Rebecca Lang is a cookbook author, cooking instructor, and food writer.
With true southern hospitality, she welcomed Where We Cook into her Georgia kitchen. With true southern charm, she shows us around and shares with us her kitchen sentiments.
What three words would best describe your kitchen’s style?
Comfortable, warm, and functional
Why this style?
My kitchen has to perform as room for recipe testing but also as a gathering place for my family. It is the melding of these two very important functions that has created a room that is uniquely mine.
What do you enjoy most about your kitchen?
I enjoy the amount of counter space. There’s nothing worse than a lack of workspace. The room is just the right size for cooking comfortably with no more than a few steps needed between appliances.
What one feature in your kitchen do you consider pure indulgence?
My sink is nothing short of dreamy. I have a farmhouse sink that’s big enough to bath a small child and deep enough to wash any pot I own.
If you could change one thing about your kitchen, what would it be?
I would add several electrical outlets under the counter top so I could plug in handheld appliances wherever I want.
What three aromas most frequently permeate your kitchen?
Bacon, caramelized sugar, and the waxy scent of crayons.
How many cookbooks do you own? Any of those cookbooks have your name on the cover?
About 1,200 cookbooks have a home in my office. Three of those have my name on the cover.
What one feature in your kitchen is rather unusual?
I have a glass shelf of orchids suspended in my kitchen window over my sink. I can take in the delicate blooms as I wash dishes and the orchids love the steam from the hot water.
What is your warmest childhood memory involving a kitchen?
I remember running through my grandmother’s kitchen after tirelessly climbing the sweet gum tree in her yard. All the grownups would be hovering around the counters waiting for a fried fish supper while my sister and I darted through, still sweaty from the descent down the limbs. The kitchen was paneled in dark wood, had counters outlined in stainless steel and unique hammered metal drawer pulls. It was a small kitchen with just enough counter space for drying dishes or making biscuits, never both at the same time.
Whose kitchen do you most enjoy visiting today?
I love visiting any kitchen that has those I love in it. Be it at the beach, my parents’ house, or my best friend’s, it’s the people with me that make me enjoy whatever kitchen I find myself in.
Whom might we find in your kitchen with you?
Our King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Miss Bea, is almost always at my feet as I cook. She’s constantly hoping something falls on the floor for her snack. My two small children and my husband are never far from the stools and the fridge.
Any favorite tunes on your cooking playlist?
At home, I tend to cook in silence. I treasure the quiet and tend to be surrounded by noise at every other turn. Cooking is therapeutic and I adore the tranquility.
Julia Child’s kitchen is now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Where would you like your kitchen to be displayed one day?
A photograph of my kitchen on one of my future grandchildren’s counter would be amazing. If I can manage to pass along a fraction of the cooking legacy that was gifted to me, I’ve done my job as a mother and a cook.
I think you’re doing a great job. Thank you, Rebecca.
About Rebecca Lang
Home: Athens, Ga.
Occupation: cooking instructor, food writer, cookbook author
Latest book: Quick-Fix Southern
(Andrews McMeel Publishing, March 2011)
