Teacakes
Nothing says lovin' like something from the oven.43 total reviews
Comment from robyn corum
Andre,
I'm soooo glad I was blessed enough to read this. It brought so many memories to life for me. I love teacakes, and you almost never see/hear about them anymore. Only a few people in my family make them now. I may have to dig up a recipe....
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Andre,
I'm soooo glad I was blessed enough to read this. It brought so many memories to life for me. I love teacakes, and you almost never see/hear about them anymore. Only a few people in my family make them now. I may have to dig up a recipe....
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Yes, Robyn, dig up that old family recipe. When I told a cousin that I had baked teacakes for my uncle, she looked at me incredulously. "How do you know about teacakes?" She could not imagine that a man of fifty-two would know what they were. I explained that I heard about them through my mother's memoir a copy of which I sold her for twenty bucks. Yeah!
I am thrilled that you were blessed enough to read this. Thank you for your generous, six star review. Keep baking!
Comment from bookishfabler
A sweet cut-out cookie with a pinch of nutmeg... A soft teacake that is best when one to two days old. You can change flavors by substituting almond or lemon extract for the vanilla. Add a few drop of food coloring to dress up the dough for special occasions appear to be my age.
I think that I found the same recipe Grandma's old fashioned tea cakes.
My specialty scratch cookie is chocolate chip. My first husband and his mother would fight over them. Very buttery and sweet. My present husband devours them. Nothing like scratch baking. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story.
hugs Heidi
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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A sweet cut-out cookie with a pinch of nutmeg... A soft teacake that is best when one to two days old. You can change flavors by substituting almond or lemon extract for the vanilla. Add a few drop of food coloring to dress up the dough for special occasions appear to be my age.
I think that I found the same recipe Grandma's old fashioned tea cakes.
My specialty scratch cookie is chocolate chip. My first husband and his mother would fight over them. Very buttery and sweet. My present husband devours them. Nothing like scratch baking. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story.
hugs Heidi
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Yes, Heidi, that is the recipe I found. I am going to go through my grandmother's file box to see if I can find and revive her recipes. I enjoy carrying on a family tradition. Keep baking your scratch cookie. Thank you for your review of my "wonderful story."
Comment from Pearl Edwards
This is a real heart-warming story Sis Cat, and one that made me smile as I read through. I dropped into a young friends home one afternoon and she was so excited "I'm baking cookies" she said. Turned out it was the bought tube mix, all she did was slice and cook, made me smile unlike you who took the time and care to bake the tea cakes as they were always done, from scratch. Thanks for sharing your story, enjoyed.
cheers
valda
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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This is a real heart-warming story Sis Cat, and one that made me smile as I read through. I dropped into a young friends home one afternoon and she was so excited "I'm baking cookies" she said. Turned out it was the bought tube mix, all she did was slice and cook, made me smile unlike you who took the time and care to bake the tea cakes as they were always done, from scratch. Thanks for sharing your story, enjoyed.
cheers
valda
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Yes, Valda, l, there is a certain magic and love when you take the time to bake cookies from scratch, as my uncle recognized. Yes, tube cookie dough is sad and is not real baking. Thank you for your oven-warming, six star review of my "heart-warming story."
Comment from valmay
A lovely family story Andre. My mum baked wonderful pastry, quite different to shop bought stuff. I rarely eat cake but I do occasionally bake. It is therapeutic. You are a kind man and I'm sure your uncle Lee appreciates that.
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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A lovely family story Andre. My mum baked wonderful pastry, quite different to shop bought stuff. I rarely eat cake but I do occasionally bake. It is therapeutic. You are a kind man and I'm sure your uncle Lee appreciates that.
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Yes, Valmay, baking is therapeutic. There is a certain meditative, prayerful quality about baking which is healing and rejuvenating. Not many men would bake for a dying uncle. Thank you for your generous, six star review of "a lovely family story."
Comment from Gypsy Blue Rose
Hello, Andre, :)
I love your story. I can see why you are a professional storyteller. Your words captivated me at "Uncle Lee possessed a sweet tooth.." all the way to "... or I'll haunt you." hahaha
I can relate to everything you said. For me is not tea cakes, for me is 'wine cookies' or 'galletas de vino', as we call them in Spain. They didn't taste like wine but one of the ingredients is the sweet wine.
My mother was a great baker. I remember eating her cookie dough when she was baking in the kitchen. She would give me the big wooden spoon she used for mixing and I would lick it clean. LoL
I like this lines...
"... a connection to my mother, to her mother, and to the mothers and fathers before them who baked." It's so important to feel that connection with your lineage, especially the female lineage. I may be a little prejudice. hahaha
I adore these ones too, "It reminds people of poverty--of only having a couple of eggs from your chickens, butter you churned yourself, a cup of sugar you borrowed from a neighbor, and flour you may have ground yourself." Ah, yes, I have witness poverty up close and I can say this rings true to me.
"The teacake is the unleavened bread of the poor. I distinctly recall avoiding these cookies because they reminded me of my poverty. Mom stopped baking them." Here is a pivot line that I think is very important in your story. At first, I thought your mother stopped baking because she was too busy, but after reading this passage, I wonder if she wanted to wash the taste of poverty out of her mind. I can relate to that.
"Moses has his staff. Merlin has his wand. I have Mama's rolling pin." LoL I love this line! The Mighty Jessie Lee Rolling Pin! You can use it for baking and for self-defense.
"When I die, please don't bring store-bought cookies to my funeral repast, or I'll haunt you. Bake cookies from scratch yourself." hahaha I love your sense of humor.
Excellent prose! Magnificent story fill of childhood memories, wisdom, and sugar for the soul.
Gypsy Hugs
click here for recipe
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Hello, Andre, :)
I love your story. I can see why you are a professional storyteller. Your words captivated me at "Uncle Lee possessed a sweet tooth.." all the way to "... or I'll haunt you." hahaha
I can relate to everything you said. For me is not tea cakes, for me is 'wine cookies' or 'galletas de vino', as we call them in Spain. They didn't taste like wine but one of the ingredients is the sweet wine.
My mother was a great baker. I remember eating her cookie dough when she was baking in the kitchen. She would give me the big wooden spoon she used for mixing and I would lick it clean. LoL
I like this lines...
"... a connection to my mother, to her mother, and to the mothers and fathers before them who baked." It's so important to feel that connection with your lineage, especially the female lineage. I may be a little prejudice. hahaha
I adore these ones too, "It reminds people of poverty--of only having a couple of eggs from your chickens, butter you churned yourself, a cup of sugar you borrowed from a neighbor, and flour you may have ground yourself." Ah, yes, I have witness poverty up close and I can say this rings true to me.
"The teacake is the unleavened bread of the poor. I distinctly recall avoiding these cookies because they reminded me of my poverty. Mom stopped baking them." Here is a pivot line that I think is very important in your story. At first, I thought your mother stopped baking because she was too busy, but after reading this passage, I wonder if she wanted to wash the taste of poverty out of her mind. I can relate to that.
"Moses has his staff. Merlin has his wand. I have Mama's rolling pin." LoL I love this line! The Mighty Jessie Lee Rolling Pin! You can use it for baking and for self-defense.
"When I die, please don't bring store-bought cookies to my funeral repast, or I'll haunt you. Bake cookies from scratch yourself." hahaha I love your sense of humor.
Excellent prose! Magnificent story fill of childhood memories, wisdom, and sugar for the soul.
Gypsy Hugs
click here for recipe
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Thank you, Gypsy, for your tasty, six star review. I have to give credit to my mother for making me the professional storyteller I am. She documented family history and performed at storytelling festivals. She even published a story titled "The Last of Annie" which recounts her final visit to a cousin. I am building upon the foundation my mother left for me, be it her memoir or her rolling pin. Thank you again for your review and your recipe. It is sugar for my soul.
Comment from Dean Kuch
And a good Monday mornin' to you, Andre.
Okay, enough of the "niceties", time to dig right in...
He ate as if the sweets would keep his bladder cancer in remission. He ate as if these candies and cookies would be the last sweet things he ate on earth.... Considering Uncle Lee's condition, Andre, they very well may have been the last sweet things he would eat on earth...
Just sayin'...
"I'll buy a half-dozen," I said, thinking, Uncle Lee won't know the difference. Surely, Russian teacakes must be identical to the teacakes he ate on a sharecropper's farm eighty years ago. ...U-h-h-hhh, no, Andre. With all due respect, they're not. Old fashioned Country teacakes are a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. tea cakes can be cookies or small cakes.
My grandma Cook grew up on a farm in rural Kentucky and the recipe I have came straight from her. It is an authentic, old-fashioned recipe.
Yeah, my real last name ain't "Cook" fer nothin' I'm a damn good one, too!
No matter what, it's an addictive little cookie. It's very difficult to eat just one. And there ain't no confectionery nor powdered sugar on 'em neither.
Yes, I recall Mom used it more as a nut cracker than as a pie and cookie dough roller.... Your mom probably used it as a head cracker a few times too, Andre. Heh-heh... Truth be told, that's really where all those dents came from...
I had hoped my teacake would cure my uncle's cancer, but it did not. I gave him something else--a memory from childhood. When I took the time to bake teacakes from scratch, I took the time to love him in a way he recognized. I left him with a whole quart container of teacakes for his passage home. Teacakes keep pretty well, so I imagine he had plenty for his journey when crossing over the threshold of this world into the next.
I bet 'cha God loved 'em...
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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And a good Monday mornin' to you, Andre.
Okay, enough of the "niceties", time to dig right in...
He ate as if the sweets would keep his bladder cancer in remission. He ate as if these candies and cookies would be the last sweet things he ate on earth.... Considering Uncle Lee's condition, Andre, they very well may have been the last sweet things he would eat on earth...
Just sayin'...
"I'll buy a half-dozen," I said, thinking, Uncle Lee won't know the difference. Surely, Russian teacakes must be identical to the teacakes he ate on a sharecropper's farm eighty years ago. ...U-h-h-hhh, no, Andre. With all due respect, they're not. Old fashioned Country teacakes are a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. tea cakes can be cookies or small cakes.
My grandma Cook grew up on a farm in rural Kentucky and the recipe I have came straight from her. It is an authentic, old-fashioned recipe.
Yeah, my real last name ain't "Cook" fer nothin' I'm a damn good one, too!
No matter what, it's an addictive little cookie. It's very difficult to eat just one. And there ain't no confectionery nor powdered sugar on 'em neither.
Yes, I recall Mom used it more as a nut cracker than as a pie and cookie dough roller.... Your mom probably used it as a head cracker a few times too, Andre. Heh-heh... Truth be told, that's really where all those dents came from...
I had hoped my teacake would cure my uncle's cancer, but it did not. I gave him something else--a memory from childhood. When I took the time to bake teacakes from scratch, I took the time to love him in a way he recognized. I left him with a whole quart container of teacakes for his passage home. Teacakes keep pretty well, so I imagine he had plenty for his journey when crossing over the threshold of this world into the next.
I bet 'cha God loved 'em...
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Thank you, Dean, for your generous, six star review. It was also very informative. I have heard from many reviewers around the world about their culture's own versions of teacakes. I am impressed that there are so many different types. I want to eat them all. Thank you again for your culinary response.
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You're welcome, Andre.
~Dean
Comment from nomi338
Outstanding story. I was so entertained by your account that I read the entire story to my wife and like me, she loved it. I feel like a member of your family now. having participated in your family history. Poor uncle Oscar, I hope he stopped running long enough to lick his fingers and reflect on whether the cookies were worth the beating he received, I will bet that they were. LOL.
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Outstanding story. I was so entertained by your account that I read the entire story to my wife and like me, she loved it. I feel like a member of your family now. having participated in your family history. Poor uncle Oscar, I hope he stopped running long enough to lick his fingers and reflect on whether the cookies were worth the beating he received, I will bet that they were. LOL.
Comment Written 20-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Thank you, nomi338, for your generous, six star review of a sweet story. I am glad you and your wife were entertained by it.
After 125 years I am still trying to find out what happened to Uncle Oscar. My mother once wrote a screenplay in which she finds him and serves him teacakes. I wish his story had a happy ending in real life. Thanks again.
Comment from janalma
I loved this story. Made me laugh, and brought tears to my eyes. You have a storyteller's knack of involving the reader in the deeper meaning of what you write. I love the nostalgia and the loving memories. YOU know what's important. Great job.
One typo?
I smiled and my chest expanded. The ultimate cookie tester--Uncle Lee--laid (lay) ahead.
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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I loved this story. Made me laugh, and brought tears to my eyes. You have a storyteller's knack of involving the reader in the deeper meaning of what you write. I love the nostalgia and the loving memories. YOU know what's important. Great job.
One typo?
I smiled and my chest expanded. The ultimate cookie tester--Uncle Lee--laid (lay) ahead.
Comment Written 19-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Thank you, janalma , for your generous, six star review and typo correction. I am glad my story made you laugh and cry. Thanks again for complimenting me on my great job.
Comment from Mastery
Hi, Andre. My mouth watered as I read parts of this story. No lie. LOL. It is a wonderful story and I wonder if you will be baking the teacakes on a regular basis or was that it when you last baked them for Uncle Leo? Your story is well narrated and I enjoyed it. The images were superb. Blessings, Bob
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Hi, Andre. My mouth watered as I read parts of this story. No lie. LOL. It is a wonderful story and I wonder if you will be baking the teacakes on a regular basis or was that it when you last baked them for Uncle Leo? Your story is well narrated and I enjoyed it. The images were superb. Blessings, Bob
Comment Written 19-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 20-Feb-2017
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Bob, I will probably make this a standard cookie. I have one grandmother's recipes and may add a few more cookies. I do not want to let this culinary tradition die in my family. Thank you for your review of my mouth watering story.
Comment from flylikeaneagle
Sis Cat: can't send you my baked cookies so giving you some stars!
Well written and loving memories of your sweet friend. You baked him
something you made by sweet and your hands. Uncle Lee will be telling
all his family and friends in Heaven about your tea cakes. Tasty!
I had a lady friend who baked sugar cookies. She put ice cream pail buckets
in her fridge. She went into hospice. Her family gathered and got to eat her
cookies. I washed her bedding and forgot one pillow. Her daughter hugged
that pillow since it smelt like Mom. Treasure your memories.
Keep baking Sis Cat. *** People love hand made treats! flylikeaneagle
reply by the author on 19-Feb-2017
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Sis Cat: can't send you my baked cookies so giving you some stars!
Well written and loving memories of your sweet friend. You baked him
something you made by sweet and your hands. Uncle Lee will be telling
all his family and friends in Heaven about your tea cakes. Tasty!
I had a lady friend who baked sugar cookies. She put ice cream pail buckets
in her fridge. She went into hospice. Her family gathered and got to eat her
cookies. I washed her bedding and forgot one pillow. Her daughter hugged
that pillow since it smelt like Mom. Treasure your memories.
Keep baking Sis Cat. *** People love hand made treats! flylikeaneagle
Comment Written 19-Feb-2017
reply by the author on 19-Feb-2017
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Yes, flylikeaneagle, I will keep baking and writing sweet tales. Yes, Uncle Lee will be telling all of his family and friends in Heaven about my teacakes. Thank you for your six, baked stars. You should write a story about your sugar cookie-baking friend. Thanks again.
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I would clean her house. Bev would bake pies. She loved making bugs in a pie - sweet cream raisin pie with egg white topping! It's fun to hear stories and share recipes! nancy