Uptown Downhome Creations at Half-Mile Farm

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/12 – December

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n December 3 and 4, Half-Mile Farm will welcome cookbook author, media star, and Food Network judge Rebecca Lang.   

I recently spoke with Lang by phone. She was at home in Athens, Georgia, with her two teenage sons, and in a cheerful domestic mood – happy to talk about her trajectory to culinary stardom.  

As was quickly revealed, Lang figured out early on that what she loved most was to eat: “I would rather eat than do anything in the world.  Both of my grandmothers were exceptional home country cooks, and so I figured out if I wanted to eat the most, then being in the kitchen is where that happened.” 

Growing up in the small South Georgia town of McRae, Lang was surrounded by country farms and produce trucks.  By the time she was 10, she was churning out blueberry muffins. When she enrolled in college at the University of Georgia in the late 1990s, she knew she wanted a career in food, but cooking wasn’t cool back then. 

Nevertheless, determined to pursue her passion, she called Nathalie Dupree after seeing her on TV. Lang recalled telling the well-known Southern culinarian, “I want to learn what you know.”   

Surprisingly, Nathalie took the young Lang under her wing, becoming one of the most influential people in her life.  Dupree advised her that if she wanted to be a cookbook author, she needed to go to culinary school to learn the science of cooking.   

And so she did, completing the course at Johnson and Wales before going on to her first job as an assistant Food Editor at Oxmoor House and finally fulfilling her ambitions as a writer and teacher. 

Lang is a prolific author– she has published a total of eight cookbooks – but it is her abiding love of party giving for which she is known best.  

In her latest book, Y’all Come Over, she lays out her simple gospel for entertaining.  Ultimately the joy of reading Lang’s book is that she is teaching you much more than how to execute a single dish.   

Though she has many solid and delicious recipes – try the Georgia Shrimp Rolls, Deviled Eggs, and Fancy Hot Dogs – her mission is a way of urging you to trust and hone your skills as a hostess.  The book details every step of entertaining, “from the initial inspiration to texting, to where to hang the wreath, to closing up the dishwasher.”  

Attendees at the weekend will have occasion to taste some of Lang’s most requested recipes.  Breakfasts will include Night Before Crepes, Overnight Coffee Crumble Cake, Rosemary Biscuits with Ham and Red Eye Aioli, and Ruby Red Ambrosia.  Social Hours will offer up tastes of Cava-Mint-Pomegranate Sippers, Sinful Butter Saltines, Old-Fashioned Pecan Cheese Ball with local crackers, Coca-Cola BBQ and Bacon Shrimp, Ginger Wine Spritzer, Two Pepper Blue Cheese Wafers, Tarragon Deviled Eggs, and Fig and Red Onion Jam with local cheese.

Hosted events are for Half-Mile Farm guests only. Visit HalfMileFarm.com to check for room availability.