I first started watching cooking shows when I was around ten or eleven years old, probably when I should have been outside running around with the other neighborhood kids. I actually remember very vividly flipping the channels and I stumbled on Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network at 5:00pm. I also have a feeling I just woke up from a nap, some habits you never kick. I don’t remember at all what she was making, but I remembered watching her and, probably because it was dinner time and I was hungry, I was captivated. I wish I could explain it without it sounding like a revelation. But it kind of was. Giada de Laurentiis was on before Rachael, and Paula Deen afterwards, but there was something about Rachael Ray’s lack of culinary pretentiousness that my ten-year-old self could relate to. She made easy dinners, taught me how to cut an onion and what zest was, what spices went with which cuts of meat, and how “in the time it takes you to watch this show, I’ll have made a delicious and healthy meal from start to finish”. And I liked that. I didn't gravitate toward baking at first, and in fact I found myself craving to make dinner more than anything else. The kitchen slowly became my domain, and somewhere along then it became in a sense my identity.

I remember my first few cook books were America’s Test Kitchen, Live! and a children’s cookbook on decorating Christmas cookies. I also always remember feeling challenged, one time in particular after I made my first pie in a cake pan when I was twelve, not knowing the difference in bake ware and feeling foolish for being corrected by my mom and grandma. It was the same kind of foolish I felt when my first blueberry pie didn't thicken right, much to my dismay at a family party at my boyfriend’s house in high school, and his family gave me pity and humbly drank my pie with a spoon. But I learned, and most importantly I had the support of those around me. Whether it was my mom teaching me my first entrée, scrambled eggs, or my family waiting patiently for dinner as I discovered the importance of time management in preparing meals.

It wasn't until I was 14, in eight grade, that I realized that cooking was a career, and could be my career if I wanted. I shadowed a chef at the Chancery restaurant in Waukesha that year and I remember feeling so excited that she let me actually stir the sauces, cut the peppers, and didn't just stick my scrawny 14-year-old self on dish duty. Knowing much more now than back then, it wasn't service time while I was there so the kitchen was relatively quiet, mostly just prep work. In high school I reveled in the fact that there was a Culinary Arts program available , and in fact many my friends that stuck with it are now graduating from Le Cordon Bleu and The Culinary Institute of America. Jealous. But it was in that Culinary Arts program where I learned how not to ruin an angel food cake, and where I won my very first omelette competition. I can’t say I've ever won any more, but it’s a silent victory in my head when my French tri-fold doesn't rip, exposing the cheesy guts.

So finally, I’d like to share a recipe from Jamie Oliver, another one of my longtime celebrity chefs that I've pined after for too many years. I especially like this soup because it’s simple, most of the ingredients I actually had on hand, and it’s a lighter version of a soup that is very comforting in this weather that we’re having. Plus it came together in roughly 30 minutes, and doggone-it, Rachael would be proud.

Vegetarian Corn Chowder
Yields four servings

A Few notes to add about this recipe. First, at my grocery store here on campus they didn't sell 1% milk in the amount that I needed without having too much leftover, so I opted for 2% instead. The soup turned out to be the perfect creaminess, in my opinion. If you’re looking for something very thick like your traditional chowder, you might want to try whole milk or even a combination of whole milk and half and half. Also, more traditional corn chowder, or many of the recipes that I looked at, have bacon as a staple ingredient. I wanted to make this vegetarian friendly for Molly, and also wasn't up for buying a pricey package of bacon only for a few necessary slices. That being said, if you have bacon on hand I think this soup would really benefit from rendering down a few slices and using the grease to sauté your onions and celery rather than butter. Then of course you can garnish with the crispy bacon bits. And lastly! I didn't season with salt and pepper until I was ready to serve, after realizing this soup needed quite a bit of salt for my taste. I would recommend doing just a bit of salt and pepper seasoning at the veggie stage, and then again before serving to taste.

1 celery stalk
1 medium onion
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 cups 1% milk
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut into little cubes
3 scallions
2 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives and/or parsley (optional)

Pull the leaves from the celery stalks and set them aside. Chop your celery and onion.
Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the celery (not the leaves), onion, and thyme. Stir until the vegetables start to brown.

Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir for a few more minutes. Pour in the milk, add the potato and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time so the soup doesn't stick to the pot. Cook until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy – this will take around 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the celery leaves, trim the ends off the scallions and slice them thinly. When the potatoes are tender, stir in the corn, scallions and celery leaves. Bring the soup back to the boil, then serve with crusty bread or a garnish of sharp cheddar and scallions like Molly and I did.