I could start this post off by saying that I'm terribly sorry that I haven't posted in a bit, but I warned you ahead of time, commitments like these take a bit of time. I've spent the past week or so frolicking about, soaking up lots of sunshine and ocean air with Jamie and his family. Many of you are probably wondering how I have so much free time to dabble about, in short, I'm currently unemployed. This unemployment business is like an extended vacation for me. Until this morning, I have been waking up when I please, filling my days with whatever I choose (such activities generally stray from my "chore" list that I insist on writing at the beginning of each week.. go figure). I decided though that I needed some order, some sort of routine to keep me sane. I woke up this morning, a bit groggy, but determined to tackle the day... hmm, I should possibly word that differently, I fear it suggests that I participated in some extreme activity, or somehow checked off everything on that damn to-do list. No worries, I seem to have ignored almost every task I really do need to get done, and focused rather on the great weather we had today. These past few weeks I've been really wanting to exercise more, get back into my yoga routine, etc... I blame this partly on my instagram account as I am following this crazy in shape yogamonger who can contort her body into a bazillion different postures, and also I seem to have stumbled upon the facebook page of a workout studio (all the pictures they post are of toned individuals looking oh so happy). Whatever the reason may be, I got serious today about this goal. I went on a 13-mile bike ride this morning and recently got back from a community yoga class at a local studio. Feeling fresh and fine, I took it to a whole notha' level and bought myself an array of vegetables, fruits, and grains... a little bit of culinary inspiration! I failed to mention the two iced coffees I chugged today, but they seem like a minor speed bump amidst everything else I accomplished today.

On a serious note, I have a lot to get done this week. Tomorrow I have an interview for an assistant pastry chef position, which means I really ought to tackle the pile of laundry that's slowly growing and spreading across my floor. I made plans to go pick blueberries with my dear madre, and hang with her for the evening... a welcome escape from Burlington. And let me not forget, prep and assemble a wedding cake for this Saturday. I'm a bit overwhelmed, a tad stressed, but all will be well. 

So, rather then posting a new recipe, I leave you with this rambling piece. I promise to overwhelm you with pictures and recipes soon. And hopefully pictures of me in bad-ass yoga postures. 

ox.

I took a hiatus from cooking and baking this past week. With Jamie working out of state, I lost all gumption to cook for myself. I've been surviving off of an array of vegetable kimchis, although delicious, my stomach is feeling a bit queasy as of late. My week instead has been filled with lady debauchery, gin and tonics, and river dippin'. Hard life. I've been procrastinating a bit in writing this post (go figure), but I refuse to let myself fall off the band wagon. So here she is.

It's always nice for me to take mini breaks from the kitchen, sometimes I feel like this hobby of mine turns into a bit of a chore. So to say the least, I felt well rested and re-inspired by the time Saturday rolled around. I had a few a hours to kill this weekend, and decided to whip up a lovely tart. What started as a banana cream pie quickly turned into a banana and peaches cream tart. When I'm in the kitchen, my imagination is always running wild, I will often change ingredients, sub one out for another, even when I'm halfway through a recipe. It's a bit crazy, sometimes it fails miserably, and sometimes I hit the jackpot. 

Soon after settling on a recipe, I decided I just didn't want to hassle with a traditional pie crust, and instead settled on a gluten-free oatmeal walnut pie crust. This crust takes no time at all to throw together and it's a great substitution for a graphm cracker crust (if you have some gluten-free folks in your circle).

Have a wonderful weekend, stay cool!

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Walnut Pie Crust 
1 cup rolled oats
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

1, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast your oats in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the toasted oats with the remaining ingredients.
3. Press into a 9" pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly browned. 

Pastry Cream
I used this recipe. But I forgot to add the butter, it was just as wonderful without it! 

Assembly
Make sure that your crust and pastry cream have both cooled completely before you begin assembling.
Layer the bottom with sliced bananas. The pastry cream is next! Then arrange the peach slices on top! 

I forget that many of you don't know me, but if you did, you'd probably be asking yourself right about now, chicken wings? Really? She finally decides to put together this blog, and the first post is on how to make chicken wings. It's a slightly odd choice, as I was a vegetarian for 6 years, and have just recently started to make meals that contain meat. Besides having little interest in cooking meat (until recently), it also always seemed like quite a chore. Cooking meat is a bit intimidating, as you don't want to undercook it. I'm an amateur carnivore. Until recently I stuck primarily to leafy greens, and whole grains, all relatively easy to cook. I wikipedia'd all the diseases you can get from eating raw meat, my advice to you, don't follow suit, just trust me on this one, and allow yourself to be slight neurotic if you too are a novice meat cooker. As I learn the ins and outs, I rely heavily on my roommates to offer advice whenever possible, namely my boyfriend, Jamie. He rarely cooks, mainly because I enjoy the task of meal preparing so much.    I am 100% okay with this fact, as it means one less person in our tiny counterless kitchen. So picture this, I'm in the kitchen whipping up chicken wings, Jamie is in the living room relaxing after a eventful weekend spent at a Phish show. The timer on the oven keeps going off, this annoying alarm that just doesn't quit. I'm scurrying around, trying my darndest not to burn the $10 organic chicken wings I just splurged on at the co-op. "Jaaaaaaamie, can you come look at these and tell me if you think they're done." A funny request, as he probably is as unsure as I am about the cooking of chicken. But he humors me, as he always does, and comes into the kitchen to check out the chicken wing situation. We stand there poking them for a few, "probably a few more seconds" he says. 


Herbed Grilled Chicken Wings adapted from Bon Appetit 
Serves 4 or 1 hungry male and his girlfriend with lots of leftovers

4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped fresh Oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
2 lb. chicken wings

1. Combine garlic, organo, rosemary, and oil in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add chicken wings, and toss to coat. Chill for at least 1 hour.

* Please take note, I don't have a grill therefore I rely heavily on my broiler to do the work. I think the wings would be best grilled, but to make it easier for everyone, I have included directions for both scenarios. 

*Broiling and grilling both use intense direct heat to cook food. A grill will maintain a constant temperature, but when an oven reaches 500-550 degrees F, the flame will turn off and the food will cook in its own steam. To avoid this, try propping your broiler door open as the meat is cooking. 

2. If grilling: Prepare grill for medium heat. Remove wings from marinade and grill, covered and turning occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, 15-20 minutes. 
    If broiling: Preheat broiler. I usually let it run for 8-10 minutes before I put anything in as you want the surface to be hot enough to sear the meat. Make sure to cover your broiler pan with alluminum foil to catch all the juices and oil. I set my oven timer for 6 minutes, and then turned the wings. Then let them broil for another 4 minutes. Since I am new to this, It's a bit touch-and-go, as I am always worried about burning the meat. Also, each oven is different, so see the above times as recommendations, be sure to keep an eye on the wings as they cook. 

Homemade Ranch Dippin' Sauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt
3 T mayo
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon dijon
11/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chives

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, whisk together. Chill in fridge until ready to use. 

This is my first post. I've been hemming and hawing about creating this blog for quite some time now. It's been a bit daunting, like if I spend all this time creating it, I suddenly am committed. Committed to all of you out there, committed to posting on a somewhat regular basis. The thought of that is a bit overwhelming as it's just in my nature to become bored over time, which is when I would normally move on to my next project. I am creating this blog so I can document what I am passionate about, but also to commit myself, or at least learn how to follow through. Plus, I recently took hostage of my dear mother's awesome Canon EOS 60D camera (which takes much better pictures of my creations than my dang iPhone). 

I have endless recipes and photos to share with you, but it only seems appropriate to begin this cyber relationship with a proper introduction. Where oh where to begin. My name is Shiel, no, it's not short for anything (like Shiela). I'm twenty-four years old, turning twenty-five in September, eeek! I currently live in Burlington, Vermont with a group of lovely individuals, friends that have become family. I was born and raised in Vermont. My parents on the other hand are transplants, my mother coming from New York and my pa from Massachusetts. They built our house from the ground-up, real back-to-the-land type of folks. My dad dug our well by hand, my mom routinely did the daily farm chores with either my sister or I attached to her back. Pretty wild. 

 I could probably write pages about my childhood up until now. But as not to get too off course, lets stick with how I got here. I grew up eating straight out of my parent's garden. They also raised goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. The connection between farm and table was one that I made at an early age, even if I wasn't consciously aware of it. Menu's in my house were dictated by what was ready to harvest. Okay, you're probably rolling your eyes at this point. A little too hippy dippy for your taste, but seriously, it's the truth. I was a well-fed child. 

Fast forward 10 years, I'm around the age of 18. I graduate from high school, all ready to head out into the big world, move away to college, begin my life. I spend 6 months living in New York City, majoring in Nursing, and I suddenly hit a brick wall. I hate sitting in a classroom, I hate how stuffy everything is, I miss the quiet of Vermont, the greenery. I move back. A bit lost, a bit disheveled in mind. To keep sane, I find a job, just so happens to be at a local bakery. At this point, I have no baking experience, no real cooking experience either. Just a desire to distract myself from the ever impending feeling of failure. Okay, so it probably wasn't that bad. You must remember though, I was a mere 18 years old, who had just barely completed one semester of college. So there I was, baking away, getting lost amidst the sugar and flour and copious amounts of butter. I spent my entire summer there, throwing myself into the work like a madwoman. Who knew I would find my calling while rolling rugelach and piping pate a choux. Certainly not me, but there I was, suffering the summer heat alongside an old grouchy chef, happy as a clam. 

There are of course many stories that will surface, offer more insight into the years in between. But lets stick with that for now. 

And so it begins.