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Summary
Summary
It's Christmastime at the Best Little Bakery in Texas
The annual Fredericksburg Christmas parade marks the beginning of the Texas 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, creamy chocolate, and a sleigh full of savory treats to meet the entertaining needs of her neighbors.
In The Pastry Queen Christmas , Rebecca shares nearly 100 traditional recipes reflecting her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and the tastes of small-town Texas. Show-off desserts such as Chocolate Cookie Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake, Sticky Toffee Pudding with Brandy Butterscotch Sauce, and Warm Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Amaretto Whipped Cream are the perfect toppers to a family-style feast of Texas Spice-Rubbed Roast Pork, Baked Apple Pear Chutney, Brown Sugar Bacon, and No-Peeking Popovers. Still hungry the next morning? No problem-this country girl does an impressive breakfast, too: Bite-Sized Sticky Buns, Sweet Potato Scones, Cast-Iron Skillet Potatoes, and Mexican Ranch Chilaquiles ought to fill you up.
And if you're still looking for excuses to entertain this season, you'll find ooey-gooey baked goods wrapped up as gifts, homemade craft and décor ideas to make your home sparkle, and holiday-worthy menus guaranteed to make your gathering a Texas-sized success. Tree-trimming, cookie decorating, and Santas running down Main Street . . . Christmastime is here.
Author Notes
A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan REBECCA RATHER has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café's sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of The Pastry Queen, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies' Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn't in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.
ALISON ORESMAN has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper's restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. The Pastry Queen Christmas is her second book with Rebecca Rather. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Though Rather?s known as the Pastry Queen, the author and baker-owner of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe 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. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Review
Rather is the owner of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe in Fredericksburg, TX, and author of The Pastry Queen, a collection of favorite recipes from the bakery. Fans of her first book may be a bit surprised to find that her second book includes more savory recipes than sweet ones, though there are plenty of desserts here. The recipes are grouped into menus for occasions, and most chapters also include a smaller selection of recipes and ideas for other holiday festivities, such as "A Cookie Decorating Party for Kids." Rather has an engaging style, and color photographs add to the book's appeal. For most baking collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Chapter one: Holiday Open House The annual Christmas parade in early December signals the beginning of the holiday party season in Fredericksburg. Long before that, local hostesses and businesses begin calling to inquire about catering. Last season, I provided desserts for a party in a magnificent home with breathtaking views of the night sky and the valley below. (City lights that dim the starlit sky are foreign to us here.) I put together several platters of mini Key lime pies, a bakery favorite included in this chapter. (At the bakery, and in the recipe on page 35, the pie is king-sized, making it much faster to produce than the bite-sized versions.) When customers ask for advice about giving holiday parties, an open house is always my first suggestion. Casual by definition, open houses work for groups of all sizes and ages. Serving the food buffet style frees you to move around and mingle with guests. Careful advance planning and do-ahead recipes are your keys to success. Many of the recipes in this chapter can be made at least one day before serving. (My Creamy Chicken Lasagna on page 24 can be made the day before and baked just before serving, and just about every dessert in this chapter can be made early.) When planning your menu, try to balance make-ahead recipes with those that need fixing the day of the party. When testing and developing recipes for this book, my coauthor and I shared a running joke involving a fictional Aunt Susie. On particularly grueling days, after testing numerous recipes with many left to go, I'd say, "Just get Aunt Susie to do it." We'd crack up and soldier on. There was a kernel of wisdom in our jest. You may or may not have an Aunt Susie, but enlisting family and friends to help with preparty cooking is an ingenious way to make party prep as much fun as the event itself. Plan the menu, buy all of the groceries necessary, have all of your recipes on hand, and invite a couple of friends over to help. Some of my most rewarding conversations have taken place over the kitchen counter. This approach could even work with your teenage children, although you may have to offer financial incentives. One of the best things about Christmas in Fredericksburg is that everyone seems to get into the holiday mood, including Beau, the bakery dog (above). It helps that we have our own little spirit of Christmas, Rosemary Estenson. The owner of the Fredericksburg Brewery next door to my Rather Sweet Bakery and Café, she's one of the town's chief Christmas organizers/enforcers. If Main Street merchants don't have their Christmas decorations up in time for the Christmas parade, they hear about it. This year, Rosemary paid a visit to Root, a clothing store on Main Street, to suggest that the window decorations needed beefing up. Owner Castle Heep complied and was glad she did. Her store looked extra festive for an open house held the night of the parade, and the place was packed. Old-Fashioned Eggnog Classic eggnog is not easy to make, but it is sure to dazzle your holiday guests. This version is cooked, to kill any bacteria in the eggs. And it can be made mostly in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Just before the guests arrive, whip the cream, fold it into the eggnog, and serve with a sprinkle of fresh nutmeg. One taste of this, and you'll happily give up grocery-store eggnog for good. Lucky for me, I don't have to go farther than my backyard henhouse for fresh eggs. I have Silkies, Rhode Island Reds, and Araucanas and I've named each hen after a first lady. (Unfortunately, Nancy Reagan ran off a while back, never to be seen again.) Each breed produces a characteristic egg. My favorites are the light blue-green Araucana eggs. Aside from standard chicken feed, my brood gets to feast on leftover bakery products, which I suspect gives their eggs a special Rather Sweet flavor. {{ Yield: Six 1-cup Excerpted from The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style by Rebecca Rather, Alison Oresman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments | p. xi |
Introduction | p. 1 |
Chapter 1 Holiday Open House | p. 7 |
Old-Fashioned Eggnog | p. 9 |
Sweet Potato Scones | p. 10 |
Cranberry-Walnut Scones | p. 13 |
Savory Rice Balls | p. 16 |
Mustard Baked Ham | p. 19 |
Mamie's Marinated Green Bean and Artichoke Salad | p. 20 |
Split Pea Soup | p. 21 |
Green Chile and Cheddar Baking Powder Biscuits | p. 22 |
Creamy Chicken Lasagna | p. 24 |
Pear and Apricot Jam Bars | p. 26 |
Aunt Milbry's Fruitcake | p. 28 |
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Icing | p. 30 |
King-Sized Key Lime Pie | p. 35 |
Tiny Whiskey-Glazed Eggnog Cakes | p. 37 |
Panna Cotta Parfaits with Hibiscus-Berry Compote | p. 38 |
Mr. Vallone's Italian Cookies | p. 40 |
Outdoor Tree Trimming | p. 43 |
In-the-Bag Chili Frito Pie | p. 44 |
Rather Minty Brownies | p. 46 |
Coconut Snowballs | p. 48 |
My Mistake Cookies | p. 49 |
Chapter 2 Ranch Barn Brunch | p. 51 |
Larry Doll's Famous Cranberry Margaritas | p. 52 |
Texas Antipasto Platter: Sea Salt Roasted Almonds, Shrimp Rémoulade, Focaccia Bruschetta | p. 54 |
Seasonal Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing | p. 58 |
Brown Sugar Bacon | p. 61 |
Cherry Tomatoes with Tequila-Lime Vinaigrette | p. 62 |
Mexican Ranch Chilaquiles | p. 65 |
Pan de Campo (Mexican Camp Bread) | p. 68 |
Cast-Iron Skillet Potatoes | p. 71 |
Apple-Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Swirl Icing | p. 72 |
Earthquake Cake | p. 75 |
Cowboy Cookies | p. 78 |
Bite-Sized Sticky Buns | p. 79 |
Sopaipillas | p. 80 |
Cowboy Coffee Straight | p. 83 |
Making Gingerbread Houses | p. 85 |
Gingerbread house | p. 87 |
Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas | p. 92 |
Guacamole with Pico de Gallo | p. 93 |
Torched S'mores | p. 94 |
Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwich Bites | p. 96 |
Chapter 3 Christmas Eve | p. 99 |
LBJ Ranch Crown Roast of Lamb with Rice Stuffing and Jalapeño-Mint Sauce | p. 101 |
Zucchini Timbales | p. 104 |
Ensalada de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Salad) | p. 105 |
Oysters Rockefeller Soup | p. 106 |
Blue Corn Blinis with Crab and Avocado Crema | p. 108 |
Mascarpone Grits Cakes | p. 111 |
Holiday Martinis: Prickly in Pink Martini, Texas Sunset | p. 112 |
Martha's Best-Ever Rolls | p. 114 |
Green Olive Beef Tenderloin | p. 117 |
Sticky Toffee Pudding with Brandy Butterscotch Sauce | p. 118 |
Apple Dumplings | p. 120 |
Christmas Coconut Cake | p. 123 |
Hot Mocha Cakes | p. 126 |
Warm Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Amaretto Whipped Cream | p. 128 |
Mini Bourbon-Macadamia Nut Pies | p. 130 |
Cookie Decorating | p. 133 |
Rebecca's Homemade Lollipops | p. 134 |
Chicken and Egg Checkerboard Club Sandwiches | p. 135 |
Fresh Veggies with Rather Sweet Ranch Dressing | p. 138 |
Grandma's Sugar Cookies | p. 139 |
Chapter 4 Christmas Day | p. 143 |
Hot Spiced Citrus Claret | p. 145 |
Crab in Ramekins | p. 146 |
Green Bean Bundles | p. 147 |
Baked Apple Pear Chutney | p. 149 |
Texas Spice-Rubbed Roast Pork | p. 150 |
Fresh Pear and Candied-Walnut Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette | p. 152 |
Cajun Roast Turkey | p. 154 |
My Mother's Best Corn Bread Dressing | p. 156 |
Day-after-Christmas Cajun Turkey Gumbo | p. 158 |
My Sister-in-Law's Candied Sweet Potato Casserole | p. 160 |
Margie's Christmas Squash | p. 161 |
Grandma Wyche's Gingerbread | p. 162 |
Chocolate Cookie Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake | p. 165 |
Carlton's Chocolate Chewies | p. 166 |
Wrapping Up the Holidays with Edible Gifts | p. 169 |
Rosa's Tamales with Tomatillo Sauce | p. 172 |
Butter Meringue Nuts | p. 176 |
Cheese Crispies | p. 177 |
Denise's Vanilla Caramels | p. 178 |
Lola's Sunday Fudge | p. 179 |
Chocolate Sauce | p. 180 |
Chapter 5 New Year's Eve | p. 183 |
Alice Lon's Champagne Punch | p. 185 |
Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Cranberry-Pecan Salsa | p. 186 |
Paula's Scallop, Pancetta, and Radicchio Salad | p. 189 |
Mother's Lobster Bisque | p. 190 |
Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon, Onions, and Garlic | p. 191 |
Shrimp 'n' Grits | p. 193 |
Ken Hall's Standing Rib Roast | p. 195 |
No-Peeking Popovers | p. 197 |
Glazed Chocolate Pavé | p. 198 |
Frances's Bread and Jam Pudding | p. 200 |
Caramel Pie with Meringue Topping | p. 203 |
Good Luck Truffles | p. 206 |
Appendix: Gingerbread House Templates | p. 208 |
Index | p. 217 |