Daily photo category in sidebar

The best way for me to explain what I want to do here is to reference https://dooce.com — I want to have a “photos” category that does not show up on the main page, but links via a thumbnail on the sidebar.

I’ll be honest, pointing me to some discussion that doesn’t directely address what I’m asking is probably going to confuse me.

I need to know how to set up such a category, and what code to put in my sidebar to draw in a thumb/text linking to the daily photo.

Wow, I sound demanding. lol. Sorry. I just hate being dumb about these things. Any help is much appreciated.