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Skirt Sizzles

You can find me wandering the aisles of Whole Foods. Reading ingredients is enjoyable. I love flipping through magazines for different recipes to try. Here’s the catch: I’m afraid to cook. I get overwhelmed by too many steps and the fact that I’m on the phone and the TV is on in the background...

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Welcome to Skirt! Sizzles!

Yum!

Growing up in an Italian-Jewish household, my Mema and Papa made lasagna, fresh garlic bread and salad with herbs and spices just because it was a Wednesday. My Baba was famous for her matzo-ball soup. My mother has since taken over the soup and my non-Jewish fiancé loves it. Gooey chocolate brownies that you thought were undercooked would be the center of attention at any holiday gathering. After my first love and I broke up in college, my roommates decided to throw me a Mexican party to celebrate my newly-found singlehood. It was a great start for our trip to Cancun that spring break and the enchiladas and margaritas helped mend my broken heart. I’ll never forget the first time my fiancé cooked dinner. I put aside my butterflies and enjoyed his stir-fry. I told him I was an “eater.” He was too and loved my honesty.

I adore food and I know you do as well, but the question is do you enjoy an oversized chocolate cake as much as I do? You can find me wandering the aisles of Whole Foods. Reading ingredients is a passion. I love flipping through magazines for different recipes to try. Here’s the catch: I’m afraid to cook. I get overwhelmed by too many steps and the fact that I’m on the phone and the TV is on in the background, doesn’t help either. My fiancé on the other hand loves to cook and is incredibly talented. We figured out a way to work together. I find and create recipes and he does the cooking! (He says that I cook an excellent salad!) Just a few days ago, he found me killing a mango and said that I wasn’t allowed to buy any produce that involved knives. We shared a laugh and he showed me how to cut it properly.

There is a market for women, like me, who want to cook but feel intimated. Childhood helps shape how you cook as an adult. I know for me, my Mom grew up in a household where dinner had to be hot and on the table by a certain time. When it was her turn as a parent, she chose the “throw together route,” and focused more on conversation and chewing with your mouth closed. To this day, I will walk by a box of ziti and remember wearing them as “Freddy Krueger finger nails.”

As women, we are “people-pleasers” and if something isn’t perfect or pleasing to everyone then we feel like a failure or a disappointment. Then we stay away from it altogether unless we decide to just have fun, not take it so seriously and improve on learning new things!

Skirt! Sizzles! is a new section on www.skirt.com just in time for the holidays. Skirt! Sizzles! is a warm and welcoming place for us to share and build a compilation of user-submitted stories and recipes.

Think back to when you were little: did you have a grandmother who you used to bake with? Is there a secret family recipe that makes its way around your neighborhood? For those who live in New England, I am sure you want to learn more about Southern Cooking and vice versa. What cheers you up? What’s your guilty pleasure?

For the busy mom who doesn’t have time to whip up a gourmet meal, Skirt! Sizzles! is for you. For the broke student who doesn’t have a lot of money to spend at a fancy restaurant, Skirt! Sizzles! is for you too. For the shy and timid, Skirt! Sizzles! is a place for you to learn, be inspired and connect. For those who want to throw a dinner party, but are terrified, Skirt! Sizzles! is for you. For the daring to be different, Skirt! Sizzles! is a sizzlin’ new home for your kitchen.

I am excited to begin this journey with you. Skirt! Sizzles! is surely a place where you can go to be inspired and find something for yourself and your family and friends. Now that work party won’t make you so nervous and competing with your mother in law will be a thing of the past.

I have so many goals for Skirt! Sizzles! and with the support of Skirt! I can already see the book sitting on your kitchen counter. “The Best of Skirt! Sizzles” will feature the “best” stories and recipes voted by you. Before I get ahead of myself, Skirt! Sizzles! will begin digitally.

Just like a Skirt! Setter! those who submit their stories and recipes will receive an icon known as the “Skirt! Sizzlin” badge. Other ideas include incorporating brand building with the power of Skirt! by partnering with Skirt! advertisers. For example, if a Skirt! Setter/Blogger/Writer/Editor submits a story and a recipe for BBQ-Chicken, the BBQ sauce could be a sponsor and include a link to their website or a coupon. We are cooking up good things for you and it’s only the beginning.

Always hungry and always up for a new recipe,

Brooke