Oresman Alison - Pastry queen parties: entertaining friends and family, Texas style

Copyright 2009 by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman
Photographs copyright 2009 by Laurie Smith

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with publisher

eISBN: 978-1-60774-136-7

Design by Toni Tajima
Food and prop styling by Erica McNeish

v3.1

For my sister, Mary Jane (19562007)
RR

For my parents, Patricia and Donald Oresman
AO

We Texans are known for a lot of things, including our knack for entertaining and our penchant for backslapping, happy-talking, generous hospitality. Whether its a glittering, dress-up soiree; a spur-of-the-moment informal gathering; or an intimate dinner, Texans love to party and they do it with gusto. A Texas native myself, Ive created parties in just about every corner of the state, starting with the beach weenie roasts I masterminded as a teen on the Gulf Coasts Bolivar Peninsula, then moving on to pasta and wine parties as a new bride in Houstons River Oaks neighborhood, black-tie bashes for the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, as a Houston-based caterer, and finally, informal garden-to-table feasts in my current hometown of Fredericksburg, smack in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. These days Im in the business of entertaining daily at my nine-year-old Rather Sweet Bakery & Caf, where we serve up breakfast and lunch as well as plenty of cakes, pastries, brownies, and pies for snacking in between.

As far as I know, its darn near impossible to grow up Texan without succumbing to the urge to entertain. I figure my lifelong passion for parties stems from my genetic makeup as well as my Lone Star State upbringing. Hey, friendship is our state motto. And whats a party but a pack of friendsold, new, and just-about-to-be friendseating and drinking together?

A Texans natural conviviality and our states natural bounty combine to make fertile ground for food-centered entertaining. We feast on homegrown tomatoes for at least half of the year, oranges and grapefruit in winter, peaches and berries in the spring, and pecans and persimmons in the fall. The Gulf Coast is a cornucopia of high-quality seafood. Numerous cattle ranches, excellent pork, Texas lamb, and an abundance of wild game mean meat is almost always featured prominently on the menu.

During hunting season, dove, duck, venison, quail, and wild boar show up at many local dinner parties. Everybody winsthe wives are dropped off to shop in town and the guys head for the countryside, dogs and shotguns in tow, and return home with enough wild game to feed family and friends. (Or at least thats the way it was in the old days. I know plenty of sharp-shooting women whose husbands wouldnt dare leave them behind to go hunting.)

Hill Country ranch parties are epidemic in mid-April when San Antonio billionaire Red McCombs holds his annual Texas longhorn cattle auction at his Johnson City RM Ranch. Weekend ranchers come in from all over the country to buy the horned cows, which are more ornamental than edible. Barbecueribs, brisket, pork, and even cabrito (goat)is often featured, along with corn on the cob (perhaps flavored with poblano chile butter), beans, and make-ahead salads.

When the question of parties arises here, Texans tend to respond with, Why not?

Yvonne Bowden, a particularly creative friend, recently hosted a poolside spaghetti party with a twistno utensils allowed. She supplied disposable plastic gloves in a chi-chi shade of lavender, and we dug in with our hands. Soon a few guests strayed well beyond eating with their gloved hands, and some major league meatball pitching ensued. Yvonne vowed to serve spaghetti with ground meat sauce next time.

Texas parties often revolve around games. Skeet shooting get-togethers are common for men and women, and ranch bocce, played freestyle winding up and down the hilly terrain, is a favorite among ranch owners in the Hill Country. It should come as no surprise that many Texas parties have a casual feel, and cowboy boots are often the footwear of choice, even during the heat of the summer.

Even Kay Oxford, my dear Houston friend and veteran entertainer who keeps her formal dining room table set and camera ready at all times, says that no matter how fancy the food, she usually invites her guests to show up in casual attire.

I caught the entertaining bug from my mother, who continued to trump up excuses to party long after she became ill with kidney disease. Her penchant for all things Mexican meant that her parties were often Mexican-themed, perfect for our south-of-the-border-style home. Shed serve easy-to-prepare Tex-Mex creations on her festive Mexican pottery, and always offered guests a generous flow of drinks and laughter. She often entertained in one of her many colorful, hand-embroidered Mexican dresses, and I remember her greeting guests with such radiant happiness that I vowed right then to follow in her party-throwing footsteps when I was old enough to have a home of my own.

As soon as I marriedmore than a few parties agoI hosted informal dinners in our Houston dining room. Id throw open the door to the yard outside and wed feast on wine and pasta. The parties were a success, but my marriage wasnt, and I soon needed to find a job to support my baby daughter, Frances, and myself. The parties continued, but, as a caterer, I helped others throw theirs. For a celebration honoring Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, I created 650 individual, white butter cakes filled with lemon curd and iced them in a pale yellow that matched her evening dress.

You wont find that recipe in this book, because Ive written Pastry Queen Parties for home cooks like you. I doubt you throw parties for a living, but you may live to throw parties, and staying up all night to ice 650 of anything is not likely to make it onto your already packed to-do list. On the other hand, how about whipping up a batch of , both of which can be made ahead for a soigne little cocktail party this weekend? If you dont have a matching cocktail dress, so much the better. Matchy-matchy is so 1980s.

Entertaining has always excited and inspired me. After my first book,