&And Per Se Blank Recipe Book to Write in Your Own Recipes, Empty CookBook Journal to Organize Your Recipes, Hardcover Notebook – 5.7 X 8 Inches (Green)

The &And Per Se Recipe Book is a truly lovely journal. Take it from me, a legitimate paper and pen snob, you will be delighted with the 100 gsm thick, ivory paper as it receives your pencil or ink with ease. The book is so thoughtfully crafted–you can tell that And Per Se is in the journal business.This is an A5 size, 5.83 x 8.27 inches, roughly a half sheet of US letter size paper folded on its short width. The careful attention is not something I am used to seeing in recipe books, far more the kind of thing one finds in higher end journals. Pen loop, elastic closure, interior back envelope pocket, and two contrasting bookmarks. I chose the Pale Apricot colorway, and it is soft and pretty, with surprising depth for so light a color. The cover is rigid, and lined in a textured fabric, and if you look up close you find there are various colors “knit” together to achieve the look.The interior has just what is helpful for its intended use, without anything extraneous. Common conversion units for kitchen use, a four page index, numbered recipe pages, and a “belongs to” page to hold your contact information should it get lost. The paper is not just thick, it is pen and pencil friendly. You can see on the test page pictured here that there is minimal ghosting, and slight bleedthrough only with the ultrafine Sharpie marker. I expect it will hold off the inevitable (at least for me) tomato sauce, egg, and olive oil stains better than most recipe books!The &And Per Se budget journal first caught my attention, and it is equally well-made, intelligently designed, and a delight to use. I am so pleased ot have an archive for my random loose recipes and a sturdy journal to keep close to hand for when I need them. This would make a lovely gift for a cook or to hold those precious family recipes that deserve more care than an app on your phone.I give this $And Per Se recipe journal my highest recommendation to anyone looking to up their recipe keeping game. And I will already browsing the &And Per Se store for more journals. Should additional testing reveal defects in the journal, I will update this review. [...]