Interview: Anna Curran, Cookbook Create

Anna Curran of CookbookCreate.com (Photograph Copyright Anna Curran)

When a family receives a diagnosis of food allergies (or celiac disease, FPIES, EoE or EGID) it can be a challenge for everyone, especially in the kitchen. "What’s for dinner?" turns into "What’s safe for dinner?" 

As food allergy families learn how to cope with these challenges, many of them start amassing specific recipes for their specific needs. Also, friends and family will ask, what can I cook for you? Wouldn't it be great to have a personalized cookbook dedicated to your food allergic loved one’s needs and their favorite, safe-for-them dishes?

Enter, CookbookCreate.com.
 
Anna Curran and I met through the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance several years back and she is the founder of a print-on-demand startup CookbookCreate.com. 

From Anna: 
CookbookCreate.com combines the best of Web 2.0 and print-on-demand technology delivering a fun, easy to use tool to make your own custom cookbooks. Prior to founding her startup, she was selected by Startup Weekend as the New York co-founder of the pilot program called The Startup Foundation sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation. Current and past client work as a digital strategist includes Lama Surya Das, a national best selling Tibetan Buddhist author; America: Now and Here, a cross-country journey of art and artists with Eric Fischl, Paul Simon and Chuck Close; and Personal democracy Forum— the leading conference on politics and technology. She is formally trained artist, printmaker, and dancer. Anna is a Pipeline Fellow and is the founder of Startup Weekend's Partnership Series that brings together Fortune 500 companies who want to collaborate with startups. You can keep up with her on Twitter @AnnaCurran.


Recently, I had a chance to ask Anna a few questions about Cookbook Create. Read on!

Allergic Girl: Can you tell us, briefly, the history and mission of Cookbook Create?

Anna Curran: We help people tell their story through food by providing a print-on-demand platform for cookbooks. Our product helps people collect recipes from different sources and design their own custom cookbooks to be ordered by mail. Here's a video about
Cookbook Create.

AG: Super fun! What was your inspiration for Cookbook Create?

AC: I was inspired to found this company when one day I was looking for my grandmother's chocolate drop cookie recipe in my mother's cookbook. My Aunt had given my mother this notebook in 1969 with a dozen handwritten recipes, and my mom added to it over the years. 

Photograph Copyright Anna Curran

As I turned the pages, I saw recipes from my great grandmother, Aunt, and grandmother's recipes from both sides of family. Paging through the notebook that was coming unbound, I realized that this cookbook, was the story of my family told through food. On that day after looking through my mother's cookbook, I was left with a question that inspired me to found Cookbook Create, "What is digital version of this cookbook?"

Photograph Copyright Anna Curran

AG: What does Cookbook Create do?

AC: Cookbook Create helps you keep all of your recipes in one place and make a personalized cookbook with any recipe you have saved.

AG: Who is the ideal user of Cookbook Create?

AC: Initially, we are focused on helping families preserve their recipes. Many of our customers will make family cookbooks as a gift, collecting recipes from various family members and compiling them into a gift cookbook. We also see a lot of cookbooks made as wedding gifts.

AG: How can we get started with Cookbook Create?
 
AC: Visit us on Cookbook Create, and create an account. Then you'll be able to add your own recipes and collect them from friends. Any recipe you save to your account can be used in making your own personalized cookbook with color photos and custom fonts.
Social Links
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cookbookcreate
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cookbookcreate
Website: www.cookbookcreate.com



Thank you, Anna of Cookbook Create.  

Stay tuned to my Allergic Girl Facebook page for details on how to win a gift card for Cookbook Create!