A Collaborative Cookbook
When Sheridan Wilson ’26 started thinking about the senior project for her visual communication major, she knew she wanted to focus on something rooted in the Decorah community. She also wanted to produce something physical.
So she drew on a connection she’d made with a local alum: Decorah-area restaurateur Hannah Garry ’16. The result was a colorful, inviting, and very stylish cookbook that showcases recipes served at Garry’s Blazing Star restaurant.
Visual communication major Sheridan Wilson ’26 worked with Decorah restauranteur Hanna Garry '16 to create a stunning cookbook.
While working at Impact Coffee—another alum-owned Decorah business—Sheridan met Garry, a former Impact employee and co-founder of Blazing Star. Sheridan loved the branding of this vegetable-forward restaurant and catering service on Water Street. As her senior project crept closer, she started to talk with Garry about collaborating on a cookbook.
Working together, the two decided to focus the book on Blazing Star’s beloved sauces. Once they settled on how to organize the recipes, they had to make, style, and photograph them.
At times, the scope of the project—which Sheridan imagined would be 20 pages but which actually ended up at 106—felt overwhelming. “When I started the first day of taking photos, I was like, What did I get myself into?” she says. “But each time I had a photo shoot at Blazing Star, it got easier and easier. And then I was like, I actually enjoy this. I’m really getting good at this.”
The end result beautifully showcases Blazing Star cuisine. The photos in the book are unfussy yet chic, the layout clean and modern. Sheridan has done one print run so far and sold 65 copies. But her pride lies more in the concept than in the physical product.
“I’m proud of how I could connect my senior project to the community,” she says. “The final product is also a big thing to be proud of, but the project made me realize all the connections I built. My professors and the community were so supportive. People were like, This is amazing. You’re going to do great things. And that made me realize that I’m proud of my degree. I think that’s what the senior project really is about—it makes you appreciate all you’ve learned at Luther.”