeth
Kizz, I made a folder for each recipe. Some were written on long pieces of paper, or had to be scanned more than once to register; it was easy to drop all of the images into one folder. Also, it’s easier for the recipient to find; they know the recipes by name, not .jpg number. Good luck!
That is one fabulous idea, you rock!
Makes me think I should do similar with some of the ancient family pics my mom inherited. Give all my siblings a copy of the book for Christmas.. Hmmm..
I have never given a better gift in my life – she loved it! I say go for it.
I actually do this for people for a living. It is definitely one of the best gifts you can give and being able to make one book and order multi copies for gifts simplifies your life so much! Scanning multi pics is not as time-consuming as it sounds, either. So glad to see people getting excited about it!
Twitter Name: HeatherSchiavo