title: The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style
author:  Rebecca Rather 
description: <I>Starred Review.</i> Though Rather's known as the Pastry Queen, the author and baker-owner of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Caf&eacute; 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. <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ![The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style.
  By Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman. Photography by Laurie Smith. Ten Speed
  Press, Berkeley.](images/Rath_9781607742401_epub_tp_r1.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![A decorated festival table in a
  barn](images/Rath_9781607742401_epub_065_r1.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2007 by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman  
  Photography © 2007 by Laurie Smith
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form,
  except brief excerpts for the purpose of review, without written permission of
  the publisher.
  
  
  All rights reserved.  
  Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown
  Publishing Croup, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.  
  [www.crownpublishing.com](http://www.crownpublishing.com)  
  [www.tenspeed.com](http://www.tenspeed.com)
  
  
  Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trad