The recipe board looks like magic and is actually fidelity: a disciplined trace of a real hand. Here is the pipeline.

Photograph the original

Flat, in daylight, straight above, filling the frame. A phone is fine if strokes are sharp.

We work from your photo; the card never has to leave your house.

Trace, don’t retype

Every loop and crossing-out is traced as drawn — the hand, not a font that resembles it.

The imperfections are the person; we keep them on purpose.

Restore honestly

Faded strokes are rebuilt from the visible evidence, and we show you the restoration before cutting.

Letters that are simply gone stay gone — a guessed stroke is a forgery of someone’s hand.

Engrave into the grain

The traced artwork is cut into hardwood at a depth that survives use.

The result reads as her card, in wood, for the next generation of the kitchen.