With Love, from Cynthia

A collection of her favorite recipes and remembrances, With Love, from Cynthia, is a triumph on every level. Her kind and gentle spirit shines through as she shares her recipes, along with her personal observations and reflections of a spiritual journey. Preparing and sharing her culinary loves is an expression of her faith and a celebration of her life and gifts.

The recipes are straightforward, becoming even more accessible with the addition of her margin notes. Even the novice will feel comfortable in Cynthia's kitchen. On many pages, she comments on the history of a particular dish, or shares tips to help the reader be successful. With Cynthia, a basic Bread Pudding recipe comes with five delicious variations, along with her invitation to "let your creativity take flight!"

From her Peachy French Toast and a variety of her famous oversized muffins to the chilled Cherry Soup (a tapestry of cherries, cream, red wine and sour cream) and Aunt Mella's Altar Society Punch which has only four ingredients and endless variations--the cookbook is a tour de force of elegance, presentation, and personal reflection.

This delightful, five-color cookbook contains easy-to-follow illustrations and instructions, as well as beautiful photographs of the foods!

Cynthia Collins Pedregon was born and raised in a small ranch in the Texas Hill Country town of Medina. The mother of three children, Cynthia and her husband, Hector, have owned and operated The Peach Tree Gift Gallery and Tea Room in historic Fredericksburg, Texas, since 1972. The Peach Tree, set in an 1895 restored German limestone home, is famous for serving gourmet foods prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients. In addition to her passion for cooking, Cynthia currently conducts cooking classes at her restaurant and is in demand at other cooking schools. Her first two cookbooks are The Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook (now in its 6th printing) and The Peach Tree Family Cookbook (now in its 3rd printing). Because Cynthia is so prolific in developing recipes for her restaurant, a new collection is generally published about every four years. Her recipes have appeared in Gourmet Magazine, American Country Cooking Cookbook, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, plus other state and regional magazines. Cynthia is available for personal interviews as well as in-store book signings. REVIEW1: The ultimate test of a great cookbook comes from the loyalty of its readers. Cynthia's reader's--and now friends--are passionate in their support. The following are some of the comments taken from customer letters since the book was published on December, 1999:

"I hear her voice in the text."

"I spent a good hour or more sitting by the fire relishing every page of this handsome book."

"I read through it amidst tears and laughter--what a reflection of GRACE!"

"I thought it not possible, but it is even more beautiful than the others. I read it like a novel, from cover to cover, and can hardly wait to get back in the kitchen."