Product Description

The annual Fredericksburg Christmas parade marks the beginning of the Hill Country's holiday season, which means the Pastry Queen is kicking into high gear at her Rather Sweet Bakery and Café. As party invitations pile up in the mailbox, Rebecca Rather is up to her elbows in sticky meringue, gooey chocolate, and a sleigh's worth of savory indulgences to meet the Texas-sized entertaining-to-go orders of her neighbors. In THE PASTRY QUEEN CHRISTMAS, Rebecca shares nearly a hundred traditional recipes reflecting her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and the tastes of small-town Texas. Tree-trimming, open houses, cookie decorating, and Santas running down Main Street . . . Christmas time is here.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25946 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 225 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Though Rather's known as the Pastry Queen, the author and baker-owner of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café in Fredericksburg, Tex., covers a lot more than baked goods in this comprehensive collection of holiday recipes from her native state. Organized by event (holiday open house, brunch, Christmas Eve, etc.), Rather offers an array of ideas sure to keep table legs groaning and belts loosening. Red velvet cupcakes get a jolt of sour sweetness from mascarpone cream cheese icing, and a delicious Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quesadilla is topped with a colorful pecan and cranberry salsa laced with orange zest, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and jalapeno. Decadent Creamy Chicken Lasagna, Oysters Rockefeller Soup and Chocolate Cookie-Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake each guarantee a memorable event, and Rather's Texas roots shine through in a duo of holiday martinis featuring prickly pear syrup, tamales with a tomatillo sauce and a corn bread dressing (Mother's Best) so loaded with flavor that diners will forget any other kind exists. Helpful advice on advance preparations and clever variations abound; rounded out with packaging ideas for edible gifts and complete instructions on baking, assembling and decorating a gingerbread house (complete with templates), this is sure to become a holiday favorite.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
* The sequel to THE PASTRY QUEEN, featuring 95 sweet and savory recipes from the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café, plus entertaining ideas inspired by the holiday traditions of small-town America. * Includes more than 100 full-color food and location photographs shot in Rebecca's hometown of Fredericksburg, Texas. * Chapters are organized by occasion: Holiday Open House, Ranch Barn Brunch, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve. * Features entertaining and craft ideas for hosting tree- trimming parties, building gingerbread houses, decorating Christmas cookies, and making edible holiday gifts. * Rather Sweet Bakery and Café was named one of the top ten pastry shops in the country by Nick Malgieri, author and director of the baking program at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.

About the Author
REBECCA RATHER started the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café in 1999 and has been hawking buttery scones and luscious cakes from behind the case ever since. She has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies' Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, and Saveur. Rebecca cooks, bakes, and hangs her saddle in Fredericksburg, Texas.

ALISON ORESMAN has worked as a journalist and restaurant critic for more than 20 years, writing and editing for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. She lives in Bellevue, Washington.

Customer Reviews

A must have for any cook book collection
If you are ever in Fredricksburg, Texas you must visit the author's restaurant "Rather Sweet". I did and promptly ordered both of her cook books. Everything I have made was devine! The recipes are easy to follow and have been a hit with everyone I served! I can't wait to try more of them.

Just buy it.
Of all the cookbooks I got this year for Christmas (they're my favorite holiday gift, even over jewelry), this was my most treasured. As a relocated Texan now living in NY, I was worried this would dissapoint and/or embarrass with a wrong impression of good Texas cooking. Nope. It's great.

I've fallen asleep with it in my lap several nights already!

deep in the Heart of Texas
I found this 2nd book of hers much better than the first, especially her chicken enchildas. Nice written book with a warm feeling typical to Texas.