Hi! I’m Sara O’Donnell… food lover, blogger, recipe author, video producer and the creator of Average Betty. I’m an artist and an Art Historian by degree. Therefore, the content on this site is an evolving, satirical look at current events, relationships and the foods that define them.
Average Betty ignites a passion for cooking and baking and engages a positive environment for the exploration of all foods. From not-so-secret family recipes to the kitchens of James Beard Award winning chefs and all the morsels in between, Average Betty uncovers the treasures that surround good food.
Why Average Betty? I know. This website is called Average Betty and my name is Sara. You see, here in Southern California, “Betty” is slang for the word gal similar to how “Joe” is slang for a guy. For example: Average Joe, Joe Six Pack, Joe the Plumber. Well, I’m Average Betty. I’m not a diva, I’m not a chef and I’m certainly not a guru. I’m just an average betty that loves food, wine, art and music. I also like to party.
Why food? I am the last of six children from a middle class family; needless to say I was in the kitchen a lot helping prepare meals. I put myself through college working in the bar-restaurant business. Cooking, baking, entertaining and grocery shopping have always been a part of my life.
With the rise in convenience products and increasingly busy lifestyles, many people are no longer eating meals at home, prepared from whole foods. So I decided to make food the focus of Average Betty. Not with the ambition to solve the obesity epidemic, but with the ambition of getting more people in the kitchen again to prepare their own meals and have an ongoing, positive discussion about food.
We want to hear from you! Do you have a recipe request or a recipe you’d like to share? Maybe you have a suggestion or a concern? Is there a chef we’ve got to meet or a festival we need to explore? What if you’ve got a gadget we just have to test drive or a goodie that we must ingest? Contact Average Betty (betty at averagebetty dot com).
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Hi Mitch,
You Rock! Wow… thanks for all the sweet compliments and the rockin’ write-up on your blog! Don’t go around hitting people with crowbars though, they won’t be able to cook up my tasty recipes ;)
Thanks for spreading the love,
Betty
Betty – I love your videos! So much so that I wrote about your latest in yesterday’s SheTeeVee blog posting. Check it out and keep up the great work. Happy Holidays!
http://mwgmedia.com/blog/?p=278
Hey Kim!
Wow, what an honor to be written up on SheTeeVee! Thanks so much for the exposure and for checkin’ out my craziness :)
Happy Holidays!
Betty
Hi Average Betty,
Do you like asparagus?
Hi Max!
I love asparagus! Steamed or grilled… Why do you ask? Got a good recipe for me?
Happy Holidays :)
Cheers,
Betty
Tampa Bay is not a town.
Hi Thomas.
Thanks for stopping by.
From Wikipedia:
The Tampa Bay Area, or Tampa Bay, after the body of water it surrounds, is the second most populated metropolitan region in the state of Florida, the 19th-largest metro area in the United States, the fourth largest in the Southeast behind only Miami, Atlanta and Washington, and second largest on the Gulf Coast behind Houston.
I grew up in the Tampa Bay area. Tampa Bay is my hometown. I root for The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If it is any consolation however, my Mom agrees with you. Tomato. Tomato.
Happy Friday the 13th,
Betty
Betty, I have to say you are under-handing the world an insidious deed by telling them that cutting time and mass producing is “ok” and “great!”. Popular people have a mandate to shun unhealthy indulgence, your food is horrible for people and the environment. To see you revel in it concerns me.
Thanks
Hello C,
Thanks for visiting and sharing your opinion. Although I disagree with you, you are welcome to share your opinion with others here if you wish.
I work hard to publish recipes that (hopefully) help encourage and empower people to prepare their own meals using whole foods. Perhaps you have not explored the site in much detail and are hastily and unfairly judging me and my work.
I do not tell people to “cut time” or “mass-produce,” and I do not say that these things are “OK” or “great.” I would love to know what gives you that impression.
Most importantly, I do not encourage unhealthy indulgence. I believe in moderation and active lifestyle.
Finally, the only thing I revel in is helping to bring happiness to others. I am sorry that I was not able to bring this to you.
Cheers,
Betty
Hey C, how ya doin’ sweetheart?
~Tilts her head and regards you a bit~
hmm, not too good there, huh?
Hon Bun, you might want to try adding a little sugar to your diet. Seriously, I think you need it. You’re looking a little cynical and bitter between the ears.
You keep on spreading your sunshine, sweetheart!
Thanks for all you do, Betty. You know we all love you! “We” being those whose faces are accustomed to smiling from time to time ~winks~
Gratefully,
Christy
Hi ,
I work with an international charity called Breadline Africa. We have just launched a campaign called the Blogger Bake off, which seeks to raise $1 Million in funds on order to alleviate poverty in Africa.
Our campaign is based on utilising the blogging community and their readers to assist in raising the funds. The campaign concludes on 15 October 2009 or when US$1 million has been raised.
There are various ways for you to get involved:
Here’s how:
1. Register to take part
2. Download the code widget for your blog
Choose your preferred blogger (note your donation will be reflected under you preferred blogger/ fundraisers name)
3. Make a donation on your widget or our website
4. Upload a bread recipe and view in our media centre
5. Vote for your favourite bread recipe
6. Tag 5 other bloggers or invite your friends
You can even take it further by doing the following:
• Bake a loaf of bread, upload the recipe and pictures. Then blog about it.
• Bake many loaves of bread and host a bake sale.
Right now we need your help in assisting an impoverished community uplift itself. Any amount will do.
You can sign up to our newsletter (http://www.bloggerbakeoff.com/subscribe-email.q) to stay abreast of the latest news surrounding our campaign.
If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me so I can forward you more info or answer any questions you might have :)
All the best,
Daniel
http://www.bloggerbakeoff.com
What a fun site! Looking forward to meeting you in Aspen! YAY!
I’m a mom, a blogger, and a Ph.D. student, and I need your help. I’m doing a study about why women blog, and you have been selected at random to participate in a short survey about what motivates you to blog and what you get out of blogging.
I hope you will take it by clicking this link. Please do not forward the link.
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/231228/women-bloggers
Thanks in advance for your help. Feel free to contact me at gmmasull@syr.edu if you have any questions.
Gina Chen
Ph.D. student
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Syracuse University
Love your spunk and go getter attitude. Also agree with so much of your philosophy about not needing culinary degree, recipes to cook, touche!
Betty,
I was just checking out your site here. I’ve only recently “discovered” you on iTunes. I love your videos. I actually live in Tampa, I thought it was really cool to discover you are from here. I have three suggestions for a future shows. I’d like to see your version of ribs, salmon, and/or jerky. I look forward to your next video. Keep ‘em up!
Thank you for the awesome and fun videos,
Kevin
Great to meet you, Kevin and thanks for subscribing on iTunes! Salmon, ribs and jerky! Thanks for the great suggestions… I’ll see what I can do :)
Most of my family is still in Tampa and I try to get back often to visit. Love that Jeff Houck from The Tampa Tribune!
You Rock Average Betty! I made the Super Rolls yesterday for a work “food day” and they were great. Everyone loved them. I have been telling every one about your website.
Of course my drink of choice is Sailor Jerry and I had no idea there was a documentary about him until today. I will have to watch that movie this weekend.
Hi Betty! Thank you for all the great recipes, and for many laughs.
Also, we could all take a lesson from your humble, kind response to those who criticize and attack. You go girl!
Hi Hallie,
Thank you for visiting my site and your sweet words. I guess it’s true that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger :) You go girl!!
Hi Sara,
We met at Ricky’s Fish Tacos on Saturday night and you mentioned your blog so I checked it out and it’s great! Just wanted to say “Hi”.
:)
Hi Jenn!
It was great to meet you — loved the vibe in the parking lot! Thank you so much for dropping by and saying HI!
Hi-
It was nice to meet you at the airport in Phoenix several weeks ago. If you’ll recall, we were introduced when a thoughtlessly placed cell phone required our fanciful terrorist consideration. Your willingness to act as my human shield shows the gutsiness I have now witnessed in your videos. Well done!
Dean
Hi Dean!
Thanks for getting in touch and checking out my site! Thank goodness our terrorist profiling was only precautionary and my human shield services not needed. The world is safe to eat another day :) Hope you’ll stick around for the fun…
Hey Sara!!
I have a Betty blog too!! :)
Hi Sara, or should I call you Betty :-)
Like your spunk and tongue-in-cheek approach to food! I agree, more people need to get in the kitchen and need to realiaze how fun and easy it is to make great food! I wish ypu loads of luck in the YouTube contast, Sara, and a New Year filled with tasty, fun cooking ideas. PS Hope you’ll check out my gourmet webzine when you have some time :->
~ marie
Dear Sara,
in a past few years I have been monitoring variety of food artists and I find you very interesting. In behalf of food lovers from my country I suggest you look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIwNwZwNXuA
Keep up the good work….
Branko B. Prošić