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| The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style | 
 enlarge | Authors: Rebecca Rather, Alison Oresman
Creator: Laurie Smith
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Category: Book
List Price: $32.50
Buy New: $17.75
You Save: $14.75 (45%)
New (41) Used (8) from $16.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 23041
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 225
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1580087906
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5686
EAN: 9781580087902
ASIN: 1580087906
Publication Date: September 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Sorry no shipping to ALABAMA addresses. All orders from ALABAMA will be cancelled.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent Book! October 22, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Well, cheers to the diversity of tastes. I see that there are very mixed reviews. As for my review, I love this book just as I loved the first. While the dessert recipes were spectacular in the earlier book, I actually regretted not seeing more savory dishes. There are definitely more this time around which is actually appealing to me. There's a great mix of holiday recipes, both sweet and savory...not to mention the recipe for that beautiful cake on the cover.
At the holidays in particular, I only want to present an interesting twist on the holiday standards. It's important to me that the dishes on the table, while a little different, still feel and taste like home. I think that this book accomplishes that beautifully.
Yet again, Rather has put her unique spin on the familiar. It doesn't hurt that it is also great to read and visually appealing. It's a nice coffetable book (if you can pry it out of the kitchen).
 A Texas-sized guide to entertaining...bring on the Spandex! October 22, 2007
Rebecca Rather is the owner of Fredericksburg, TX iconic bakery Rather Sweet, which regularly appears among the country's top bakeries. Her first cookbook The Pastry Queen included many of her signature recipes from her Rather Sweet bakery and Rebecca's Table restaurant, including breakfast items (kolaches, scones, giant muffins, quick breads), cakes, tarts, cookies, and other confections, along with light lunch offerings.
In Pastry Queen Christmas, Rather and her bakery offer Texas-themed seasonal recipes, from colorful cranberry margaritas and prickly pear martinis to more traditional libations such as old-fashioned eggnog and rustic cowboy coffee. Appetizers run the gamut from Italian savory rice balls, shrimp remoulade, and zucchini timbales to inspired sides such as mascarpone grits cakes, blue corn blinis, and oysters Rockefeller soup.
Carnivores, fear not! Your ranks are well represented by numerous seafood, beef, lamb, and pork recipes; there's even a Cajun turkey thrown in to boot. Vegetarians will find their options few and far between; even the green beans are wrapped in bacon.
As usual, Rather's desserts sparkle, from traditional standbys such as cranberry walnut scones and apple-spice layer cake to more modern creations such as panna cotta parfaits with hibiscus-berry compote. Other choices include sticky toffee pudding, apple dumplings, red velvet cupcakes, Christmas coconut cake, and an overachiever's dream of a gingerbread cabin, complete with template.
I found the organization to be less easy-to-follow than Rather's first cookbook The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe; here, recipes are arranged by occasion (Holiday Open House, Ranch Barn Brunch, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve), which isn't always intuitive if you're simply looking for a dessert recipe to try.
The photographs and Rather's own contributions really make Christmas in small-town Fredericksburg come alive, from the showstopping parade down Main Street complete with a Texas Longhorn steer with his horns wrapped in lights, to the Santa charity race, to relaxed barn brunches with family and friends. I happened to be at Rather Sweet the day after Christmas last year, and the beautiful Christmas tree decorated with paper cupcakes and sweets was featured in the entry, just as shown in the cookbook. Also, there are more "how-to" photos prominently featured, particularly where the more difficult layer cakes are concerned. There's also a kid-friendly section that includes homemade lollipops and homemade ranch dip with veggies that will be sure to appeal to the little ones. Rather offers decorating tips as well, including how to make tortilla cutouts and fry them so that they will last throughout the season.
A gem of a cookbook, Pastry Queen Christmas won the 2008 IACP Cookbook Award Winner for best American cookbook, and it's easy to see why: a celebration and preservation of Christmas in the Texas Hill Country, Rebecca's recipes will add holiday cheer to your festivities during the holidays and all year.
 Not Exciting October 21, 2007
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
I love Rebecca Rather's first book `The Pastry Queen', so as soon as I saw she had another book out `The Pastry Queen Christmas' I pre-ordered it! Unfortunately when I received my copy, I was quite disappointed! As someone's review already stated, the pictures are great but I found the recipes quite boring and somehow standard. I have since returned my copy of the `The Pastry Queen Christmas'.
 Photos to Drool Over October 16, 2007
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Just received my copy and YUM! The photos are great and there is quite a variety of recipes. Some are rather standard fare that can be found in any cookbook -- e.g., bacon wrapped green bean bundles, carmelized bacon, cowboy cookies. However, there do seem to be some unique gems. The true treat of this book is the awesome photography.
Worth the Wait! October 10, 2007
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
I'd read about The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe in MORE Magazine, and had to have the cookbook. It arrived shortly before my daughter's wedding, and once I went through it, the reception menu was scrapped and substituted with Rather's recipes. That cookbook has become a favorite; I reviewed it here on Amazon, describing it as the first thing I'd grab, after my children, in the event of a house fire.
When I found out that it would be followed on with a volume devoted to the Christmas holidays, I pre-ordered it here on Amazon, although standing in line in front of a bricks-and-mortar bookstore would have been worth it. I received notification a few days ago that it had shipped, so it was constantly on my mind. I could not wait for it to show up. Monday was Columbus Day -- a legal holiday with no mail, darn it -- which delayed my receiving this cookbook by another day.
But arrived it has, and oh boy, is it ever worth the wait.
Rather shares her signature recipes and food styling in easy-to-understand ways for us mere mortals. With careful direction, we too can prepare delicious and stunning dishes. Among the first I'll be trying: Texas Spice Rubbed Roast Pork, Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas, Apple-Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Swirl Icing, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Icing, and Caramel Pie with Meringue Topping.
There's no reason to put off trying holiday recipes now. I can already tell these will be a big hit at potluck dinners, family birthday fetes and tailgate parties.
Thank you, Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman, and I'll be on the lookout for your next volume.
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