Gesine Bullock-Prado (left) and Sandra Bullock
Raymond Prado
"People came to my parents' parties because they were going to have fun and, if lucky, our mother would belly dance," Bullock tells PEOPLE. "What they didn't know was that the hostess made sure every morsel placed in front of them was pure and without anything artificial no matter what the cost."
Now Bullock, 45, and her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, 39, carry on their mother's tradition for healthful cooking and entertaining – well, minus the belly dancing. In fact, despite her busy film schedule, Bullock just opened a new venture, Walton's Fancy & Staple, a bakery, deli and florist shop in Austin, Texas. And her sister helped develop some of the eatery's tasty recipes.
Gesine, who is in the process of renovating a former tavern in Vermont with a kitchen for her mail-order baking business, also recently published a cookbook and memoir, Confections of a Closet Master Baker, which features many of her favorite family treats. The book was written as a love letter to mother Helga. "She put on great parties," Gesine says. "She was a master of the menu."
To celebrate its release, Bullock threw her sister a soiree at Walton's. "Everything we seem to do at Walton's and Bess Bistro [Bullock's other Austin eatery] stems from family recipes," the actress says.
One recipe the sisters served at the party was Helga's Cake, one of their mom's signature desserts. "Whenever that would come out at a party, everyone would just go crazy," Gesine says. "My mom loved making it, but the reaction was the best part."
Another dish the sisters served at the Sept. 14 book bash was Walton's Maine Root Beer Braised Short Ribs with Really Bleu Potatoes and Crispy Shallots.
Click on the next page for the recipe.
