Artichoke Recipe Tin

Why it works as a gift

On its own, a recipe box is a nice kitchen accessory. Filled with recipes in your handwriting, it becomes the kind of gift people keep for decades: the holiday dishes, the Sunday dinner, the cake everyone asks for. That is the reason to choose it, and it costs little more than your time.

Rifle Paper Co. prints the tin with its artichoke botanical in green and cream, with a gold metallic interior and a gold-framed label on the front. According to Rifle Paper Co., it comes with 24 recipe cards and 12 dividers and holds up to about 200 cards, so there's room for the recipe collection to grow. The Amazon listing is sold by Rifle Paper Co. itself.

Compared with a printed family cookbook at a similar budget, the tin is quicker to make and easier to add to: you can start with ten recipes and send more cards each year. Compared with a generic wooden recipe box, it looks good enough to leave on the counter.

Who it’s for

• A new daughter-in-law or son-in-law, with the family's recipes written out
• A newly married couple, with a recipe from each side of the family
• A grown child moving into a first home who keeps asking how to make a dish
• A host who cooks and collects recipes from friends

Skip it if

• The person doesn't cook, or has said they don't want to
• They keep every recipe on their phone or tablet and dislike paper clutter
• You won't have time to write at least a few recipes; an empty tin is a weaker gift

Giving it

• Write five to ten recipes before you wrap it, with a line about who made each dish and when
• Ask other relatives to add a card each, so it arrives from the whole family
• Replacement recipe cards are sold separately by Rifle Paper Co. if you run out

The facts

In the box

One metal recipe tin, 24 recipe cards and 12 dividers

Capacity

Holds up to about 200 recipe cards

Design

Artichoke botanical print, gold metallic interior, gold-framed label

Sold by

Rifle Paper Co.

Consider instead

• Kolo Hudson 3up Photo Album — A keepsake of family photos instead of recipes
• Le Creuset Vancouver Mugs, Set of 4 — A practical kitchen gift for a household