skinny girls & mayonnaise

On August 7, 2010, I launched Skinny Girls & Mayonnaise — exploding out the gate with eight posts on that single day. Four more came the following day. I guess you could say they’d be welling up inside of me for awhile.

It’s been a great year of cooking, philosophizing, marketing, experimenting and writing about it all. And sharing it. Perhaps the biggest surprise — and the funnest part of the blog for me — has been watching a Skinny Girls & Mayonnaise community form. It’s proven to be a great way to keep in touch with some of my dearest old friends (Gregg, Paul, Heather) and favorite neighbors (Glennis, Patty). My sisters and mom are always good for an insightful comment, and niece Monica has been a delightful presence. And I’ve made some wonderful new food friends at diverse points in the country and globe (Ben, Thelma Lee, Hoot-n-Annie, Alex…) And that’s just to name a few — there are so many more, all of us sharing thoughts, feelings, stories, tips and other soulful information about that most elemental of all experiences: eating.

I thank you all for your support, and I will continue pushing myself to come up with delicious recipes, humorous asides and hopefully not-too-self-indulgent food reflections every Monday and Thursday! If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up for email notifications in that little box on the above right. And don’t forget to tell your friends about Skinny Girls & Mayonnaise!

Here’s a review of some favorite posts over the past year, in case you missed any of ’em:

• Preaching to the Converted
My very first post, in which I fondly recall one of my proudest nights as a cook — converting two vegetarians with a particularly appealing Mexican cochinita pibil pork shoulder.

• Good Gadget, Bad Gadget Pt. I
The first in my four-part series on ridiculous gadgets — and their useful counterparts.

• Deep in the Heart of Texas
A cowboy grilled rib-eye and iceberg wedge salad. What could be better for summer?

• Building a Better Burger
This popular post is also a good one for summer. Plus, it’s got a cute baby video at the end. (For another good burger, check out my L.A. Times Burger Contest entry.)

• 10 Simple Things That Will Make a Huge Difference in Your Cooking
Getting down to the basics of why I started this blog in the first place — to help people make better food!

• The Guilty Pleasures of a Skinny Girl
This fun post is not nearly as racy as it sounds. But it did really well with Google search hits, as you might imagine.

• Skinny Girls Top 10 Pet Peeves
Another fun one, featuring such annoying food-related subjects as poorly curated potlucks, Korean food trucks and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.

• The Skinny Girls Diet
This silly post somehow even managed to be controversial. Maybe because people took it too seriously. Or didn’t take it seriously enough.

• Veggies A to Z
A brief primer on what to do with every vegetable I could think of between artichoke and yam. Plus, lots of interesting suggestions from readers.

• Harvey’s Guss Meat Co.
A profile of L.A. butcher extraordinaire… with an informative video with our friend and Harvey’s son, Joe.