It's no wonder that Texans love to eat: the Lone Star State is not only the nation's second-largest producer of agricultural products but also one of the richest in culinary diversity.

In compiling Lone Star Eats, Terry Thompson-Anderson has pored over a vast collection of Texas cookbooks and chosen the best examples of the way Texans eat today. More than 500 favorite recipes make up this collection, from down-home comfort foods with rural roots to sophisticated dishes of urban inspiration.

Drawing from more than 65 different cookbooks, published by some of the state's leading chefs and by community organizations such as junior leagues and church auxiliaries, Thompson-Anderson has selected traditional favorites as well as new classics to illustrate the mouth-watering array of good eats that characterize Texas cooking.