Tennessee Native Rachel Boston Serves Up A Holiday Caper in "A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe"

Who stole grandma’s secret recipe?

Stockings are being strung, halls are being decked, and Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas is in full swing. The television network that leads the way in all things merry and bright promised us 40 all new original films this season and they have delivered. One such offering is a mashup of two fan-favorite genres: the holiday movie and a mystery.

Tennessee native Rachel Boston stars alongside fellow Hallmark veteran Victor Webster in the comedy-Christmas-mystery mashup, A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe. Boston plays Annie Cooper who has stepped into her late grandmother’s very large shoes as CEO of a smalltown cookie company. The business is struggling when Annie takes over and the company’s board is watching her every move. Things take a turn for the worse when her grandmother’s secret recipe for her famous cookies is stolen during a Christmas party. She enlists the help of a local bakery owner Sam (Webster) and his daughter Bella (Averie Peters) in both recreating the recipe and solving the mystery of who stole the recipe.

“We had so  much fun coming up with ideas because clearly she’s not in the FBI, she’s never been involved in a mystery in her life. And what would she, this high functioning CEO of a company do to try to get to the bottom of how this happened? Our director Jeff Beesley really let us play with it,” Boston told Southern Living.

Not to give too much away but there is a great scene that involves pink children’s walkie-talkies. Because don’t all top notch detectives carry those?

“I think any Christmas movie that has walkie-talkies trying to solve a mystery, that’s how we knew we were on the right path. Those childhood walkie-talkies are definitely going to help us get to the bottom of it,” Boston said with a hearty chuckle.

Beyond the story of Annie trying to solve the mystery of who stole the recipe, and of course, the budding romance between Annie and Sam, this is a Hallmark rom-com after all, another beautiful story unfolds as well. Webster plays a single, widowed father of a young girl and this story gives a nod to single parents and loving fathers.

“Single parents, they are extraordinary. I mean the strength he has to raise his daughter and the love that he shares with her. And the joy that he brings to the holidays for her. I mean I had a moment but I think a lot of the crew had a moment where you walk into his house when we’re about to film and you just see it. It’s so decorated and it’s really all for her because she loves it so much. And you just feel that love of a father,” Boston said.

Boston’s portrayal of Annie whom she described as, “she’s feisty. She’s a strong woman. She knows what she’s going for and you kind of see her vulnerability too.” She remarked to us that she felt Annie “just seeing how much he cares for her [Bella], it just starts to open this other part of her heart that realizes how much she does want family and how much she values it. And just has not focused on that chapter of her life and now she’s really ready for it. So to meet this little girl who she falls in love with, it’s really beautiful.”

The Tennessee mother of one went on to discuss how she felt this character told a story we don’t see enough of on screen, a woman who has no regrets in her choices but now that she’s achieved several professional goals, has had a change of heart about wanting a family. “I think that’s really important to have that represented in all film because love happens in so many different ways. Family forms in so many different ways. And yeah I think it really does celebrate the independent woman too that just has made very different choices and that is absolutely wonderful and okay and should be celebrated.”

It’s not all serious though. This movie is full of laughs, antics, and COOKIES! So many cookies. “I will say they did a beautiful job making sure they were fantastic cookies, knowing how many we had to eat…Throughout the takes there would be some where the bites get smaller and smaller because you do kind of hit the threshold,” she said with another laugh. So we had to ask her, what’s the one cookie that is a must-have for her family Christmas? “My grandma and my aunt also make these, and this is one of my favorites. These snowball cookies are basically the most basic cookie ingredients. There’s just flour, sugar, butter and a little vanilla extract or you could add almond extract and pecans and they’re just, they look like snowballs and they just make me feel like Christmas.”

You too can get into the Christmas spirit when A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe premieres on Hallmark on Sunday, November 27.

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