Now is the time of year when we're all reaching into boxes and drawers to pull out family recipes to make our favorites for the holidays.

For me, it's my mother's recipe for Date and Nut Bars that I hunt for every year. Mom clipped the recipe from the newspaper in 1959 and they've been on our Christmas cookie plate nearly every year since. As a child, I would dread them, favoring sweeter, gooier cookies.

Now, they are one of my favorites — moist and chewy and filled with nuts. My sister and I laugh that we knew we were getting old when we started looking forward to the bars instead of avoiding them.

Every year, when I'm digging through piles of unruly clippings and pieces of paper looking for the recipe, I vow that next year will be the one when I organize all of my recipes into a book of family favorites.

That hasn't happened yet.

But I've found some inspiration in the work of Carol Kraszewski of Akron, Ohio, who this year is giving a family cookbook to her four children and eight grandchildren for the holidays.

The first copies of Our Family Memories and Recipes appeared at Thanksgiving. Kraszewski had been working on the project for about two years, wading her way through different computer programs with the assistance of her son Tom and daughter Karen.

The 108-page book is far more than just a recipe collection. It's a family history filled with stories, photos and artwork from Kraszewski's grandchildren. She asked each of her children and grandchildren to submit a memory for the book, and their stories grace its pages.

The cover art is a drawing by her granddaughter Jennifer Rinaldi, 12, of Kent, Ohio, which shows off some of grandma's best baking — chocolate chip and cream-filled clothespin cookies.

The page that contains Aunt Marguerite Rosenberg's recipe for Beef Brisket also has a photo of Aunt Marguerite.

Kraszewski scanned copies of handwritten recipes from her own mother, Bertha Coburn, onto a page in their original form so that generations to come will be able to read Grandma Coburn's recipes in her own writing.

She also included many traditional Polish favorites from her husband Eugene's family.

After printing 20 copies of each page, Kraszewski placed them inside plastic sleeves, and then clipped them into binders. Kraszewski decided to use loose-leaf binders, rather than having the book bound, so family members could add other recipes as they get them or take out ones they don't use.

Kraszewski said she wasn't intending to take two years to finish the book, but found that the computer work took longer than expected.

The idea for a family cookbook came about because of her granddaughter Mariette Piermarini's interest in baking.

A sophomore at Walsh University, Mariette, 19, has been baking Christmas cookies with Kraszewski since she was 4 years old. Kraszewski likes to say that her granddaughter used to be her assistant, but now Mariette is the baker and she is the assistant.

Over the years, Mariette would ask for copies of recipes and after writing them out time after time, it dawned on Kraszewski that a family cookbook would be a great way to hand down all of the recipes to everyone.

"It's a good way to connect," she said.

Now, Kraszewski said she's had friends and extended family asking for a copy of the book.

While the Kraszewski family cookbook is just debuting, the Reymanns' is now in its fifth printing.

Mary Ellen Reymann said the idea for the cookbook came about in the 1980s, when members of the large Akron family had gathered for an aunt's funeral.

"We were commenting about what a good cook she was and asking, 'Did anyone get her recipe for such-and-such?"' Reymann recalled.

Eventually, granddaughter Diane Rosenberg and several other family members got together to make the project a reality in 1989.

Reymann Remembrances and Recipes begins with an extensive family history and family tree of Charles and Mary Salome Reymann, who raised 16 children in Akron's Ellet neighborhood. Charles Reymann founded the Atlantic Foundry Co. in Akron and the San Hygiene Furniture Manufacturing Co.

The extended family includes more than 50 grandchildren, and so many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren that Mary Ellen Reymann (who is married to grandson Dick Reymann) said the family has pretty much stopped counting.

At their annual Christmas parties on Dec. 26, they sometimes wore name tags, she laughed.

The book, now 20 years old, has recipes from 104 family members representing 20 states. Originally distributed only to family, the book eventually became a fundraiser to support the Reymann Family Foundation, a charity that supports group homes for developmentally disabled adults. The family's original home at 403 Canton Road currently serves as a group home.

Reymann said the best part of the book is that it includes recipes that are tried and true, as well as a bit of family fun. One uncle submitted a recipe for stuffing a turkey with popcorn.

"They are family favorites. Everybody loves them and everybody is always thrilled to get a copy," she said.

1 box yellow cake mix11/3 cups cake flour1/3cup sugar1 cup plus 4 tbsp. milk1/3 cup plus 3 tbsp. water1/3 cup plus 4 tbsp. oil3 eggsBeat all ingredients together for about 2 to 3 minutes.Drop by teaspoon or tablespoon on hot griddle (350 to 375 degrees). Cook as a pancake. When top bubbles up, turn over and cook a few more minutes.Cool on a cake rack.When cool, frost with decorator icing, any color you wish.