Laura Rebecca's Kitchen

The following is posted in conjunction with Bibliochef at Cooking With Ideas. Bibliochef writes: Troops Home Fast is a hunger strike organized by Code Pink and supported by others (e.g., Progressive Democrats of America) to begin July 4, 2006 in protest against the Iraq War. In addition to well known names, Code Pink is asking […]

Yep, more jam. There were some brilliantly ripe raspberries for sale at the local farmers’ market and I couldn’t pass them up. I had to make jam before I realized this but jam has twice the amount of sugar as it does fruit. Seriously: don’t think you’re eating preserved fruit with a dusting sprinkling of […]

Hey! Guess what! It’s summer vacation! You’ve got two whole months to do nothing but get in trouble! Well, no. Not if you’re not a kid. Or a sitting president. So maybe you still have to get up in the morning, put on your corporate casual clothes, commute to work and spend 8 hours trying […]

I am on to you, Kim Rizk. I am all over your scheme like white on rice. You put a bunch of mouth-watering, down home recipes in your folksy little cookbook, and get everybody all charmed and relaxed. “Awww,” they think. “This is just like being at the Hay Day Country Market! And now I […]

Just got this email from Tim Karr of Free Press: Here’s the latest from the Senate Commerce Committee, where a “mark-up” on several amendments to Senator Stevens’ Telecom Act began today at 10 a.m.: The Snowe-Dorgan Net Neutrality amendment will probably come before the Committee by mid-to-late afternoon. If successfully passed, the amendment would put […]

Here’s another recipe from the Hay Day Country Market Cookbook. Happily, this one came out much better than the last. The Peasant Bread has a soft crust and chewy texture – you can use it for sandwiches, toast (with jam it’s especially good), or to mop up the remnants of a flavorful soup. It’s saltier […]

Lemon Sugar Cookies that were rolled and patted before baking. These cookies, from the Hay Day Country Market Cookbook and made for the WCC, are very good: buttery with a bright citrus flavor. The bottoms are bit crisp – a gentle crunch – with the insides featuring a softer and chewier texture. Having said that, […]

Frank Bruni, head restaurant critic for the NYT, wrote a piece for the paper entitled It Died For Us. It’s a cursory, biased exploration of the increasing American consciousness regarding the meats we consume. Online, it’s listed under the heading “Critic’s Notebook” implying an editorial, but it’s not definitively categorized as such, thereby blurring the […]

Strawberry Freezer Jam (left) and Traditional Strawberry jam. I’ve shied away from making jams. Buying the jars, lids, and the special pots, measuring out the fruit, working with the pectin, sterilizing everything, timing the whole process — yikes. It just seems like a whole lot of trouble for something to smear on toast. But yesterday […]

Fresh-picked berries, waiting to be smashed. Filling the mason jars with cooked jam. Fresh berries and sugar macerating before getting turned into freezer jam. When children attack. The fruits of our labor.(Look! Carolyn has a Bon Jovi album — on tape!)