It took us 2 years to get our cook book ready for publication..and lots of money

However There are easier ways to publish a cookbook..We really are proud of our cookbook and it has been reprinted 4 times. Our goal was to make money to do restoration to our church and it has been a great success.. You may not want to get into this type cookbook..Sounds like you just want a good cook book to share good recipes from friends and not as a big money maker.
My biggest suggestion to you is no matter what kind of cookbook you want it to be is the selection of the recipes...Be sure they are correct and explain at the beginning that you may not be able to use everyones recipes..If there are duplicates..add the names of everyone at the bottom of the recipe. Good luck..You will have a fun time doing this but it is time consuming..Make out a form for everyone to go by in submitting recipes..so the ingredients and instructions are very clear and the number of servings..Have fun.Its lots of work but very rewarding and I won't tell you how much weight was gained from testing the recipes...To get it printed you can find many cheaper ways to print than we did...